U.S. stock futures are higher in pre-market trading for Wednesday, January 31.The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 6,960.75  for up with +0.28% percent or +25.00 point. The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,832.50 for up with +0.28% percent or +8.00 point. The Dow Futures are trading at 26,130.00 for up with +0.31% percent or +82.00 point.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere,Japan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 23,098.29  with a loss of -0.83% percent or -193.68 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 32,885.54  for up with +0.85% percent or +278.25 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,480.83  with a loss of -0.21% percent or -7.18 point. India’s BSE Sensex are trading at 35,887.84 with a loss of -0.41% percent or  -149.63 point at 12:15 PM..The FTSE 100 are trading at 7,591.86  for up with +0.05% percent or  +3.88 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 13,233.92 for up with +0.27% percent or  +36.21 point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,484.29  for up with +0.19% percent or +10.52 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 396.52 for up with +0.08% percent or +0.28 point.

wednesday’s Factors and Events

(NASDAQ: AMZN) long-rumored entrance into healthcare has been joined byJP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) . According to a press release issued early Tuesday morning, the three titanic companies will bring together their experience in technology, financing, and insurance to create a new, non-profit company to deliver people “simplified, high-quality, and transparent healthcare at a reasonable cost.”

JPMorgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, worked closely with politicians and competitors to help the U.S. emerge from the Great Recession, and perhaps that experience has given him confidence that JPMorgan, Amazon, and Berkshire Hathaway can successfully reshape healthcare.

“People want transparency, knowledge, and control when it comes to managing their healthcare,” Dimon said.

That’s undeniably true. Healthcare is anything but transparent, particularly when it comes to its cost, and that lack of transparency makes it incredibly challenging for patients to make educated decisions about their healthcare options.

Tuesday’s Activity

U.S. market were lower on Tuesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,076.89 with a loss of -1.37% percent or  -362.59 point. The S&P 500 closed at 2,822.43 with a loss of  -1.09% percent or  -31.10 point. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,402.48 with a loss of -0.86%percent or -64.02 point.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,582.82  with a loss of –0.96% percent or  -15.29 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 964.61   with a loss of -1.00%  percent or -9.73  point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,957.46 with  a loss of -1.07% percent or -21.14 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,251.93   with  a loss of -1.08% percent or -13.63 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,664.75   with  a loss of -1.08% percent or  -13.63  point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,561.11  with a loss of –1.08% percent or  -17.01 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 26,076.89  with a loss of -1.37% percent or -362.59  point.