Early indications point to cautious trading Monday morning, as investors wait for earnings from Alcoa (AA) and this week’s busy economic calender. Less than thirty minutes before the opening bell on Wall Street, stock index futures hint at a 10 or 20-point early loss for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

With little news to drive the early action, investors shift their attention to Alcoa’s earnings due out after the closing bell. The Dow component unofficially kicks off the second quarter earnings season Monday afternoon. Dow components Intel (INTC), JP Morgan (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), and GE report later this week.

Meanwhile, this week’s economic calendar is back-end loaded. The first report of significance is Retail Sales midweek. Import/Export Prices and Business Inventories are also due out Wednesday morning. FOMC minutes could affect trading Wednesday afternoon. Thursday holds Weekly Claims, PPI, Industrial Production and NY Empire Index. The week concludes with CPI and University of Michigan Sentiment Friday.

Bonds are holding modest gains ahead of the data and after significant losses sustained last week. The benchmark ten-year Treasury is up 7/32nd and yields 3.025 percent.

The dollar is flat at 88.65 against the yen. The euro lost .0068 to 1.2571 against the buck.

Action in the commodities market is mixed. While crude oil edged up 20 cents to $76.29 a barrel, gold fell $3 to $1206.80 an ounce.

Among the stocks to watch, BP is up 3 percent in pre-market action on talk of possible takeover interest from Exxon Mobile (XOM). Qualcomm (QCOM) added 2 percent after Goldman added the stock to its Conviction Buy list. Monsanto (MON) is up 1.5 percent after Citigroup upgraded shares to Buy from Hold. CSX might see some action ahead of earnings, due out after the closing bell.