Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs include Chevron (CVX) 169.93 (+0.52%) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 227.72 (+1.46%). There were no Dow stocks hitting 52-week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to be down -38 points.

Wednesday the Dow closed up +12.19 (+0.02%) at 49,015.60.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +1.98%.

Wednesday, (13) Dow stocks were up, none made 52-week lows, and (2) made 52-week highs.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by UnitedHealth (UNH) 294.02 (+4.00%), Nvidia (NVDA) 191.52 (+1.59%) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 227.72 (+1.46%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Amgen (AMGN) 342.22 (-2.59%), Honeywell (HON) 216.64 (-1.93%) and Nike (NKE) 62.24 (-1.35%).

The VIX closed Wednesday at 16.35 (+1.24%) and the 10 YR at 4.237 (+0.67%). The VIX is currently at 17.07 (+4.40%). The 10YR is at 4.267 (+0.38%).

The Fed held rates steady yesterday.

The U.S. deficit with its global trading partners nearly doubled in November as the shortfall with the European Union swelled, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Following a month where the trade deficit hit its lowest level since early 2009, it shot up to $56.8 billion, an increase of 94.6% from October. Of that gain, about one-third came with the European Union, where the deficit rose by $8.2 billion. On a year-over-year basis, the deficit through November stood at $839.5 billion, or about 4% higher than the same period in 2024.

Republican senators appear to be opening the door to preventing a partial government shutdown as the chamber prepares to start voting on a House-passed package to fully fund a group of federal agencies through the remaining fiscal year. The Senate is set to start voting on the funding bills Thursday morning. If the chamber doesn’t pass all of them, much of the federal government would shut down Saturday at 12:01 ET. The bills would fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies, including the Treasury and Defense departments. While the package once looked certain to clear the Senate and avoid a shutdown, the killing of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents Saturday in Minneapolis derailed it.

Honeywell (HON) shares were down 0.8% in the premarket following the release of mixed fourth-quarter figures. The company earned $2.59 per share, excluding certain items. That exceeded an estimate for $2.54 per share. Revenue of $9.76 billion was below the $9.85 billion consensus, however.

Caterpillar (CAT) shares were up more than 5% after the industrial giant posted much better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter. The company earned an adjusted $5.26 per share on revenue of $19.13 billion. Analysts expected a profit of $4.68 per share on revenue of $17.86 billion. The beat was driven by a 23% increase in power and energy sales.

Shares of IBM (IBM) were up more than 8% after the legacy tech giant reported fourth-quarter results that beat the Street. The company earned an adjusted $4.52 per share on revenue of $19.69 billion. Analysts expected a profit of $4.32 per share on revenue of $19.23 billion.

Spot gold surpassed $5,500 per ounce overnight on Wednesday night. The yellow metal, long viewed as a safety asset, has been on a hot streak as of late. Earlier Wednesday, gold traded above $5,300 and ended the session up after the Federal Reserve held steady on interest rates. The run higher in gold is occurring as the U.S. dollar weakens. On Tuesday, the greenback posted its worst one-day decline since April 2025, touching its lowest level since February 2022. Spot gold was last up 2%.

Microsoft (MSFT) shares dropped almost 5% in extended trading. Capital expenditures and finance leases in the fiscal second quarter came in at $37.5 billion, surpassing the $34.31 billion consensus estimate. Adjusted earnings came out at $4.14 per share, higher than consensus expectations of $3.97 per share. Microsoft’s revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter was also higher than the expected $80.27 billion.

U.S. futures are mostly higher, European stocks are mostly higher and Asian markets ended mostly higher.

The national average price of gasoline is down five-tenths of a cent at $2.874 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

JPMorgan (JPM) reported earnings on 1/13/2026 before the market open with $4.63, missing estimates for $5.009 per share.

Goldman Sachs (GS) reported earnings on 1/15/2026 before the market open with $14.01, beating estimates for $11.776 per share.

3M (MMM) reported earnings on 1/20/2026 before the market open with $1.83, beating estimates for $1.807 per share.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported earnings on 1/21/2026 before the market open with $2.46, beating estimates for $2.434 per share.

Travelers (TRV) reported earnings on 1/21/2026 before the market open with $11.13, beating estimates for $8.419 per share.

Procter & Gamble (PG) reported earnings on 1/22/2026 before the market open with $1.88, beating estimates for $1.874 per share.

Boeing (BA) reported earnings on 1/27/2026 before the market open with $9.92, beating estimates for -$0.399 per share.

UnitedHealth (UNH) reported earnings on 1/27/2026 before the market open with $2.11, beating estimates for $2.093 per share.

IBM (IBM) reported earnings on 1/28/2026 after the market close with $4.52, beating estimates for $4.33 per share.

Microsoft (MSFT) reported earnings on 1/28/2026 after the market close with $4.14, beating estimates for $3.875 per share.

Caterpillar (CAT) reported earnings on 1/29/2026 before the market open with $5.16, beating estimates for $4.674 per share.

Sherwin Williams (SHW) reported earnings on 1/29/2026 before the market open with $2.23, beating estimates for $2.122 per share.

Honeywell (HON) reported earnings on 1/29/2026 before the market open with $2.59, beating estimates for $2.527 per share.

Apple (AAPL) reports earnings on 1/29/2026 after the market close.

Visa (V) reports earnings on 1/29/2026 after the market close.

American Express (AXP) reports earnings on 1/30/2026 before the market open.

Chevron (CVX) reports earnings on 1/30/2026 before the market open.

Verizon (VZ) reports earnings on 1/30/2026 before the market open.

Disney (DIS) reports earnings on 2/2/2026 before the market open.

Merck (MRK) reports earnings on 2/3/2026 before the market open.

Amgen (AMGN) reports earnings on 2/3/2026 after the market close.

Amazon (AMZN) reports earnings on 2/5/2026 after the market close.

Coca Cola (KO) reports earnings on 2/10/2026 before the market open.

McDonalds (MCD) reports earnings on 2/11/2026 before the market open.

Cisco (CSCO) reports earnings on 2/11/2026 after the market close.

Walmart (WMT) reports earnings on 2/19/2026 before the market open.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Caterpillar (CAT)

Caterpillar (CAT) 643.28 (+0.68%) is up +12.29% in 2026.

Financial Calendar

08:30 AM ET Exports (Nov), 302.00B
08:30 AM ET Imports (Nov), 331.40B
08:30 AM ET Initial Jobless Claims, 206K, 200K
08:30 AM ET Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg., 201.50K
08:30 AM ET Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ) (Q3), 4.9%, 4.1%
08:30 AM ET Trade Balance (Nov), -43.40B, -29.40B
08:30 AM ET Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) (Q3), -1.9%, -2.9%
10:00 AM ET Durables Excluding Defense (MoM) (Nov), 6.6%
10:00 AM ET Durables Excluding Transport (MoM) (Nov), 0.5%
10:00 AM ET Factory Orders (MoM) (Nov), 1.7%, -1.3%
10:00 AM ET Factory orders ex transportation (MoM) (Nov), -0.2%
10:00 AM ET Wholesale Inventories (MoM) (Nov), 0.2%, 0.5%
10:00 AM ET Wholesale Trade Sales (MoM) (Nov), -0.4%
10:30 AM ET Natural Gas Storage, -120B
11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction, 3.630%
11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction, 3.630%
12:00 AM ET Atlanta Fed GDPNow (Q4), 5.4%, 5.4%
13:00 PM ET 7-Year Note Auction, 3.930%
16:30 PM ET Fed’s Balance Sheet, 6,585B
16:30 PM ET Reserve Balances with Federal Reserve Banks, 2.957T