BY THE NUMBERS
Futures were higher this morning after a largely negative session Tuesday. The exception was the Dow, which saw a fourth straight gain and another record high. The S&P 500 saw its second negative session in three. The Nasdaq saw a second straight negative session. (CNBC)
Economic data due out this morning features the ADP's September private-sector jobs report at 8:15 a.m. ET. The government is out with its September employment report on Friday. (CNBC)
* Weekly mortgage applications flatline, along with interest rates (CNBC)
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, a nonvoting member this year, reiterated today his upbeat outlook for the economy and again said the central bank will likely need to set monetary policy in a way that slows growth. (WSJ)
Other central bank speakers today include Fed Chair Jerome Powell at The Atlantic Festival in Washington, D.C., and Fed Gov. Lael Brainard at the FedPayments Improvement Community Forum (CNBC)
* Powell sees 'remarkably positive outlook' for economy that may be 'too good to be true' (CNBC)
IN THE NEWS TODAY
New York state tax officials are investigating allegations detailed in a New York Times investigation into Donald Trump and his family's business dealings. The Times reported that Trump and his family committed "instances of outright fraud." (CNBC)
* Trump's 'small' loan from his father was more like $60.7 million (NY Times)
President Trump ignited a crowd at a campaign rally in Mississippi last night by mocking Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh decades ago. (AP)
* Trump on Brett Kavanaugh: 'I don't even know him' (USA Today)
The FBI does not plan to interview Ford, the first of three women who last month publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. A source told NBC News that the White House felt Ford's testimony made an interview with the FBI unnecessary.
* McConnell presses Kavanaugh vote as FBI probe nears end (WSJ)
A message will be sent to the cellphones of nearly ever American around 2 p.m. ET today. It'll be the first trial of the "Presidential Alert" system, a way to notify Americans across of the country of national emergencies. (NBC News)
Defense officials and the Secret Service said that two letters that arrived at a Pentagon distribution center have tested positive for the poison ricin and a "suspicious envelope" had been sent to the White House. (WSJ)
A volcano erupted today on the same island in Indonesia where an earthquake and tsunami killed at least 1,400 people last week. Scientists haven't determined whether the eruption was directly triggered by the earthquake. (USA Today)
China ordered A-list movie star Fan Bingbing to pay the equivalent of $129 million in overdue taxes and fines, state news agency Xinhua said today, as a crackdown on tax evasion in the entertainment industry gathers momentum. (Reuters)
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded today to Frances Arnold of the U.S., and jointly to American George Smith and Gregory Winter of Britain for their work on evolutionary science. (NY Times)
Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook hit out at tech companies that insist more customer data leads to superior products. He said in an interview with Vice that such claims are a "bunch of bunk." (CNBC)
* Jeff Bezos explains why Blue Origin is 'the most important work I'm doing' (CNBC)
Top lenders of Toys 'R' Us decided to cancel the bankruptcy auction of its brand name and other intellectual property assets. They instead plan to revive the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brand names, according to a court filing. (Reuters)
Shares in luxury automaker Aston Martin fell as much as 6.5 percent in its market debut in London today after investors and analysts raised concerns that it may find it hard to deliver on an ambitious roll-out of new models. (CNBC)
* Tencent Music files for an IPO in one of the biggest U.S. listings by a Chinese company this year (Reuters)
STOCKS TO WATCH
J.C. Penney (JCP) announced that Jill Soltau, the former CEO of Joann Stores, will take the helm of the department store chain on Oct. 15. Soltau will also become a member of the retailer's board of directors.
Facebook's (FB) Instagram is back up for some users after suffering a worldwide outage days after it installed a new head of the app. The app displayed an error message saying "couldn't refresh freed."
Tesla (TSLA) will have to defend itself at a trial over allegations of abuse of foreign workers. A judge in California dismissed most of the claims, but allowed two to survive.
Epizyme (EPZM) announced a proposed offering of common stock, but the terms have not been announced. The pharmaceutical company plans to use the proceeds to fund "global development and commercialization costs" of its cancer drug.
Upwork, an online marketplace for freelancer workers, priced its initial public offering at $15 per share last night. That was above the expected range. The stock begins trading on the Nasdaq today under the ticker symbol UPWK.
WATERCOOLER
There's now an incentive to update your iPhone software. Apple (AAPL) revealed some of the more than 70 new emoji that will be available in iOS 12.1 and software updates for the Mac and Apple Watch. (CNBC)