BY THE NUMBERS
U.S. stock futures were pointing to gains at Wall Street open, giving the Dow and S&P 500 a chance to finish the week higher and extend their weekly winning streaks. (CNBC)
* Cramer: I'm kicking myself for not recommending these stocks (CNBC)
Ahead of trading on the first day of March, the Dow was off to its best two-month start to a year since 1987, the S&P 500 since 1991, despite falling for the final three days of February. (CNBC)
Shares of Gap (GPS) were surging more than 20 percent in the premarket, after the apparel retailer announced late Thursday plans to split into two separate publicly traded companies. (CNBC)
* Gap to close 230 stores over two years, posts mixed holiday results (CNBC)
Shares of Foot Locker were surging about 13 percent in the premarket, after the athletic shoe retailer comfortably beat estimates with quarterly earnings, revenue, and same-store sales. (CNBC)
Tesla (TSLA) shares were under pressure in premarket trading, after the electric automaker said it does not expect to be profitable during the first quarter. CEO Elon Musk also announced a $35,000 Model 3. (CNBC)
* Here's the memo Musk sent to employees about the cheaper Model 3 sedan and store closures (CNBC)
* Tesla faces a cash crunch with a $920 million debt payment due today (CNBC)
Today is the first Friday of the new month, but it's not a jobs Friday because of the way the calendar falls. Meanwhile, the government at 8:30 a.m. ET releases both December and January data on personal income and consumer spending due to government-shutdown delays. (CNBC)
At 10 a.m. ET, the Institute for Supply Management is out with its February monthly manufacturing index. Separately, while General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) no longer release monthly auto sales figures, other U.S. automakers issue February sales today. (CNBC)
* Here are the biggest analyst calls of the day: Delta and American (CNBC)
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee this morning entered the 2020 race for the Democratic presidential nomination, gearing up to focus on climate change. Inslee, as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, helped his party flip seven states blue in the 2018 midterms. (CNBC)
* Here's what GOP Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says about running against Trump in 2020 (CNBC)
Today was supposed to be the tariff ceasefire deadline in the trade dispute between the U.S. and China. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump delayed the deadline as talks continued. But Thursday, he gave a conflicting message on progress. (NY Times)
* 1 in 5 corporations say China has stolen their IP within the last year: CNBC CFO survey (CNBC)
* Global index provider MSCI quadruples the weighting of Chinese mainland shares (Reuters)
Trump ordered his chief of staff to grant his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, a top-secret security clearance last year, overruling concerns flagged by intelligence officials and the White House's top lawyer. (NY Times)
AT&T (T) said HBO CEO Richard Plepler is stepping down, and the Wall Street Journal reports that Turner president David Levy plans to announce his departure as soon as today. Both executives came to AT&T as part of its acquisition of Time Warner last year.
* Here's a look at HBO shows during Plepler's tenure that ushered in a new golden age for TV (NY Times)
New York City officials, in an open letter in The New York Times, is asking Amazon executives, including CEO Jeff Bezos, to reconsider their decision to abandon plans to build a new office there.
Kraft Heinz (KHC) faces a shareholder lawsuit accusing the company of defrauding shareholders about its business prospects. The suit comes after the food maker announced a $15.4 billion writedown and slashed its dividend, resulting in a 27 percent one-day stock plunge. (Reuters)
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) announced an agreement with investor Carl Icahn, appointing three Icahn nominees to the board to replace three existing directors. Icahn will also have the right to appoint a fourth director if a new CEO who is acceptable to the new directors is not named within 45 days. (Reuters)
STOCKS TO WATCH
Nutanix (NTNX) shares were plummeting over 20 percent in the premarket, after the cloud computing company gave a much weaker than expected full year forecast. Nutanix quarterly loss was smaller than expected and revenue beat estimates.
Nordstrom (JWN) came in 6 cents above estimates with quarterly earnings of $1.48 per share, but the retailer's revenue fell below forecasts. Nordstrom gave a full-year earnings forecast that was largely above estimates.
Dell (DELL) reported better than expected revenue in its first report since returning as a public company and a rosier outlook. The company reported operating income of $331 million during the quarter, but did not issue a per-share earnings number.
Marriott (MAR) reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.44 per share, 5 cents above estimates, but revenue was below forecasts. The hotel operator also forecast weaker than expected full year profit.
WATERCOOLER
The Powerball and Mega Millions drawings together total $615 million this weekend. Tonight, in the Mega Millions, the jackpot is $267 million. For the Powerball tomorrow, the big prize is $348 million.