Morning Brief

Stocks are expected to open higher as earnings season accelerates

BY THE NUMBERS

Futures were higher this morning after the Dow and S&P 500 failed to hold gains and finished the day lower. The S&P 500 has fallen in seven of the past eight sessions, while the Dow is lower in six of the past eight trading days. (CNBC)

Dow components — UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and Goldman Sachs (GS) — are out with quarterly earnings this morning. Dow component IBM (IBM), Netflix (NFLX), and United Continental (UAL) are among the names out after the bell. (CNBC)

September industrial production figures will be out at 9:15 a.m. ET. At 10 a.m. ET, the National Association of Home Builders is out with its October Housing Market Index. At the same time, the government will be issuing its August "JOLTS" report. (CNBC)

IN THE NEWS TODAY

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Saudi Arabia today for talks with King Salman over missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi. President Donald Trump has said the journalist could have been murdered by "rogue killers." (AP)

NBC News reported the Saudi Arabian government is considering a plan to admit that missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia has insisted that Khashoggi left safely on Oct. 2.

* Saudi Arabia could hike oil prices over the Khashoggi case. Here's why it would backfire (CNBC)

After visiting storm-ravaged communities in Florida this week, Trump again declined to acknowledge climate change. He said the spate of storms wouldn't prompt him to rethink his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. (NY Times)

Venture capitalist and GOP megadonor Peter Thiel dropped $250,000 into Trump's joint fundraising committee, according to a new Federal Election Commission filing. Thiel made the contribution to the Trump Victory Committee in July. (CNBC)

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Trump reassured him that he has his "100 percent" full support. That comment came even after the president said in an interview that the secretary's resignation could be imminent. (WSJ)

Trump offered to donate $1 million to charity if Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of his potential 2020 rivals, took a DNA test proving her Native American heritage. Now Warren wants the president to pay up. (CNBC)

Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen died yesterday afternoon at 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The Seattle billionaire disclosed earlier this month that he was receiving treatment for the disease. (CNBC)

Blue Origin founder and Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos predicted at an anniversary summit in San Francisco that we'll have 1 trillion humans in the solar system one day — and he laid out how the rocket company plans to help get there. (CNBC)

Facebook (FB) banned from its platform a broad variety of false statements about voting in the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections. The social network has been under pressure to avoid a repeat of the misinformation campaigns in 2016. (Axios)

STOCKS TO WATCH

J.B. Hunt Transport (JBHT) reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.47 per share, nine cents above estimates, though the shipping company's revenue did miss forecasts. The bottom line was helped by rising shipment volumes and higher prices.

Adobe Systems (ADBE) reaffirmed its full-year earnings and revenue targets. The software company also said it expects 2019 revenue growth of about 20 percent.

Twilio (TWLO) is buying email technology firm SendGrid (SEND) in an all-stock deal valued at about $2 billion. The cloud communications firm is paying about $36.92 per share for SendGrid, a premium of more than 19 percent over its Monday close.

JELD-WEN Holding (JELD) released preliminary third-quarter results that fall below Street forecasts, and lowered its full-year guidance. The door and window maker also announced that Chief Financial Officer Brooks Mallard is leaving on November 8, and will be replaced by Senior Vice President John Linker.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) named former Google executive Amit Singh as president. At the same time, the cybersecurity software provider also reiterated its current quarter earnings guidance.

Qualcomm (QCOM) and the Federal Trade Commission have asked a judge to delay a ruling in an ongoing antitrust case against the chip maker, as the two sides try to work out a settlement. The FTC suit against Qualcomm alleges that the company engaged in anti-competitive practices in the mobile phone chip market.

WATERCOOLER

It appears a wrong has been righted. In a beta release, Apple (AAPL) replaced its bagel emoji with a new icon that features both cream cheese and a doughier consistency more reminiscent of a fresh, hand-rolled bagel. (The Verge)