Stocks opened little changed and have remained that way throughout the morning. The averages are mixed, with the Nasdaq slightly higher while the Dow and S&P are hugging the flat line. Oil prices are also little changed as the East coast of the U.S. is beginning to see temperatures abate after a two-week deep freeze. Bitcoin prices are lower after reports indicating that authorities in South Korea will inspect the country’s major banks for money laundering as part of a probe into cryptocurrencies. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the economic calendar was quiet this morning. This afternoon, a report on consumer credit growth in November is expected at 3 pm ET. COMPANY NEWS: Stock futures were little changed throughout the early session, leading to a relatively quiet open for the market despite a notable pick up in the flow of news ahead of the impending start of the earnings season. With earnings approaching, a number of companies have begun to issue pre-announcements on their results. Among those that pre-announced this morning, Kohl’s (KSS) was a stand out to the upside, jumping 6% after the retailer said its sales for the holiday period were up almost 7% year-over-year. On the opposite end of the spectrum, GoPro (GPRO) has plunged 19% after cutting its Q4 revenue outlook, reporting it plans to cut its workforce to fewer than 1,000 employees worldwide and stating that it plans to exit the drone market after selling its remaining Karma inventory… Following a Seeking Alpha article attributed with highlighting Seagate’s (STX) previous investments in Ripple via early stage fundraising, the company’s shares jumped 7% despite the fact that the cryptocurrency was falling sharply. Meanwhile, Susquehanna analyst James Friedman upgraded Western Union (WU) to Neutral from Negative, stating that he believes the company may be working with Ripple Labs to potentially implement blockchain applications in remittance. Western Union shares gained 5% after the note linking the financial services company to the cryptocurrency technology provider. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Nevro (NVRO), which surged 16% after it received FDA approval for its Senza 11 Spinal Cord Stimulation System and after it provided revenue guidance. Also higher was Weight Watchers (WTW), which gained 12% after stakeholder, board member, and spokesperson Oprah Winfrey delivered a particularly buzzworthy speech last night at the Golden Globes. Among the notable losers was Axovant (AXON), which saw its share price cut in half after the company said that its investigational drug intepirdine did not meet its primary efficacy endpoints in Phase 2b studies. Also lower was Dave & Buster’s (PLAY), which fell 21% after cutting its fiscal 2017 revenue guidance. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 32.58, or 0.13%, to 25,263.29, the Nasdaq was up 14.08, or 0.2%, to 7,150.64, and the S&P 500 was down 0.37, or 0.01%, to 2,742.78.