Stock futures were higher this morning, indicating Wall Street could start on a positive note, continuing yesterday's late-session rally as investors hope for further rate cuts. Investors will also examine more economic data and earnings today.

In what has become usual on Wall Street, the bleak new-home sales numbers reported Monday actually helped push stocks higher as it reignited speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a half-point this week. The Dow industrials finished up 176 points, or 1.45%, the S&P 500 was up 23 points, or 1.76%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 23 points, or 1.02%.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to open the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting Tuesday afternoon. The decided policy announcement usually comes at the conclusion of the meeting, that is tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. EST. The key rate now stands at 3.5% after the Fed had cut rates by three-quarter-point in an emergency meeting last week. Many economists believe the Fed will lower its key rate by as much as one-half percentage point to 3%. Banks will then lower the prime rate, helping lenders get loans at lower rates.

A number of economic readings Tuesday include some more housing data:

• RealtyTrac already reported foreclosure data. The number of foreclosures soared by 75% in 2007, with 405,000 households losing their home, with total foreclosure filings soared 97% in December alone compared with December of 2006.
  
• At 8:30 a.m. EST, December durable goods orders is due.
  
• At 9 a.m., the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for November is released.
• At 10 a.m. January consumer confidence will be reported. The Census Bureau will also give its report on fourth-quarter home ownership and the number of vacant homes for sale on the market.

Overseas, most Asian stock markets rebounded Tuesday. European markets were also higher by midday.

On Wall Street, investors will have not only all that data to digest, but several earnings report as well including 3M (NYSE: MMM) and Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) before the opening bell, and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) after the close.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) reported a 10% profit dip during the fourth quarter, claiming that setting high standards for prospective cardholders helps guard against some credit problems, but not all of them. AXP still wrote off loans in the United States at a rate of 4.3% in the fourth quarter of 2007, up from 3.7% in the third quarter but below the average. Offsetting that somewhat was higher spending by individuals and small businesses, which boosted the fees it gets from merchants. American Express anticipates rising write-offs and much slower profit growth in 2008 and shares are declining 2.9% in premarket trading.

Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) said fourth-quarter earnings fell 52% to $472 million, or 49 cents a share because costs for oil- and gas-based raw materials outpaced price gains. Profit excluding some costs was 84 cents, topping the 80-cent average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales rose 16% to a record $14.2 billion. DOW shares are up nearly 1.8% in premarket trading.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LINTA) attempted Monday to gain control of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI).

VMware Inc (NYSE: VMW), which saw its shares quadruple in value after an August initial public offering, has experienced declines since November and were trading over 24% lower in premarket trading. The company reported more than double the profit on quarterly revenue growth of 80% that fell short of Wall Street expectations and forecast a slowdown in sales growth, expecting revenue growth of 50% in 2008, versus 88% in 2007.