Last updated November 20, 2009: 7:45 AM ET --- U.S. stock futures are trading lower Friday, hurt by Dell's wider-than-expected profit drop as investors move toward safer securities like bonds. Weak housing and mortgage data the past two days has helped halt the market's rise amid concerns that any economic recovery will be slow and bumpy. In corporate news, Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) shares dropped 6% in premarket trading after it reported that its profit dropped 54%. D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) fell 2% after reporting a wider-than-expected $231.9 million quarterly loss. Gap (NYSE:GPS) reported a 25% profit rise after controlling inventory to reduce discounts and improved demand on its Old Navy division. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are trading 80.00 points lower, the S&P500 futures are down 9.50 points, and the Nasdaq Composite futures are down 10.25 points.

Contact Chip Brian

SmarTrend analyzes over 5,000 securities simultaneously throughout the trading day and provides its subscribers with trend change alerts in real time. To get a free trial of our trading calls and maximize your trading results, please visit http://www.TradeTheTrend.com.

Get exclusive, actionable insight into how the market is expected to trend prior to market open with our free morning newsletter. Sign up at www.TradeTheTrend.com/signup.html