Dow stocks at 52 week highs include American Express (AXP), Cisco (CSCO), Home Depot (HD), Intel (INTC), JPMorgan (JPM), UnitedHealth (UNH) and Visa (V). Dow stock 52 week lows include General Electric (GE).

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open up +58 points.

Wednesday the Dow was down -112.30 (-0.48%) at 23,329.46.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +18.05%.

There were 7 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Nike (NKE) +2.85% and 3M (MMM) +1.29%.

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Boeing (BA) -2.85% and General Electric (GE) -1.78%.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 233,000 for the week ended Oct. 21. Claims fell to 223,000 in the prior week, which was the lowest level since March 1973. Economists had forecast claims rising to 235,000 in the latest week.

European stocks are higher and Asian markets ended mostly higher.

The national average price of gasoline is up four-tenths of a cent at $2.463 per gallon.

Earnings Reports.

Nike (NKE) reported earnings on 9/26/17 after the market close of $0.57, beating estimates calling for $0.515 per share.

JPMorgan (JPM) reported earnings on 10/12/2017 before the market open of $1.76, beating estimates calling for $1.709 per share.

Goldman Sachs (GS) reported earnings on 10/17/2017 before the market open of $5.02, beating estimates calling for $4.343 per share.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported earnings on 10/17/2017 before the market open of $1.90, beating estimates of $1.823 per share.

UnitedHealth (UNH) reported earnings on 10/17/2017 before the market open of $2.66, beating estimates calling for $2.607 per share.

IBM (IBM) reported earnings on 10/17/2017 after the market close of $3.30, missing estimates calling for $3.325 per share.

American Express (AXP) reported earnings on 10/18/2017 after the market close of $1.50, beating estimates of $1.487 per share.

Travelers (TRV) reported earnings on 10/19/2017 before the market open of $0.91, beating estimates calling for $0.724 per share.

Verizon (VZ) report earnings on 10/19/2017 before the market open of $0.98, matching estimates of $0.984 per share.

General Electric (GE) reported earnings on 10/20/2017 before the market open of $0.29, missing estimates calling for $0.49 per share.

Procter & Gamble (PG) reported earnings on 10/20/2017 before the market open of $1.09, meeting estimates of $1.093 per share.

3M (MMM) reported earnings on 10/24/2017 before the market open of $2.33, beating estimates of $2.253 per share.

Caterpillar (CAT) reported earnings on 10/24/2017 before the market open of $1.95, beating estimates of $1.301 per share.

McDonald’s (MCD) reported earnings on 10/24/2017 before the market open of $2.32, beating estimates of $1.792 per share.

United Technologies (UTX) reported earnings on 10/24/2017 before the market open of $1.73, beating estimates of $1.719 per share.

Boeing (BA) reported earnings on 10/25/2017 before the market open of $2.72, beating estimates of $2.709 per share.

Coca Cola (KO) reported earnings on 10/25/2017 before the market open of $0.50, meeting estimates of $0.495 per share.

Visa (V) reported earnings on 10/25/2017 before the market open of $0.90, beating estimates of $0.884 per share.

Intel (INTC) reports earnings on 10/26/2017 after the market close.

Microsoft (MSFT) reports earnings on 10/26/2017 after the market close.

Chevron (CVX) reports earnings on 10/27/2017 before the market open.

Merck (MRK) reports earnings on 10/27/2017 before the market open.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) reports earnings on 10/27/2017 before the market open.

Pfizer (PFE) reports earnings on 10/31/2017 before the market open.

Apple (AAPL) reports earnings on 11/2/2017 after the market close.

Disney (DIS) reports earnings on 11/9/2017 after the market close.

Home Depot (HD) reports earnings on 11/14/2017 before the market open.

Cisco (CSCO) reports earnings on 11/15/2017 after the market close.

Wal-Mart (WMT) reports earnings on 11/16/2017 before the market open.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Merck (MRK)

Merck (MRK) is up +4.32% year-to-date.

Financial Calendar

0830 ET Weekly initial unemployment claims expected +13,000 to 235,000, previous -22,000 to 222,000. Weekly continuing claims expected +2,000 to 1.890 million, previous -16,000 to 1.88 million.

0830 ET Sep wholesale inventories expected +0.4%, Aug +0.9%.

0830 ET USDA weekly Export Sales.

1000 ET Sep pending home sales expected +0.3% m/m and -4.2% y/y, Aug -2.6% m/m and -3.1% y/y.

1100 ET Oct Kansas City Fed manufacturing activity expected unch at 17, Sep +1 to 17.

1300 ET Treasury auctions $28 billion of 7-year T-notes.