10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

ROB WILE

 JUL. 29, 2014

REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Good morning! Here’s what you need to know.

Xi Cracks Down. The Chinese Communist Party has announced a corruption probe into the most high-ranking official to date, looking into unspecified charges against former security chief  Zhou Yongkang. From the NYT’s Chris Buckley: “Charges against Mr. Zhou could well center on the fortunes made by members of his family, often in sectors once under his sway. An investigation by The New York Times showed that Mr. Zhou’s son, a sister-in-law and his son’s mother-in-law held assets worth some $1 billion, much of it in the oil and gas sector that was Mr. Zhou’s political fiefdom, where he could shape decisions and promotions.”  

Russia In Violation Of Missile Treaty. The U.S. declared Russia had transgressed a Reagan-era arms treaty by illicitly testing a cruise missile in the last few years. It’s not exactly clear what the consequences of the violation will be. “Mr. Obama has determined that the United States will not retaliate against the Russians by violating the treaty and deploying its own prohibited medium-range system, officials said,” the New York Times’ Michael Gordon reported. “So the responses might include deploying sea- and air-launched cruise missiles, which would be an allowable under the accord.”

Goldman: Consumer Spending Trends Are Plateauing. In a new note the bank downgrades Wal-Mart to neutral, saying consumers are shying away from everything-store types like the Bentonville-based giant and Target, in favor of ecommerce. Goldman also says, “We expect consumer spending trends to plateau at or near current levels as our discretionary cash flow measure essentially holds its recent clip.”

Summers: Save the Export-Import bank. In an interview with the New Republic, the former Treasury Secretary said canceling it would be unilaterally kneecapping ourselves. “Probably at this moment, the greatest threat to open market capitalism comes from state-driven mercantilism capitalism, often carried on by authoritarian governments,” he said. “They do not seek a level playing field. They seek a playing field that is tilted in their favor through the use of a variety of kinds of subsidized credits. The best and most credible way of deterring and limiting that behavior is to have a capacity to respond so that it does not produce commercial advantages. That’s what the Ex-Im bank enables us to do.”

BP Falls. Shares were down 1.2% pre-market after the British oil giant’s profit climbed YOY but off from the prior quarter. They also warned they could yet be impacted by sanctions against Russia. They own a 19.75% stake in Rosneft. 

Merck Climbs. The drug giant was up 1% after reporting earnings and revenue that beat forecasts. Adjusted came in at $0.85/share versus $0.81/share expected, and revenue hit $10.93 billion versus $10.59 billion expected. 

Aetna Surges. The insurance provider was up 5% pre-market after reporting record revenues that topped forecasts and announcing record membership. Receipts came in at $14.49 billion.  

Data. At 9 a.m. we get the latest Case-Shiller home price index reading. Consensus is for a month-over-month gain of 0.4%. Then at 10 a.m. we get Conference Board Consumer Confidence — expectations are for a reading of 85.5, up from 85.2 prior. 

Earnings. Before the bell: Aetna, BP, Deutsche Bank, Honda, Merck, New York Times, Pfizer, UBS, UPS, and Wynn. After: AmEx, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Marriott, and Twitter.

Markets. Stocks are up around the world. European markets are up with Britain’s FTSE, France’s CAC, and Germany’s DAX each up 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.5%. U.S. futures are marginally higher.