Today’s Economic Shakers

Dow on track to touch on 20,000 as stock index futures rise before the opening bell...

It looks like the Dow Jones Industrial Average will finally reach the 20,000 level when the market opens Wednesday morning, based on the gains made in the index’s futures contracts.

Near futures contracts for the Blue-chip index rose by 101 points in the hours before today’s opening bell on Wall Street, which would be enough to push the Dow just above a level that is considered to be psychologically important for the markets.

The morning price action in the Dow’s futures comes on the tail of yesterday’s 0.57% gain, which pushed the Dow up to 19,912.

The benchmark S&P 500 index also saw a strong bump yesterday, gaining 0.65% on the day.

Today boasts a strong slate of earnings reports, and those companies that have reported before the bell have helped drive up the price of stock futures indices.

Alcoa Corp (AA) reported an expected increase in demand for aluminum in its earnings report, which was enough to drive its stock up by 4.7%.

This was the first year in decades that Alcoa didn’t open the earnings season, likely due to the company's shift of its corporate structure and focus last year.

Boeing Co (BA) saw its stock price gain in pre-market trading as the aircraft giant announced that it had beat earnings in Q-4. Boeing’s stock rose by 1.5% before the opening bell.

One commodities-based company, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) saw its own stock price fall by 3.7% in pre-market trading as it announced earnings that missed expectations, despite the recent increase in copper prices.

Later today some key companies are scheduled to announce earnings after the market closes, including ebay Inc (EBAY) and AT&T Inc (T).

In commodities, oil prices dropped by 0.65%, which can be partially attributed to expectations of excessive inventory when US government supply data is reported later today.

Hot Take-Away

Equity prices are jumping as investors move capital back into the higher-risk environment of stocks, pulling back from positions in bonds and gold.

What is notable is the low level of the VIX, also known as the fear gauge, which is touching very close to its lowest levels of the last 12 months.

With a new administration throwing curve balls into the political and economic arena, hedging your portfolio by purchasing volatility at these discounted prices is a smart move.

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Trump’s latest call for a US-Mexico border wall hikes stock prices for building materials companies...

In the latest example of how Trump’s agenda immediately impacts the stock market, a number of building-materials companies saw a jump in stock prices one day after the newly-minted President reaffirmed his intention to build a wall between Mexico and the US.

Seeing as a wall would require a huge amount of building materials, such as cement and concrete, in order to get built, a big bump in stock prices for key providers in the industry would make sense.

Some of the companies that saw immediate gains from investors recognizing the sector’s potential included Vulcan Materials Co., the leading sand and gravel supplier in the country, and Eagle Materials Inc., a top supplier of cement.

Vulcan saw its shares jump 2% in early morning trading, while across the pond, one of Germany’s largest cement providers, HeidelbergCement AG saw its stock leap to levels not seen in about 2 months.

Trump, who campaigned strongly on the promise of both the creation of a wall to limit the flow of Mexican immigrant-hopefuls into the US, as well as on a massive infrastructure effort, managed to show the markets that he was serious on both counts with his Twitter feed announcing that “we will build the wall!”