Fed and earnings in focus; Google under fire; 'Death tax' vote

Stocks (^GSPC) likely to be driven by more corporate earnings and a new data on the health of the U.S. economy today.

Yahoo Finance's Aaron Task will be watching for this afternoon's release of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book on economic activity.  That's because Task worries the string of disappointing reports recently may be more than a mere blip.

"Maybe the economy has peaked," he wonders.  "And maybe things aren't going to get better as they did last year."

But Task doesn't believe Janet Yellen and company will actually admit that today.

"I expect the Fed is going to say economic activity was better but hurt by the cold weather and things of that nature," he guesses.

Related: As good as it gets: Has the U.S. economy already peaked?

Also on investors' radar--  a new report showing China's economy expanded at the slowest pace since 2009.  Task believes that will put Beijing's central bank in a tough position.

"They've done some stimulus programs and it's led to a surge in the Chinese stock market," he notes.  "Now there's some concern they may be forming a bubble, so there's a lot of frothy activity over there.  It's the push-pull thing of how concerned is the government of China about the state of the economy that they're going to allow this kind of frothy activity in the financial markets."

Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App

Here’s a look at some of the stocks the Yahoo Finance team will be tracking for you today.

Bank of America (BAC) shares are on the move. The nation's second biggest lender by assets swinging to a profit in the first quarter with adjusted earnings per share topping estimates as it recovered from big legal expenses related to the financial crisis. However, revenue missed forecasts, falling nearly 6% from a year earlier as trading revenue declined and low interest rates continued to hurt its lending income. BofA also said it would keep its quarterly dividend unchanged.

Intel (INTC) shares are higher ahead of the open. The chipmaker reporting mixed results for its first quarter. Earnings per share matched Wall Street views as strong sales for chips used in servers and for the Internet of Things helped boost its bottom line. Revenue was in-line with the company's reduced forecast, but it fell short of analysts' estimates as it continues to struggle with sluggish demand for PCs.

Related: BofA swings to a profit; Delta takes off; Google-EU battle begins

Delta Air Lines (DAL) shares flying higher in early trading. The carrier reporting a first quarter profit of $0.45 a share, a penny above forecasts.  Revenue was roughly in line with estimates.  Delta saying it got a boost from lower fuel costs but was hurt by the strong dollar.  And because of those currency issues, the airline will reduce its international flight capacity by 3% in the winter quarter.

Nokia (NOK) remains in focus this morning. Its official, the Finnish telecom provider is buying smaller French rival Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) in a stock-swap worth $16.6 billion. The deal will create a telecom equipment giant that will be able to better compete with market leaders such as Ericsson and Huawei Technologies. Shares of Alcatel-Lucent are falling in early trading after soaring more than 13% yesterday on news of the takeover talks.

EU hits Google with antitrust charges

Google (GOOGL) is in the spotlight this morning The European Union formally filed charges against the tech giant for violating antitrust laws. This is poised to be the largest competition battle for EU regulators since they pursued Microsoft (MSFT) a decade ago. Google faces fines that could exceed $6 billion.  In response, the company denies it stifles competition.

Will the House kill the death tax? 

It's April 15th --tax day-- and the House of Representatives is expected to take up a vote on repealing the estate tax, or Death Tax this week. The tax goes as high as 40%, which is applied to inherited assets above $5.4 million.  The White House is threatening a veto if the repeal is passed.

And low-wage workers are gathering across the country to demand higher pay.  Rallies and walkouts are being held in more than 200 cities today.