By John E. Fitzgibbon, Jr.

Before the Bell - Wednesday, Oct. 24

In pre-market trading, stock futures have been trading ranging from a plus reading to a minus reading -- indicating that stocks will have a mixed opening when the bell rings at the corner of Broad and Wall Streets.

Economic data on tap today: The Federal Reserve's "Beige Book" will be released at 2:00 pm, giving anecdotal evidence on the health of the economy in the Fed's 12 regional districts.

The earnings well has not run dry yet either. It'll be another busy as more than 300 companies are expected to report quarterly earnings.

Earnings reports before the bell (all Dow components):
AMR (NYSE: AMR) reported a third-quarter loss of $2.68 a share, below Thomson Financial/First Call consensus loss of $2.67 a share. The company reported a profit of $1.96 a year-ago; Dupont (NYSE: DD) reported earnings of $0.12 a share beating estimates of $0.10 a share. The company reported a profit of $0.51 a year-ago; Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) reported earnings of $0.52 a share, inline with estimates. The company reported a profit of $1.36 a year-ago. Eastman Kodak said fourth-quarter profits would not likely exceed $0.15 a share on an operational basis. Thomson Financial/First Call consensus estimate is $0.46 a share. Honeywell (NYSE: HON) reported earnings of $0.44 a share, inline with estimates. The company reported a profit of $0.35 a year-ago; Sears Roebuck (NYSE: S) reported earnings of $0.80 a share, inline with estimates of $0.80 a share. The company reported a profit of $0.81 a year-ago.

Overseas markets:
European stocks are trading mostly higher.
Asian stocks finished mixed

���