Before The Bell – The Action So Far

Stock futures fell on Tuesday ahead of home sales report due today. In addition, fears of a global slowdown prompted traders to sell equities heavily, and the Japanese Yen soaring to 15 year high against the US Dollar added to the southbound futures. Futures on the DOW shed 70 points to 10,087; futures on the S&P 500 shed 8.3 points to 1,057; and futures on the NASDAQ shed 13.50 points to 1,796. The DJIA fell on Monday as optimism about M&A deals faded due to economic worries. The DJIA closed at 10,174.41, shedding 39.21 points. On the corporate front, Big Lots Inc BIG reports its Q2 diluted EPS at $0.48, beating the consensus of $0.47 . BIG reports its Q2 revenue at $1.14 billion, as compared to the estimates of $1.15 billion. BIG’s shares gained 0.13% to $31.79 in after-hours trading. Medtronic MDT reports its Q1 adjusted EPS at $0.80, missing the consensus of $0.81 . MDT reports its Q1 revenue at $3.77 billion, as compared to the estimates of $3.95 billion. MDT’s shares rose 0.63% to close at $34.99 yesterday. Barnes and Noble BKS and Burger King Holdings (NYSE: BKC are scheduled to report quarterly earnings before the market opens. Global miner Rio Tinto RTP is reportedly in talks with a Chinese company to acquire Potash Corp of Saskatchewan POT, flowing a failed hostile takeover bid by BHP Billiton BHP. According to Canada’s “Globe & Mail” website, "is said to be considering a bid alongside a Chinese player” in a race to acquire Potash. Meanwhile, the bidding war for 3Par Inc. PAR continues. Dell DELL is preparing to re-launch its bid for 3Par after its earlier bid was topped by rival Hewlett-Packard's $1.6 billion bid for the data storage company, according to a report on Bloomberg's website. July “Existing Home Sales” report is set to be released Tuesday morning at 10 AM EST. If the actual number reaches the projected sales of 4.65 million homes, it will be the weakest since March 2009, when 4.61 million homes were sold. On the global front, South Africa's real gross domestic product grew 3.2% in the second quarter from the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis, official data showed on Tuesday. Most economists expected growth of 3.7%. Industrial orders across the Euro zone rose 2.5% in June, and were up 22.6% compared to the same month last year, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat reported Tuesday. Orders rose by a revised 4.1% in May. The Yen soared to a 15-year high against the Dollar and a 9-year high against the Euro on Tuesday. The USD/JPY stands at 84.72.