5 things to know before the stock market opens on Wednesday

Happy Wednesday. Working in journalism, new and amazing news comes out every day. Yesterday it was about what gold investors can learn from the reign of Henry VIII.

S&P 500 futures are rising this morning after a winning day.

Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.

It’s Federal Government Day. That means we’re counting down the hours until the Federal Reserve announces its interest rate policy decisions at 2:00 p.m. ET, followed by Chairman Jerome Powell’s high-profile press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Here’s what you need to know:

The market isn’t expecting much excitement. According to CME’s FedWatch, federal funds futures traders are pricing in about a 97% chance that the central bank will leave interest rates unchanged today. Similarly, a majority of respondents to CNBC’s Fed survey expect only two quarter-point rate cuts this year. Despite recent disagreements at the central bank, CNBC’s Jeff Cox reports that the Fed is likely to take a patient approach to policy. Even if interest rates are almost certain to remain the same, there will still be some intrigue surrounding the Fed’s meetings. President Donald Trump’s choice to replace Powell could be announced as early as this week, after he said earlier this month that he was under criminal investigation. Prediction markets currently view BlackRock’s head of fixed income, Rick Rieder, as the frontrunner to become the next Fed chairman, with former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh in second place. S&P500 Yesterday, it hit an intraday high and a closing high. of Dow Jones Industrial Average dragged into united health A plunge of almost 20%. Follow us here for live market updates.

starbucks Shares rose more than 7% this morning after the coffee chain posted better-than-expected first-quarter revenue and reported its first increase in traffic in two years. The company missed analysts’ profit expectations.

CEO Brian Nicol said in a statement that the results are a sign that Starbucks’ turnaround plan is working. Domestic same-store sales increased for the second consecutive quarter, supported by demand for special menu items and holiday season products such as the much-talked-about Bearista cup.

After today, the world will be watching Meta, microsoft and tesla When reporting income after the bell. IBM and ServiceNow A quarterly financial report is also expected to be released this afternoon.

House Democrats announced yesterday that they will begin impeachment hearings against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem unless President Trump removes her from office after federal agents killed two Americans in Minneapolis this month.

Democrats have also vowed to oppose funding for the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the deaths, putting the federal government on track for a partial shutdown that could begin Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has sought to soften its stance on the killings in recent days, saying yesterday in Minnesota, “We’re going to loosen up a little bit.” The president also said he wants a “very honorable and honest investigation” into the murder of Alex Preti, who was shot and killed by federal agents over the weekend.

Amazon The company announced this morning that it will cut approximately 16,000 corporate jobs. The layoffs are part of Amazon’s efforts to “cut out bureaucracy” and are the second major round of job cuts by the online retail giant since October.

As CNBC’s Annie Palmer reported, some Amazon cloud staff were notified of an “organizational change” yesterday via an email sent in an apparent mistake. Amazon did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the email.

Job cuts aren’t the only big changes for Amazon this week. The company announced yesterday that it would close its Fresh Supermarkets and Go convenience store chains and convert some stores to Whole Foods stores. Jason Buechel, Amazon’s head of grocery, told employees in a Tuesday memo that the company needs to make “careful choices” to build on its momentum. Read the full memo here.

After more than half a century, southwest airlines officially ended the free seat policy.

The airline cited calls for change from customers in making the decision, announced in July 2024, while highlighting the economic benefits to investors. Southwest Airlines will soon start offering more spacious and more expensive seats near the front of the plane. The changes are sure to be a big topic of discussion during the Dallas-based airline’s earnings call tomorrow.

CNBC’s Leslie Josephs was on Southwest Airlines’ last open-seat flight, and this week the first with seat reservations. This is what she saw.

Established research and consulting company Brand Finance Tesla’s Last year, the brand suffered as CEO Elon Musk moved further into politics. The lost brand value is:

Loss in dollar terms: $15.4 billion Approximate decrease from 2024: 36%

CNBC’s Jeff Cox, Steve Reisman, Sean Conlon, Justin Papp, Dan Mangan, Amelia Lucas, Garrett Downs, Annie Palmer, Leslie Josephs, Erin Black and Laura Kolodny contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.