Stock futures are set to follow the global rally that started overnight in Asia and continued into Europe. Dow futures are currently up over 100 points to 12,455. Nasdaq 100 futures are following suit, adding nearly 20 points 2,336. The S&P 500 is rounding out the early morning rally, up nearly 13 points to 1,288. Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter

The kickoff of earnings season is helping drive the market. Yesterday afternoon Alcoa reported. Though Alcoa swung to a loss, the company saw a sizable uptick in revenue growth. The CEO also expects aluminum demand to pick back up in 2012. Shares of Alcoa are currently up over 2% in pre-market trading.

In Asia almost every market was green in overnight trading. There is renewed hope that the Chinese government will ease monetary policies to help the markets after their nightmarish performance in 2012. The Shanghai Composite Index jumped nearly 2.7% while the Hang Seng added nearly .75%.

Europe followed in Asia’s footsteps in joining the rally. the banking heavy Stoxx 600 Index is currently up 1.6% and the French CAC 40 index is adding 2.56%. Europe has been getting trounced in recent days so a lot of value opportunities are presenting themselves to traders. Should be noted the the sovereign debt crisis still looms in the background and the possibility of a Greek Euro exit is still there.

In the United States all eyes will swing to the domestic political situation today. The New Hampshire primary takes place today and while Mitt Romney is expected to win expect a lot of noise if the margin comes in the single digits. That would have him losing 20 points in polls and rest assured the political media would point that out. He has come under fire in recent days for his stint at Bain Capital.

In commodities trading, gold is following the rest of the market. Currently up $28 an ounce, gold is still trying to shake its December near bear-market performance. Oil futures are also up this morning with Nymex crude futures trading higher by $1.55 a barrel to $102.86.

Stocks to watch today include First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), Focus Media Holding Limited (NASDAQ:FMCN), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS), Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) is up 4.51% in pre market trading at $38.50. FSLR has traded 3.3 thousand shares this morning and trades 4.23 million shares a day on average. FSLR has rallied more than $4 a share after hitting a low last Wednesday of around $34 a share. The company has a market cap of 3.18 billion.

Focus Media Holding Limited (NASDAQ:FMCN) is up 12.24% in pre market trading at $21.00. FMCN has traded a touch over 2 thousand shares this morning and trades 4.55 million shares a day on average. FMCN has fallen more than $2 a share over the past five trading days. The company has a market cap of 2.54 billion.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is up 1% in pre market trading at $425.95. AAPL has traded 25 thousand shares this morning and trades 11.04 million shares daily on average. AAPL shares have been trending up since the middle of December and have moved more than $40 a share since then. The company has a market cap of 391.96 billion.

Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS) is up 11.49% in pre market trading at $18.92. CRUS trades 1.22 million shares a day on average. Since last Wednesday, CRUS has jumped up about $2 a share. The company has a market cap of 1.08 billion.

Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN) is up 5.94% in pre market trading at $29.00. NUAN trades 3.51 million shares every day on average. NUAN shares are up more than $2 a share since last Tuesday. The company has a market cap of 8.29 billion.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) is up 0.73% in pre market trading at $2.06. SIRI has traded 42 thousand shares this morning and trades 41.66 million shares every day on average. SIRI has been trending higher since last Wednesday when it announced a big increase in subscribers from last year. The company has a market cap of 7.67 billion.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is down 2.76% in pre market trading at $95.47. NFLX has traded about 46 thousand shares so far this morning and trades 7.06 million shares a day on average. NFLX has been on an absolute tear since the new year began. The stock has jumped from $70 to almost $100 in just over a week. The company has a market cap of 5.15 billion.