Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Tuesday, Feb. 19:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were suggesting Wall Street would open higher Tuesday after a three-day holiday weekend.

European shares were rising after Germany's ZEW expectations index topped economists' forecasts.

Asian stocks ended Tuesday's session mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3% to 11,372.34.

2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. Tuesday includes the NAHB Housing Market Index for February at 10 a.m. EST.

3. -- U.S. stocks on Friday ended mixed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tacked on 8 points, or 0.1%, to close at 13,982. The Dow closed off 0.1% last week.

The S&P 500 dipped 1.6 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 1,520. The index added 0.1% for the week. The Nasdaq was off 6.6 points, or 0.2%, to close at 3,192. The tech-heavy index lost 0.1% last week.

Markets in the U.S. were closed Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.

4. -- OfficeMax(OMX) and Office Depot(ODP) , facing stiff competition, are in advanced talks to merge, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

The deal is expected to be stock-for-stock, though precise terms couldn't be learned, the newspaper said.

A deal isn't done yet, and talks could still fall apart. But an announcement could come as early as this week, the people told the Journal.

5. -- Dell(DELL) , the personal computer maker, is expected by Wall Street Tuesday to post fourth-quarter earnings of 39 cents a share on revenue of $14.12 billion.

Dell reached a deal earlier this month to go private in a $24.4 billion deal.