Last updated January 22nd, 2009 6:50 AM ET---Today, U.S. stock futures are trading lower despite better-than-expected earnings from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) as investors prepare for what most expect to be more disappointing housing data. Shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) soared in after market hours after the Cupertino, California-based company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, printing a profit of $1.61 billion, or $1.78 per share, up from $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per share during the year-ago period and trumping analysts' average estimates of $1.39 per share. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) provided guidance of 90 cent to $1 per share for the upcoming quarter missing estimates of $1.13 per share, however, the company has a history of giving very conservative outlooks. Following the close, a SEC filing showed Jamie Dimon had bought 500,000 shares of JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM). Meanwhile, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) CEO Ken Lewis had bought 200,000 shares in his bank. The first economic reports of the week include a reading on housing starts for the month of December, weekly jobless claims and a gauge for house prices in November. Companies scheduled to report today include UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) while two tech bellwethers Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) report after the close. At the time of this report, S&P futures are down 7.04 versus fair value, Nasdaq futures are down 0.81 versus fair value and Dow futures are down 64.10 versus fair value.

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