1. Wall Street set for mixed open, under pressure from Amazon's drop
U.S. stock futures were pointing to a mixed Friday open, with Amazon's 6% premarket decline on disappointing earnings putting a drag on sentiment. The S&P 500 was coming off its highest close since July 30 and sits 0.5% below its record closing high set on July 26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed modestly lower on Thursday, needs to make up some more ground, about 2%, to get back to its July records. Ahead of Friday trading, the Dow was on the bubble on whether it can turn in a positive week. The S&P 500 was solidly tracking for an up week as of Thursday's close.
2. Amazon misses on earnings and warns on holiday shopping season
Amazon's third-quarter earnings fell short of analyst expectations. After Thursday's closing bell, the e-commerce and cloud giant also delivered dismal revenue guidance for the holiday shopping season. Better-than-expected Q3 revenue grew 24% to $70 billion for the quarter, with the heavy investment in free one-day shipping translating into more purchases. Amazon's cloud business, meanwhile, reported $9 billion in quarterly sales, which missed estimates.
3. Indonesian regulators issue final report on last year's Boeing 737 Max crash
Indonesian regulators released their final report into the October 2018 Lion Air crash of a Boeing 737 Max, concluding the aircraft maker needs to design better cockpit systems. In its response, Boeing said it was redesigning sensors that inform the anti-stall system. Five months after the Lion Air crash, another 737 Max jet, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, went down after takeoff. The entire Max fleet has been grounded worldwide since March.
4. Goldman Sachs becomes latest firm to pull money from Fisher Investments
Goldman Sachs has joined the flight of institutional investors from Fisher Investments. The giant investment bank is pulling $234 million from Camas, Washington-based Fisher, according to a source close to the matter. However, the end tally could be even greater, a source told CNBC. In all, institutional investors, along with Goldman, are withdrawing more than $2.7 billion from Fisher Investments in light of Ken Fisher's lewd comments made at a conference on Oct. 8.
5. Justice Department review of Russia probe turns into criminal investigation
A probe by Attorney General William Barr into the origins of the Russia investigation has changed from an administrative review into a criminal investigation, a person familiar with the review confirmed to NBC News. The review is being conducted by Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham. It's not clear when the change occurred, but the probe began in May as an administrative review. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called the Russia investigation conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller a "witch hunt."