The second and biggest week of third-quarter earnings season heats up Tuesday when Apple, the maker of the iPhone and the world’s most-valuable company, reports its latest quarterly results after the closing bell.

Apple is one of 169 companies in the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index that will report results this week, an earnings season that despite its solid start could still end up being the first quarter of contracting profits since the financial crisis in 2009.

Currently S&P 500 profits are forecast to contract 2.8% in the third quarter, and while still negative that is still better than the 4.8% drop seen at the start of the earnings season.

In addition to Apple, Wall Street will get results from major names in tech like Twitter, Comcast, and Biotech.

Apple is the most important of the day as the gadget maker has been lagging the performance of other major tech players since the market bottom Aug. 25. Apple is up 11.1% since the August low, but Google parent Alphabet is up 22.5% and online shopping giant Amazon.com is up 30.6%.

There are three keys to Apple reports later on today:

1. iPhone 6s and 6s Plus  sales: "Investors will be waiting with great anticipation to hear how sales of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are faring," she told clients in a research note. "Three days after the official launch in late September, Apple sold more than 13 million units in one weekend, a company record."

2. Growth in China: "Much of the company’s success this year can be attributed to China, but can massive growth in that region continue?" Short says. "Earlier this year Apple received approval from Chinese regulators to sell iPhones.

3. Product updates: "Investors will also be looking for updates on several of Apple’s other products (Apple Watch, Apple Pay, Apple Music and Apple TV) this quarter that have recently been launched or are in the process of being launched," Short wrote. "These products are likely going to help Apple reduce its reliance on its iPhone segment which currently dictates around 70% of revenues."

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Some of the biggest companies in the world are reporting quarterly results and the reports are sure to move affect the markets.

Here are 4 tips for today's trading. This will help you decide where you should invest and what to look for:

1. Earnings

Corporate giants such as Ford (F), Comcast (CCV), Alibaba (BABA, Tech30), Coach (COH), UPS (UPS), Pfizer (PFE) and T-Mobile (TMUS) are reporting before the trading day begins.

BP (BP) reported results that came in ahead of expectations so its shares are rising in London by nearly 2%.

After the closing bell, Apple (AAPL, Tech30) will open its books alongside Twitter (TWTR, Tech30).

Last week a string of other big tech companies like Amazon (AMZN, Tech30), Alphabet (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) set the stage with great results.

2. Senate votes on cybersecurity bill

The U.S. Senate is deciding on Tuesday whether to approve the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA). It's a measure designed to help American companies work more closely with law enforcement officials to fight off hackers.

The idea behind CISA is to help U.S. companies react more quickly to attacks on their computer systems. But tech companies have opposed the bill, with many saying CISA could expand U.S. government spying on Americans.

3. Economics

Wall Street will get further insight into the health of the U.S. housing market Tuesday when the Case-Shiller housing index comes out at 9 a.m. ET.

The Conference Board is posting its October consumer confidence index at 10 a.m. In September, the index showed Americans were feeling more confident because of lower gasoline prices and improvements in the labor market.

In the U.K., new data shows the economy grew by 2.3% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year. While that growth looks solid, the number came in slightly below expectations, and was slightly weaker than the previous quarter.

4. Global markets overview

U.S. stock futures are looking soft and most European markets are dipping in early trading.

While Chinese stock markets moved up a bit on Tuesday, all other major Asian markets ended the day with losses.

The price of natural gas continues to drop, down another 3% to trade around $2 per million British thermal units. Prices have declined by nearly a third since the start of 2015, and losses have accelerated in the last few days. Oil prices are also falling by nearly 1% to below $44 a barrel.

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What is it? Consumer prices account for a majority of overall inflation. Inflation is important to currency valuation because rising prices lead the central bank to raise interest rates out of respect for their inflation containment mandate.

When? At 8:30pm Eastern Time.

Trading Tip: If the actual number is higher than the forecast, you can expect the AUD to rise.

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