BY THE NUMBERS
Wall Street's record run is set to continue, as futures pointed higher following Tuesday's record closes for the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq. The major averages are currently riding a three-day win streak, and are on track to post their largest monthly gains since June. The Russell 2000 is at its highest since October 2018, although it is still about 7% shy of its record close set in August 2018. (CNBC)
It's an extremely busy day for economic numbers, ahead of the stock market closure Thursday for Thanksgiving and Friday's early close, with the latest numbers out this morning on durable goods, jobless claims, and GDP 8:30 a.m. ET. At 9:45 a.m. ET, the November Chicago purchasing managers index is out. The government releases October personal income and spending numbers at 10 a.m. ET. At the same time, the National Association of Realtors is out with pending home sales for October.
* Weekly mortgage refinance applications surge over 300% from a year ago, but there's a catch (CNBC)
* The Fed is out with its Beige Book of regional economic activity this afternoon (CNBC)
The earnings calendar isn't quite as busy, with only Deere & Co. (DE) reporting this morning and no companies out with numbers after today's closing bell. Deere issued quarterly earnings of $2.14 per share, edging estimates by a penny. Revenue also beat. But Deere said results continue to be impacted by U.S.-China trade tensions and uncertainties in the agriculture sector. (CNBC)
President Donald Trump told reporters the U.S. and China are in the "final throes" of cementing a "phase one" trade deal, but he wants to see things in Hong Kong go well. Later, in an interview with Bill O'Reilly that was out Tuesday evening on the former Fox News host's website, Trump said he's "holding it up" to reach an agreement that favors the U.S. "because we have to catch up." (Reuters)
* China's industrial profits post steepest drop in 8 months in October (CNBC)
After Hong Kong's pro-democracy candidates scored a landslide win in local elections, Chinese state media called the results "skewed" and a "setback" for the city's drive for democracy. Pan-democrats in Hong Kong won almost 90% of 452 district council seats in Sunday's elections, after months of social unrest in the special administrative region. (CNBC)
* Hong Kong university siege winds down as hunt for protesters comes up empty (Reuters)
The Morning Squawk team is off for the holiday and will be back in your inbox Monday. For those celebrating, happy Thanksgiving.
IN THE NEWS TODAY
The House Judiciary Committee announced it's holding a Dec. 4 hearing on the constitutional basis for impeachment, bringing the Democrat-led chamber one step closer to its final vote on whether to impeach the president. The president is supposed to RSVP by 6 p.m. on Dec. 1. (CNBC)
* Trump lashes out against impeachment during Florida rally (AP)
The New York Times reports that Trump knew in late August about the whistleblower, whose claims became central to the impeachment inquiry, when he released frozen miltary aid to Ukraine on Sept. 12.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have reportedly opened a criminal probe of opioid manufacturers and distributors. Companies including Teva, McKesson, Mallinckrodt, AmerisourceBergen, Johnson & Johnson and Amneal have received subpoenas. (CNBC)
Boeing (BA) faces new obstacles in returning the 737 MAX jet to service, with the FAA saying federal regulators would now inspect and sign off on every jet before delivery to airlines. Boeing previously had the authority to do those checks and sign off on them. (CNBC)
ByteDance has stepped up efforts to separate its social media app TikTok from much of its Chinese operations, amid a U.S. national security panel's inquiry into the safety of the personal data it handles, Reuters reported. The Chinese tech company is trying to assure the U.S. that the data TikTok stores is held securely in the States.
* TikTok says it doesn't censor content, but a user was just locked out after a viral post criticizing China (CNBC)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested late Tuesday that his company had now received 250,000 pre-orders for the Cybertruck, its electric pickup. The billionaire tweeted "250k," indicating, based on his previous Twitter posts, that this was the number of "orders" the firm had collected from prospective customers to date. (CNBC)
Melanie Whelan is resigning from her position as chief executive officer of SoulCycle, the latest company to see its CEO leave. Whelan is also vacating her position as the director on the company's board. Sunder Reddy, SoulCycle's chief financial officer since 2017, will assume the role of interim CEO. (CNBC Make It)
Toys R Us is reopening today in New Jersey, just in time for the holidays. Parent company Tru Kids Brands says the stores, which had shuttered in the U.S. seventeen months ago, will now be an "immersive experience." (USA Today)
A storm packing heavy snow and high winds that wreaked havoc as it whipped through Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska marched into the upper Midwest today as anxious Thanksgiving travelers buckle up and barrel headlong into a busy, if not perilous, holiday week. (AP)
STOCKS TO WATCH
Dell Technologies (DELL) reported adjusted quarterly earnings of $1.75 per share, 13 cents above estimates. However, the computer maker saw revenue fall below Wall Street forecasts, and it cut its full year revenue forecast as it tries to deal with a shortage of chips from supplier Intel (INTC).
VMWare (VMW) came in above estimates with adjusted quarterly earnings of $1.49 per share, with the software provider's revenue also above forecasts. The company also issued a better than expected sales outlook for the current quarter.
HP (HPQ) stock rose as much as 3% in the premarket after the company showed acceleration in revenue growth in the fiscal fourth quarter and issued strong guidance.
British American Tobacco (BTI) said a slowdown in the U.S. vaping market would result in slower revenue growth for the world's second largest tobacco company.
Apple (AAPL) has asked its Chinese manufacturer Luxshare to double production of its AirPods Pro earphones, according to the Nikkei Asian Review. Such a move would increase production to 2 million units per month in China.
WATERCOOLER
Papa John's founder and ousted chairman thinks the pizza chain has changed its recipe. "I've had over 40 pizzas in the last 30 days, and it's not the same pizza, it's not the same product," said John Schnatter, who left Papa John's in July 2018. (CNBC)