NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks pointed to a mixed open Tuesday as the U.S. trade deficit widened to record levels, Goldman Sachs posted better-than-expected earnings and Wall Street pondered management shakeups.

At 9 a.m. ET, S&P futures were lower, but pointing toward a higher start after fair value was taken into consideration. Nasdaq futures indicated a decline for the tech-laden market.

The Commerce Department reported that U.S. the trade gap reached a record $68 billion in July, up from $64.8 billion reported in June, helped by rising oil prices. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast that the gap would rise to $65.5 billion.

Shares of Goldman Sachs (Charts), climbed in pre-market trading Tuesday after the No. 3 investment bank reported it beat expectations in the third quarter.

Potential management changes could be on tap at drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb (Charts) and computer and peripheral maker Hewlett-Packard (Charts).

A federal monitor overseeing Bristol-Myers Squibb urged the dismissals of CEO Peter Dolan and the firm's general counsel, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which could prompt the board to fire the two of them as soon as Tuesday.

The investigation into tactics used in an internal Hewlett-Packard investigation into board leaks has widened to include an inquiry from the U.S. Attorney for Northern California, the computer maker said Monday. That could force the ouster of chairman Patricia Dunn, who has taken most of the heat for the probe. Still shares lost only a penny in after-hours trading following the latest disclosure.

Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. said HP stock hasn't been significantly hurt by the developing scandal there because investors are waiting to see if CEO Mark Hurd is affected. The company's stock is up 84 percent since Hurd was named CEO in March 2005.

If Dunn is ousted and he is given the chairman position, Hogan thinks markets will read that as a sign he won't be tarred by the scandal, and that could lift the shares of the Dow component. But if he does not get the chairman post and the company announces that the probe is continuing, it could cause a sell-off.

Chipmaker Texas Instruments (Charts) narrowed its revenue and earnings forecast for the current quarter Monday after the bell, sending shares of the stock down nearly 1 percent in after-hours trading.

Apple (Charts) is expected to disclose its movie download offering Tuesday. And Microsoft (Charts) announced late Monday that it had officially launched its Live Search service, the successor to the Web-search tool on its MSN portal.

Oil turned lower, testing the $65 a barrel level. U.S. light crude was down 51 cents to $65.10 a barrel in electronic trading.

San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen is due to speak on the economy in California Tuesday.

Treasury prices eased, raising the 10-year note yield to 4.82 percent from 4.80 percent late Monday. The dollar was slightly lower against the euro and little changed against the yen.

Stocks in Asia ended mostly lower, the exception being Hong Kong's Hang Seng which gained nearly 1 percent. Meanwhile, major indexes in Europe were slightly higher in early trading.

More news and information on markets ahead of the U.S. open

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Watch Tuesday's market activity