The next few weeks will be marked by a barrage of economic reports that had been delayed by the recent government shutdown, with today's September jobs report most prominent among them. Stocks come off a day of little movement for the major averages, ahead of a busy few days of earnings and economic numbers.
The jobs report will be out at 8:30 a.m. ET, with economists looking for 180,000 new non-farm jobs for September, and the unemployment rate remaining steady at 7.3 percent. Other delayed reports today include the Energy Department's look at natural gas inventories at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Dow components Dupont (DD), Travelers (TRV), and United Technologies (UTX) lead this morning's list of corporate earnings reports, joined by Coach (COH), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Harley-Davidson (HOG), Kimberly-Clark (KMB), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Lexmark (LXK), State Street (STT), and Whirlpool (WHR), among others. After-the-bell reports today include quarterly numbers from Amgen (AMGN), Broadcom (BRCM), Altera (ALTR), Juniper Networks (JNPR), and Robert Half (RHI).
Netflix (NFLX) leads our list of stocks to watch, reporting third quarter profit of 52 cents per share, three cents above estimates. The video service also predicted current quarter profit above current Street consensus, and also said it expected to add more than two million domestic subscribers during this quarter.
J.C. Penney (JCP) has announced a revised partnership agreement with Martha Stewart Living (MSO), in an effort to resolve an ongoing legal dispute with Macy's (M). Macy's is suing Martha Stewart for allegedly violating an exclusive merchandising agreement.
VMWare (VMW) earned 84 cents per share for the third quarter, excluding certain items, two cents above estimates. The maker of cloud software also said it is seeing strong licensing revenue growth, and that it expects this trend to continue into 2014.
Discover Financial (DFS) reported third quarter profit of $1.20 per share, one cent short of estimates. The credit card issuer's results were impacted by an increase in money reserved to cover defaults.
Rent-A-Center (RCII) fell 11 cents short of estimates by reporting third quarter profit of 51 cents per share, and its revenue was below Street consensus as well. The equipment rental company cut its full year revenue growth forecast, and predicted full year earnings below analyst estimates.
Texas Instruments (TXN) beat estimates by three cents with third quarter profit of 56 cents per share, but its current quarter forecast falls short of consensus. The shortfall comes amid flagging demand for chips used in cars, appliances, and industrial products.
TJX (TJX) raised its third quarter outlook above Street estimates, with the retailer also predicting a quarterly comp store sales increase of four percent. TJX had previously seen same-store sales growth at 2-3 percent.
CIT Group (CIT) has reinstated its dividend, with the financing company declaring a quarterly payout of 10 cents per share.
QEP Resources (QEP) now has hedge fund Jana Partners as its largest shareholder, with an SEC filing indicating Jana has taken a 7.5 percent stake in the oil producer.
Activision Blizzard (ATVI) CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly now hold a more than 25 percent stake in the videogame maker. That follows completion of the $8.2 billion deal to buy back most of the shares held by France's Vivendi.