In what's becoming a daily habit, the Dow and the S&P 500 find themselves at record highs once again, with the "sell in May and go away" mentality seemingly absent from Wall Street's mentality. The S&P 500 has risen in 12 of the past 14 sessions and is up 2.2 percent for the month of May, already surpassing its April gains.
Investors will finally get a look at some economic data in what's been an extremely light week for such reports. At 8:30 a.m. ET, the Labor Department is out with its weekly initial jobless claims report, with economists expecting 335,000 new claims for the week ending May 4. That would be up from 324,000 the prior week.
At 10 a.m. ET, the government issues wholesale inventories for March, with consensus forecasts calling for a rise of 0.5 percent following February's 0.3 percent decline.
At 10:30 a.m. ET, the Energy Department issues its weekly look at natural gas inventories, and shortly after 1 p.m. ET, the Treasury will announce the results of an auction of $16 billion in 30-year bonds.
Earnings reports out this morning include the latest numbers from Cablevision (CVC), Dean Foods (DF), Carlyle Group (CG), and Dish Network (DISH). Priceline.com (PCLN), and Nvidia (NVDA) are among the companies set to release quarterly numbers after today's closing bell.
Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR) is among our stocks to watch, after announcing an expansion of its partnership with Starbucks (SBUX). The coffee retailer will triple the number of products offered on Green Mountain's Keurig Platform, and will continue the partnership for at least the next five years. At the same time, Green Mountain reported quarterly profit of $0.93 per share, excluding certain items, 19 cents above estimates.
Groupon (GRPN) reported first quarter profit of $0.03 per share, excluding certain items, matching Street estimates, while revenue exceeded analyst forecasts and rose at a faster than expected 7.5 percent rate.
News Corp. (NWSA) earned $0.36 per share for the third quarter, one cent above estimates, while revenues beat consensus as well. The company's results were helped by improved performance in its cable networks segment.
Activision Blizzard (ATVI) reported first quarter profit of $0.17 per share, six cents above estimates, while its revenues also came in above analyst consensus. However, it gave a cautious outlook for the remainder of the year because of slowing "World of Warcraft" game results as well as concerns about updates to video game consoles by companies like Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony.
Microsoft (MSFT) has named Amy Hood, the head of finance for its Office division, as its new chief financial officer.
Monster Beverage (MNST) earned $0.37 per share for the first quarter, missing estimates by nine cents, while revenue came up short as well. The energy drink maker saw higher operating expenses as well as negative impact from foreign currency transactions.
Transocean (RIG) reported first quarter profit of $0.93 per share, excluding certain items, seven cents below estimates, with revenues coming up shy of consensus as well. Equipment problems prevented Transocean's oil drilling rigs from operating for various periods of time during the quarter.
Sony (SNE) earned $948 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, its first annual profit in five years. Its results were helped by a weaker yen that boosted its overseas profits.
Barnes & Noble (BKS) is considering a Microsoft offer to pay $1 billion for the assets of its Nook division, according to TechCrunch.