Claman on Call: Alcoa Kicks Off Earnings Season with a Bang

Alcoa unofficially kicked off third-quarter earnings season with a bang, blowing past analyst expectations for both revenue and earnings per share. The company's CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said that Alcoa's transformation is finally delivering results to the shareholders. The stock jumped nearly 2% in after-hours trade.

And Gap Chairman and CEO Glenn Murphy will step down on Feb. 1, 2015 -- he's been in this role since July 2007. The San Francisco-based retailer said Art Peck, who is currently in charge of Gap's digital strategy, will take Murphy's spot as CEO. The stock tumbled more than 8% on the news.

What a difference a single day can make: U.S. stocks recovering from Tuesday's sell-off soared after the FOMC minutes showed the Fed will move very cautiously when it comes to raising rates. The Dow spiked almost 275 points, briefly touching 17,000 -- it's biggest gain since December 2013. The Wall Street Journal's Chief Economic Correspondent Jon Hilsenrath joined FOX Business to give his detailed analysis of the Fed's minutes and the impact on stocks.

Worries over the Ebola virus continued to escalate after news broke that a second patient had been admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. City officials said the patient had not been in direct contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, "patient zero," who died this morning from the disease, but the newly-admitted patient had been in quarantine with Duncan's relatives.

Now, here's what's coming up on Thursday: Weekly initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET; PepsiCo will deliver earnings before the bell, plus, same store sales numbers will be trickling in throughout the day.

Be sure to check out all of today's interviews on FOXBusiness.com/OnCall and tune into Countdown to the Closing Bell every week day at 3 p.m. ET.