Good morning an Best of Success!

Hey there folks, 
I am getting a late start this morning. 
Two down days in a row for the indexes and it looks like we may get a continuation today.  No reason to start panicking. Mergers and acquisitions continue to be active metals and miners continue to climb and oil company stocks are still looking constructive.  

Stocks on the Radar
SSNI finally closed over 10 looking for potential continuation, VBLT pr thin one gapping don't chase it, CLNE pr daily not bad more of a swing, LOCO nice daily, TWTR big time Cramer pump and a nice looking daily but I wouldn't chase it, ONCY pr potential dolla holla, CDXS potential red to green, BLRX gaping off phase 1 data, FXCM pop off selling another division,
ISR and RADA for possible continuation, LL teleconference @ 10 eastern could get jiggy, SGNL potential continuation, EKSO upgrade Buddy Spec stock of 2015

CNBC in the NEWS

	IN THE NEWS TODAY

Kraft Foods (KRFT) has agreed to merge with ketchup maker H.J. Heinz, which is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) and Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital. (CNBC) U.S. stock futures were searching for direction this morning, after Wall Street logged a second straight down day-snapping the streak of nine consecutive sessions of alternating gains and losses. (CNBC) The dollar index-down about 2.5 percent in the past week-remained rather flatin early trading, as investors continued to seek clarity on the timing of a Fed interest rate hike. (CNBC) Policymakers should be "quite confident" that inflation is headed back to a healthy 2 percent before raising rates, dovish Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said today in a speech. (Reuters) Experts are examining the black box recorder found at the scene of thecrash of the Germanwings Airbus A320 plane, as the airline, aircraft manufacturer, and authorities to try to figure out what caused Tuesday'splunge into the French Alps. | Photos (CNBC) Investigators in Massachusetts were seeking the renters of a house for sale that was intricately wired to explode and cause "significant destruction" if someone had simply flipped a light switch. (NBC News) Jurors deciding the outcome of a gender discrimination lawsuit against prestigious Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins are set to hear more closing arguments today. (AP) Google (GOOG) is currently working on a project called, Pony Express, to allow users to pay their bills within Gmail. The new service is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter. (Re/code) When Mark Zuckerberg takes the stage this afternoon at this year's F8 developers conference, he won't just be talking about Facebook's (FB) signature social network. (CNBC) The prime minister of India is teaming up with Twitter (TWTR) to launch a new service allowing government officials to send tweets via SMS text message in a move to boost e-governance. (CNBC) Standard General has raised its bid to buy about 1,740 stores of bankrupt electronics retailer RadioShack in a court-supervised auction. The hedge fund would operate most of them in conjunction with Sprint (S). (Reuters) House Republicans plan to employ an unusual measure to ensure their annual budget includes additional funds for the Pentagon when the measure comes to a vote today. (USA Today)

	BY THE NUMBERS

One key government economic report is set for release ahead of the opening bell, with February durable goods orders out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists are looking for a 0.2 percent increase, following January's 2.8 percent rise. The Energy Department's usual Wednesday assessment of oil and gasoline inventories at 10:30 a.m. ET-a report that's being watched closely because of the oversupply concerns in the crude market. Mortgage applications soared to their highest level since January last week, thanks to the lowest interest rates since February. Total volume rose 9.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Payroll processing company Paychex (PAYX) is among the companies releasing quarterly earnings this morning, while retailer Five Below (FIVE), clothing maker PVH (PVH), and software maker Red Hat (RHT) are out with quarterly numbers after the closing bell. Sonic (SONC) reported late Tuesday adjusted earnings and revenue thatbeat expectations. Comparable restaurant sales were up 21 percent, although the fast food chain's earnings outlook was on the conservative side.

	STOCKS TO WATCH

In buyback news: Dow stock Merck (MRK) is increasing its stock repurchase program by up to $10 billion. Separately, AutoZone (AZO) is adding $750 million to the auto parts retailer's current stock repurchase program. Nationstar Mortgage (NSM) announced a secondary stock offering of 17.5 million shares. Meanwhile, Ocwen Financial (OCN) is selling an additional $25 billion of residential mortgage servicing rights to a subsidiary of Nationstar. American Express (AXP) CEO Ken Chenault outlines the financial services giant's future plans in a presentation to investors today. American Express, another Dow component, has faced bumpy times in recent months, including the loss of its long-standing partnership with Costco (COST). Lexmark (LXK) is buying customer service software maker Kofax (KFX) for $11 per share in cash, or about $1 billion. The price represents a nearly 47 premium to Kofax's Tuesday closing price. Hertz Global (HTZ) said it received a notice from the NYSE that it's out of compliance with the exchange's listing requirements because of a late filing of its annual report. That comes as the car rental giant is in the process of restating past results because of accounting errors.

Seeking Alpha

Today's economic calendar:
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:30 Durable Goods
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
11:30 Results of $13B, 2-Year FRN Auction
1:00 PM Results of $35B, 5-Year Note Auction

Notable earnings before today's open: APOL, DXLG, FRAN, LDOS, LNN, PAYX, YGE

Notable earnings after today's close: FIVE, FNV, FUL, OTIV, PSUN, PVH, RHT, TGB, VRNT, WOR