Morning Brief

Four straight days of modest gains on Wall Street are likely to extend to a fifth today, following a blowout quarterly report from chipmaker and Dow component Intel (INTC). Intel's quarterly profit of 43 cents a share beat estimates by five cents a share and revenue also beat consensus handily. That comes after the Dow, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq finished Tuesday trading at fresh multi-year highs.

Intel wasn't the only prominent company to report an upbeat quarter. Dow transportation component CSX (CSX) also beat estimates and saw quarterly earnings jump 22 percent.
Comments by Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker might also get some attention from investors today. He is expected to tell a West Virginia audience that the time is drawing nearer for the Fed to drop its "extended period" language where low interest rates are concerned. That will focus even more attention on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress this morning, with that hearing scheduled to begin at 10am ET.

Several major economic reports will be released at 8:30am ET. The March Consumer Price Index is expected to edge higher by 0.1%, following an unchanged reading in February, with the core rate also up 0.1%. Retail sales likely rose 1.3% last month after a 0.3% increase in February.

Other numbers out today include the weekly look at mortgage applications from the Mortgage Bankers Association at 7am ET, and the government's look at February business inventories. Consensus forecasts call for a 0.4% rise in inventories following an unchanged reading in January.

At 2pm ET, the Fed is out with its Beige Book regional assessment of the nation's economy.
We'll watch shares of Toyota (TM) once again today, as the automaker announces it will temporarily stop selling the Lexus GX 460 SUV, following the Consumer Reports test which showed an increased danger of rollover.