Wall Street on track to extend big comeback

IN THE NEWS TODAY

U.S. stock futures were higher this morning, following Wednesday's big reversal, which saw the Dow stage its biggest comeback since November 2008, putting the measure on track for its second positive week in a row. (CNBC)

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who had pushed for higher interest rates, last night reiterated opposition to further hikes due to what he called, "declining market-based inflation expectations." (Reuters)

Oil prices pared losses this morning, as global overproduction and slowing economic growth seemed to outweigh strong gasoline demand and lower U.S. crude output. U.S. oil prices overcame a 4 percent decline Wednesday to settle up nearly 1 percent. (Reuters)

Chinese shares tumbled today, amid tighter liquidity, with the Shanghai composite lost 6.4 percent to around a three-week low. Meanwhile, traders said China's central injected about $52 billion into the money markets. (CNBC & Reuters)

The risk of the world economy falling into a recession is rising as fundamentals remain poor, according to Citigroup, which defines a global recession as growth below 2 percent, differing from the usual requirement of GDP falling for two consecutive quarters. (CNBC)

Apple (AAPL) engineers have already begun developing new security measures that would make it impossible for the government to break into a locked iPhone using methods similar to those now at the center of a court fight in California. (NY Times)

Complying with a court order to help the FBI break into an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters would be "bad for America," and set a legal precedent that would offend many Americans, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview. (Reuters)

Shares of Sharp tanked 14 percent in Japan, after the board of the struggling electronics giant voted unanimously to accept a $5.8 billion takeover offer by Taiwan's Foxconn, a major Apple supplier. (Reuters)

Shares of Restoration Hardware (RH) plummeted about 20 percent in premarket trading, after the luxury furniture retailer delivered disappointing preliminary earnings and pointedly blamed the market turmoil. (CNBC)

Sears (SHLD) this morning reported a . K-mart and Sears domestic same store sales declined 7.2 percent and 6.9 percent respectively. Kohl's (KSS) also reports earnings this morning. (AP)

The possible choice of Nevada's GOP governor for the Supreme Court vacancy could give President Barack Obama a shot at breaking the planned Senate Republican block of any election-year confirmation. (AP)

BY THE NUMBERS

On today's economic calendar, the government reports weekly jobless claims and January durable goods, both at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Following Bullard's comments last night, the Fed-speak continues today, with Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart addressing a banking conference at 8:15 a.m. ET, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams talking about the economy at noon ET.

Best Buy (BBY) and Campbell Soup (CPB) report quarterly results before the opening bell, while Gap (GPS), Kraft Heinz (HNZ), Herbalife (HLF), and Weight Watchers (WTW) are out with earnings after the bell this afternoon.

IBM (IBM) holds its annual investor conference today, as shares of the Dow component hit a seven-year low earlier this month.

STOCKS TO WATCH

Continental Resources (CLR), run by billionaire Harold Hamm, swung to a fourth-quarter loss, hurt by the drop in crude prices. The oil and gas producer plans to cut capital spending by 66 percent this year.

Anheuser Busch Inbev (BUD) missed forecasts on revenue, facing pressure from falling currencies in emerging markets. But the brewer said it's still on track to take over SABMiller later this year.

HP Incorporated (HPQ), which separated from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in November, matched expectations on earnings and revenue but issued conservative forward guidance.

Salesforce.com (CRM) matched estimates on earnings, with a slight beat on revenue. The cloud software maker raised its full-year outlook, saying customers are stepping up purchases despite economic uncertainty.

WATERCOOLER

As cybercrime surges as an economic threat to U.S. companies, companies are unprepared or unable to tackle the problem, according to a biennial survey by PwC. (WSJ)

Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google has introduced a new feature to display search results for newsy topics in a horizontal carousel with the option of clicking links labeled AMP, or Accelerated Mobile Pages. (NY Times)