Morning Brief

GOP health-care vote key to whether the Dow breaks its losing streak

Key Points

IN THE NEWS TODAY

U.S. stock futures were higher ahead of what's expected to be an afternoon House vote on the Obamacare replacement bill, which President Donald Trump has demanded. Trump said he's done negotiating. The Dow enters Friday on a six-session losing streak. (CNBC)

If the GOP health-care fails, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Trump will move on to other priorities, such as tax cuts for individuals and corporations, and leave Obamacare in place. (CNBC)

The revised GOP health plan would not cause any bigger drops in the number of uninsured Americans than the original bill, but would realize less budget savings, according to a new CBO analysis. (CNBC)

London authorities said they've made two "significant" arrests in connection with Wednesday's Westminster Bridge and Parliament terror attacks, which left five people dead, including the assailant, and 50 people injured. (CNBC)

A federal appeals court agreed to speed up consideration of Trump's revised executive order barring U.S. entry for people from six Muslim-majority countries, setting oral arguments for May 8. (WSJ)

Working to implement President Trump's vision for "extreme vetting," the State Department has ordered embassies and consulates to identify visa applicants who warrant additional scrutiny. (WSJ)

The much debated Canada-to-U.S. Keystone XL pipeline is expected to be approved by the U.S. State Department today after the Trump administration in January gave the project new life. (Reuters)

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said he'll oppose Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch and lead a filibuster against the nomination. (CNBC)

The CIA developed tools to spy on Macs by injecting software into computer chips, according to what WikiLeaks says is its latest cache of classified government documents. Apple said it fixed that vulnerability in 2013. (NY Times)

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes plans to give out shares of her personal stake in the embattled blood-testing startup to investors who promise not to sue the firm. Holmes would give up her majority stake. (WSJ)

The NFL is selling the rights to stream its "Thursday Night Football" games next season, with interest from at least Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, and Google's YouTube. Twitter won the rights last year. (Recode)

Twitter (TWTR) is considering a premium version of its popular Tweetdeck interface aimed at professionals, raising the possibility the social network could collect subscription fees for the first time. (Reuters)

BY THE NUMBERS

Investors get one major economic report to momentarily distract them from the health-care watch: the government is out with February durable goods orders at 8:30 a.m. ET.

A busy week for Fed commentary concludes speeches from Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, St. Louis President James Bullard, and New York Fed President William Dudley.

Under Armour (UAA) was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Jefferies, which also increased the price target 42 percent to $27 per share. UA has seen shares drop nearly 35 percent in 2017.

Apple's (AAPL) price target was raised 22 percent to $165 per share at Nomura/Instinet, which continues its "buy" rating. The firm sees the upcoming iPhone 8 outperforming expectations.

STOCKS TO WATCH

Micron Technology (MU) reporting adjusted quarterly profit of 90 cents per share, 4 cents above estimates. Revenue matched. The chipmaker issued upbeat forward guidance.

GameStop (GME) beat estimates by 9 cents with quarterly earnings of $2.38 per share. Revenue was slightly below. The video game retailer warned on outlook, and said it plans to close 2 to 3 percent of its stores this year.

Macy's (M) officially named Jeffrey Gennette as its new CEO, replacing Terry Lundgren who remains as the retailer's chairman. The stock has declined 21 percent so far this year.

Amazon (AMZN) has won a more than $1.5 billion tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over transactions involving a Luxembourg unit more than a decade ago.

WATERCOOLER

March Madness continues tonight, with the other four Sweet 16 games after No. 11 seed Xavier stunned No. 2 seed Arizona 73-71 last night. The Elite 8 begins tomorrow night. (CBS)

The U.S. men's national soccer team, after losing its first two games in the final round of World Cup qualifying, enters tonight's match against Honduras badly in need of a win. (NY Times)