US stock index futures were lower ahead of the open Friday as disappointing earnings results from AIG dragged on market sentiment. Felix Riley from Choiceodds looks ahead to the trading day.

The Nikkei 225 Average ended 2% lower Friday on a series of pessimistic earnings reports from the blue chips. The Nikkei's Nozomu Kitadai has the details.

US gasoline is no longer the fundamental that is driving oil prices higher, meanwhile the demand for middle distillates, such as diesel, is increasing. Richard Swann of Platts discusses the implications of this long-term consumption trend towards diesel.

US insurer AIG dragged global financials down after it reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss. James Bevan, CIO of CCLA Investment Management, told CNBC it came as no surprise that insurance stocks would be the next affected by the credit crunch.

The devastating cyclone in Myanmar has led to panic buying of rice globally. Richard Lucas from Ambrian and Lisa Kallal from Dow Jones Newswires have analysis of the food’s rising price.

Chinese inflation is on the rise and threatening to raise consumer prices further. Qu Hongbin from HSBC Global Markets has the outlook for the country's inflation.

Asian markets soldoff on Friday and European markets traded lower too. Stephen Pope from Cantor Fitzgerald Europe, and Norman Chan from PCM Capital, consider why the global markets are down.

US futures were strongly to the upside Thursday, despite the previous day's selloff. Manus Cranny from MF Global Spreads explains why.

The big US retail chains report April sales Thursday, which are expected to rebound a bit on warmer weather. Eric Beder from Brean Murray Carret & co. has a preview.

The CNBC programming schedule for Memorial Day, Monday, May 26th can be found with in this post.