Morning Money Memo…

U.S markets are lower this morning, on news of weaker than expected economic growth. Equities are down after a strong, 225 point gain in the Dow yesterday, following strong earnings results from Dow stocks McDonalds and Boeing. The Commerce Department announced this morning Q4 GDP of 2.6%, falling short of expectations for the quarter. The economy had grown roughly 5% each of the past two quarters.

In earnings news: Mattel missed analysts estimates after posting lower net sales for the quarter. Chevron and MasterCard both beat Wall Street estimates this morning; Chevron had been hampered in the most recent quarter by the tumbling global oil prices. Xerox, meanwhile, posted better than expected earnings, but forecast a weaker outlook for 2015.

Think Super Bowl ads are getting expensive? Try getting a ticket to the big game!

The cheapest single ticket price on StubHub this morning is selling for $7,500, with prices rising on secondary markets with 2 days left until kickoff. Short sellers, who profit off the volatility in ticket prices online, along with the dwindling supply of game seats are credited for the drastic rise in cost of tickets, many of which have a face value of $500-$1000. Of course, for that price you'd expect a great view of the action, right? Not quite. A sideline ticket this Sunday are selling upwards of $25,000.

And let the Oscar buzz continue. Bradley Cooper's portrayal of Chris Kyle in "America Sniper" has drawn both praise and criticism from Hollywood ahead of the Academy Awards (for which he's been nominated for Best Actor). But in the box office, there is no question - the film is undisputed. Facing a weaker crop of opening films, the Clint Eastwood directed film is expected to dominate the Super Bowl weekend box office, with expected earnings of close to $35 million.

The film has grossed over $200 million thus far, vaulting into the top 10 highest grossing films of the past year.