Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. So much for that
Stocks ripped higher Wednesday after the market digested the Bank of England's announcement that it would start buying bonds to stabilize markets after the UK government's economic plan was met with swift and sudden criticism. But U.S. stock futures Thursday morning indicated a renewed descent. All three major indices are headed for big monthly losses as the third quarter winds down Friday. So far, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen about 6.5% in September, while the Dow is down about 5.8% and the S&P 500 has declined about 5.9%. Follow live markets updates here.
2. Wait-and-see mode
Bed Bath & Beyond reported a wider-than-projected quarterly loss and a 28% decline in sales Thursday morning. The results aren't surprising. The home-goods retailer has been struggling for a while. Its move to focus on store brands fell flat, some of its executives left and one died by suicide, and it has tense relationships with merchandise suppliers. All that said, however, the company announced an aggressive turnaround plan – which includes layoffs, store closures and a new loan to keep it afloat – in late August, just after its fiscal second quarter ended. So the results posted Thursday don't yet reflect how Bed Bath is executing its new strategy.
3. Ian pushes into Florida
Ian, after slamming into Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, weakened to a tropical storm, but it remains dangerous as it forges its way through the central part of the state. It's too early to calculate the damage the storm has already caused in Florida. Dramatic video and images of violent winds and relentless flooding spread across social media Wednesday and Thursday. "Water. We have to talk about the water," National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said. "Ninety percent of fatalities in these tropical systems comes from the water. It's the storm surge, it's the rain." Millions were left without power, too, as Gov. Ron DeSantis warned of a "nasty" few days, and President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in the state.
4. Amazon hikes pay
Just as the busy holiday shopping season is about to kick off, Amazon said it is boosting the average pay for warehouse and delivery workers. The announcement came about two weeks before Amazon's second Prime Day deals event, which is set for Oct. 11 and 12. The company's decision to spend $1 billion on the pay increases also comes as employees press for better wages, benefits and working conditions in a growing union push. Amazon also said it is beefing up its payday advance program to allow employees to get up to 70% of their eligible earned pay whenever they choose and without fees.
5. Putin's latest escalation
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will formally annex four regions of Ukraine, the Kremlin said. The move follows referendums in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine that have been condemned as sham votes. Leaders in Ukraine and Western powers are worried Putin could use threats against these regions as a pretext for using nuclear weapons. Elsewhere, NATO said it believes leaks on the Nord Stream pipeline, which funnels gas from Russia to Europe, happened because of "deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage." Read live updates about the Ukraine war here.
– CNBC's Samantha Subin, Melissa Repko, Ashley Capoot, Annie Palmer and Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.
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