Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Weathering a busy week
Markets don't look much clearer now that we're over the hump in a busy earnings week. The three major indices had a mixed Wednesday. The Dow posted a fourth-consecutive winning session, just barely, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 snapped their three-day winning streaks. Thursday morning futures didn't look so clear-cut, either. Investors are largely chewing over outlooks from several Big Tech earnings that have already reported this week, including Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta (more on that one below). Two more biggies are coming Thursday, too, as Apple and Amazon are set to report after the bell. There's another Fed meeting next week, as well, which means another big rate hike is on the way (see below). Read live market updates here.
2. If a stock falls in the metaverse ...
... can you still lose money on it? You bet. Wall Street had low expectations for Meta's quarterly earnings, and Meta surpassed them, on the wrong side, sending the stock down 20% in off-hours trading. The Facebook parent company missed badly on profit, as did its average revenue per user, and revenue declined for two straight quarters. What's worse is that Meta expects another revenue decline in the current quarter, issuing guidance that was mostly lower than what analysts were projecting. The advertising environment is rough, as we've already seen with Alphabet and Snap, and Meta is feeling the pinch, too. Beyond that, CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to keep spending big on the metaverse despite that part of the business, Reality Labs, losing $9.4 billion already this year, with more losses to come – as its revenue shrinks.
3. Missiles hit Kyiv
Russian missiles again struck the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, as Vladimir Putin presses his offensive from the sky while his forces try to regroup on the ground. The Russians also pounded the Zaporizhzhia region, which is home to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Meanwhile, a top Russian official warned that the Kremlin's forces could target U.S. commercial satellites, which have already supplied imagery of Russia's troops and formations. Read live war updates here.
4. Powell under pressure
It's just under two weeks until Election Day, when Americans will decide the balance of power in Congress. The economy is again voters' top concern as Covid worries have waned and prices have surged at levels not seen in four decades. The Federal Reserve has had little luck so far slowing down inflation with its big interest rate hikes, even as critics warn that the central bank's actions threaten a recession. And now one of the Senate's top Democrats, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, is warning Fed Chairman Jerome Powell that the Fed's actions could lead to job losses. "It is your job to combat inflation, but at the same time you must not lose sight of your responsibility to ensure that we have full employment," Brown wrote to Powell. The Fed is expected to announce another three-quarter-point rate hike at next week's meeting, just days before the election.
5. Sink or swim time
Elon Musk on Wednesday showed up at Twitter headquarters with a sink in his hands, pretty much just so he could make a "let that sink in" pun on, you guessed it, Twitter. All signs are pointing toward the billionaire Tesla CEO closing his $44 billion deal to take the social media company private just in time for Friday's court-appointed deadline. Musk's takeover will conclude a monthslong saga that included him striking the deal for $54.20 a share, walking away from it and Twitter suing him to finish the deal. Now the question becomes, what will Musk actually do with Twitter? We'll just have to see what the self-described "Chief Twit" has in store.
– CNBC's Samantha Subin, Jonathan Vanian, Natasha Turak, Jeff Cox and Lauren Feiner contributed to this report.
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