Stocks futures fell early Wednesday, ahead of the weekly crude oil inventories figures as oil persists at high level and ahead of earnings from Morgan Stanley and FedEx as many hope to see clearer signs the credit crunch crisis has peaked and its effects begin to ease.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks fell sharply despite solid earnings from Goldman Sachs. Goldman, though, suggested more is to come in terms of the credit crisis. In addition, several economic figures on inflation, housing and industrial production further damped the sentiment on Wall Street. The Dow industrials fell 108 points, or 0.89%, the S&P 500 dropped 9 points, or 0.68%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 17 points, or 0.69%.

Not much is on the economic docket today. At 10:30 a.m. EDT, the government will report its weekly figures on fuel supplies. Oil prices edged above $134 in electronic trading ahead of that report and the meeting in Jeddah Sunday of oil producing and consuming nations. So far, it seems the promised increased production from the Saudis has not helped to lower the price of oil as it is weighed against increased global demand.

Investors wait for Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)'s turn to report quarterly results this morning. While Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) reported a $2.8 billion loss Monday and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) a $2.09 billion profit Tuesday, Morgan Stanley is expected to post a 59% decline in net income. Following Goldman's remarks yesterday on further losses in the sector, investors remain worried.

Also reporting today is FedEx (NYSE: FDX), which, because of its nature, is considered a barometer of economic activity. It will be important to see how oil prices have affected the delivery firm.

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) said Wednesday that it intends to offer $2.56 billion for Czech generic drugmaker Zentiva, topping an earlier offer from financial group PPF and pitting two of its largest shareholders against each other. The bid represents an 11% premium to PPF's offer.

Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) said on Tuesday it will cut its capacity later this year by 3-4% and cut staff because of high fuel prices.