CNBC | Morning Squawk
IN THE NEWS TODAY
U.S. stock futures were lower this morning, due in part to a disappointing earnings report from Dow stock IBM (IBM). Closing modestly higher, Wall Street on Monday wiped out early losses on Morgan Stanley's downbeat quarter. (CNBC)
Earnings this morning feature three more Dow components: United Technologies (UTX), Travelers (TRV), and Verizon (VZ). Meanwhile, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) and Yahoo (YHOO) report after the bell. (CNBC)
IBM shares were sharply lower in premarket trading after announcing revenues that missed even the most pessimistic expectations and issuing weaker-than-expected guidance for the year. The latest earnings beat estimates. (CNBC)
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which according to its latest filing owned 79.57 million shares of IBM as of June 30, saw paper losses of more than $500 million on Big Blue's stock decline. (CNBC)
Yum Brands (YUM), behind KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, plans to separate its China and U.S. businesses into two independent, publicly traded companies. (CNBC)
Apple's (AAPL) new streaming music service has more than 6.5 million paid users , with another 8.5 million on free trials, said CEO Tim Cook, speaking at a Wall Street Journal tech event. He also talked about the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and car rumors.
Amazon (AMZN) is creating 100,000 seasonal jobs to deal with increased demand for the upcoming holiday shopping season . That's in addition to hiring 25,000 full-time jobs in recent months. (CNBC)
United Continental (UAL) has named its general counsel Brett Hart as acting chief executive, as well as confirming reports that new CEO Oscar Munoz suffered a heart attack last week. (CNBC)
DraftKings said an independent investigation has found that one of its employees did not use inside information to win $350,000 from rival fantasy sports site FanDuel. (NBC News)
Oscar Pistorius has been released on parole, just short of a year into his five-year sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. South Africa's "Blade Runner" still faces house arrest and a prosecutor appeal. (Reuters) (note by MG: A travesty of justice and example of the power of celebrity)
Federal officials are looking into reports that a personal AOL email account belonging to CIA Director John Brennan may have been hacked by a high school student. (NBC News)
Donald Trump still led all GOP presidential rivals with 25 percent support, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Meanwhile, Ben Carson remained in second place with 22 percent.
Jim Webb, who complained about time repeatedly during the first Democratic presidential debate, is considering running as an independent. (USA Today)
Mired in anemic economic growth, Canada voted in liberal Justin Trudeau, son of a former prime minister, delivering a stunning defeat to the current conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. (CNBC & Reuters)
BY THE NUMBERS
Fed Chair Janet Yellen gives opening remarks at a Labor Department event at 11 a.m. ET in Washington, D.C., while New York Fed President William Dudley and Fed Gov. Jerome Powell speak in New York City at 9:15 a.m. ET.
The Commerce Department releases housing starts and building permits for September at 8:30 a.m. ET, with forecasts calling for a starts increase of 1.8 percent after a 3.0 percent decline in August. Permits were expected to be unchanged last month after rising 2.7 percent in August.
While a new survey National Retail Federation found consumers plan to spend roughly the same amount this holiday season, they're planning to shell out 4 percent more on themselves and non-gift items.
In earnings news: Rambus (RMBS) was getting crushed in the premarket this morning, after the chipmaker late Thursday reported weaker-than-expected revenue and forward guidance. The company did, however, match estimates on earnings.
Sonic (SONC) soared in premarket trading, after the drive-in restaurant chain beat estimates on earnings and revenue. Same-store sales increased 7.3 percent.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Amsurg (AMSG) is offering to buy Team Health (TMH) for $71.47 per share in cash and stock, but Team Health has rebuffed the bid. The companies provide outsourced physician services to hospitals
Aetna's (AET) proposed acquisition of rival health insurer Humana (HUM) was approved by shareholders of both companies, and the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2016.
SanDisk (SNDK) is in advanced talks to be acquired by disk drive maker Western Digital (WDC), according to multiple reports. In other possible deal, Blackstone (BX) is said to be near a deal to buy New York City apartment complex Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village for about $5.3 billion.
Releasing details of its Civic redesign for 2016, Honda (HMC) said the new sedan, which is slightly bigger and lighter, gets more than 40-mile-per-gallon in highway driving.
Looking to help European brands sell into China, Alibaba (BABA) has appointed country-specific managers to run its offices in U.K. and Italy. Alibaba's move coincides with Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Britain.
The new Hershey's Kisses Deluxe, double the size of standard Kisses, goes on sale in the U.S. next month, the chocolate maker announced today. The product originally launched in China in 2013.
