Futures Drift Ahead of Goldman Earnings

Futures Drift Ahead of Goldman Earnings

By: CNBC.com | 14 Jul 2009 | 06:19 AM ET

Earnings season may have "officially" gotten underway with last week's release by Dow component Alcoa, [AA  9.66    0.32  (+3.43%)   ] but it kicks into full gear Tuesday with two very significant pre-market releases: quarterly numbers from Goldman Sachs [GS  149.44    7.57  (+5.34%)   ] and Dow stock Johnson & Johnson [JNJ  57.72    0.79  (+1.39%)   ] .

• Dow 30: Extra-Hours Quotes (http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/mmm,aa,t,axp,bac,ba,cat,csco,cvx,ko,dd,xom,ge,hpq,hd,intc,ibm,jpm,jnj,kft,mcd,mrk,msft,pfe,pg,trv,utx,vz,wmt,dis)
• Pre-Markets/Futures Data (http://www.cnbc.com/id/17689937/)

Both of those are expected at about 8 am New York time. After the closing bell, investors will be focused on earnings releases from computer chip giant Intel, [INTC  16.49    0.45  (+2.81%)   ] smaller chipmaker Altera, [ALTR  16.37    0.34  (+2.12%)   ] and KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut parent Yum Brands [YUM  35.67    0.69  (+1.97%)   ] .

The morning earnings reports will be significant in determining whether stocks keep their newfound momentum - with Monday’s gains by the major averages being the best one-day advances since June 1. 

Some economic numbers will also play a part in shaping investor moods, with June numbers for the Producer Price Index and retail sales due out at 8:30 am. Economists expect wholesale inflation to have risen 0.8 percent in June, with retail sales posting an increase of 0.4 percent.

At 10 am, the government releases May numbers on business inventories, with consensus forecasts calling for a drop of 0.8 percent.

While investors await Goldman's numbers, the Financial Times is reporting that company executives sold nearly $700 million in stock since the collapse of rival Lehman Brothers last year, much of it during the time after Goldman took $10 billion in TARP money.

Dell [DELL  13.02    -0.20  (-1.51%)   ] will hold an analyst meeting this morning, but is already signaling what issues it may address: the computer maker says it's seeing stabilization in its product markets, though customers are still deferring some IT purchases.

- Written by Peter Schacknow, Senior Producer, CNBC.com