Futures Down Ahead of Big Earnings Reports 📉

The Dow edged out a 0.3% gain on Tuesday, while the rest of the large-cap benchmarks fell. The S&P 500 posted a small fractional loss, while the Nasdaq and Russell 2K both fell 0.2%.

Today, futures are heading lower in early-morning trading. S&P 500 contracts are currently down 0.7%.

💰 Jittery Investors Move to Cash: New data shows inflows to money-market funds are at their highest levels since 2020, a sign that uncertain market conditions are driving more investors to flee for safety.

News Corp is moving on reports of a key asset sale.

On Tuesday evening, the media giant confirmed it's talking with CoStar Group [CSGP] about a potential sale of Move Inc, the operator of Realtor.com.

News Corp says a potential deal would enhance the value of its digital real estate services segment.

However, the company specified that there's no assurance the talks will result in a deal.

NWS is leading the S&P 500 with a 4.6% gain in today's premarket.

My Take: Nice little premarket bump for NWS, but the stock could see more gains if the talks result in a deal. This could be worth keeping an eye on in the days ahead.

A premarket announcement is boosting shares of Sonoma Pharma.

This morning, the pharma firm said its Microcyn Rx products have received a Distribution and Pricing Agreement (DAPA) from the Defense Logistics Agency.

The DAPA agreement allows the company's partner, EMC Pharma, to enter into distribution deals with federal customers.

The U.S. federal government is the world's largest purchaser of goods & services, and the company believes the deal is a "major step."

SNOA is up 67.5% on the news, making it one of this morning's top-performing stocks.

My Take: SNOA's federal deal could boost its revenues in the months ahead, but we won't know its true top-line impact for quite some time.

Cidara Therapeutics just made a big announcement.

The biotech firm announced an FDA advisory panel has recommended approval of rezafungin for the treatment of candidemia and invasive candidiasis.

Cidara said the approval was based on clinical data from a global ReSTORE Phase 3 trial and supported by its STRIVE Phase 2 trials.

The FDA is not bound by the Advisory Committee's recommendation, but generally gives it significant consideration when making its decision.

News of the FDA ruling sent CDTX to a 33.6% premarket gain.

My Take: Sounds like CDTX's drug is on course for approval, but how much of that good news is already priced into the stock as of today's rally? There could be some opportunity to sneak in on a pull-back, just be careful you don't get caught holding the bag. .

First Wave BioPharma [FWBI] - Last Close: $4.42

First Wave Bio is rallying on news of a patent filing.

The biotech firm said it filed a U.S. Provisional Patent application on the composition of matter improvements to enhance adrulipase's delayed release profile.

The filing adds to First Wave's growing portfolio of intellectual property governing adrulipase.

The company has pending patent applications on the drug's formula, methods of use, and the utilization of enteric formulations in adrulipase's delivery.

FWBI jumped 26.7% after announcing the new patent application.

My Take: FWBI could get another boost if this patent application is approved. However, this is a very tiny-float stock with a high short rate of 8.67%, so there could be some targeted market manipulation in play here.

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International Business Machines Corporation [IBM] ...PM
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CSX Corporation [CSX] ... PM