Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Wednesday, Feb. 20:

1. -- U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday as deals news fueled investor sentiment.

European stocks were trading mixed while Asian shares ended the session in the green. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.8%.

2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. Wednesday includes housing starts and building permits for January at 8:30 a.m. EST, and the Producer Price Index for January, also at 8:30 a.m.

The Federal Open Market Committee plans to release minutes of its January meeting at 2 p.m.

3. -- U.S. stocks on Tuesday finished with gains, with the benchmark S&P 500 hitting a five-year high, as investor sentiment improved on another set of deals headlines.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 54 points, or 0.4%, to 14,036. The S&P 500 added 11 points, or 0.7%, to close at 1,531. The Nasdaq tacked on 22 points, or 0.7%, to finish at 3,214.

4. -- Dell's (DELL) fourth-quarter earnings and revenue topped Wall Street estimates.

The PC maker reported fourth-quarter non-GAAP earnings of 40 cents a share on $14.3 billion in revenue, down 11% year over year, but up 4% over the previous quarter. The company noted that networking was strong, with revenue from the segment growing 42%.

Analysts were looking for earnings of 39 cents a share on revenue of $14.1 billion.

Citing the announcement to take the company private, Dell is not providing an outlook for its fiscal 2014 or the first quarter.

5. -- Tesla Motors(TSLA) is expected by analysts Wednesday to report a fourth-quarter loss of 53 cents a share on revenue of $298.9 million.