5 things to know before markets open on Friday

Happy Friday. Today marks Jerome Powell’s last day as Federal Reserve Chairman, marking the end of an era in central banking.

Stock futures are falling this morning. The three major indexes rose yesterday and have been on a positive trend this week.

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

President Donald Trump left Beijing after two days of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The US president told reporters on an Air Force plane this morning that Xi had asked him if he would protect Taiwan from Chinese attack, but he refused to answer. “That question was asked to me today by President Xi. I said I would not talk about it,” he said.

Here’s what you need to know:

Oil prices have soared after President Trump said in a pre-recorded Fox News interview that China had agreed to buy U.S. oil, but Beijing has not confirmed the plan. The president said this morning that he would make a decision “in the coming days” on lifting sanctions on Chinese companies that buy Iranian oil. President Trump also told Fox News that China would buy 200 oil. boeing President Xi reportedly told President Trump and the accompanying US CEOs: Tesla’s Elon Musk Nvidia’s with jensen fan apple’s Tim Cook — Doors for business in China will open even wider President Trump invited President Xi Jinping to visit the White House on September 24th. It is not clear whether Chinese leaders will accept the invitation.

cerebrum Shares soared 68% on the Nasdaq yesterday, giving the company a market capitalization of about $95 billion. It was the largest initial public offering (IPO) for the U.S. technology sector in years.

Thursday’s stock price surge made Cerebra co-founders Andrew Feldman and Sean Lee billionaires based on their stock in the company. The first-day rally was also a win for Silicon Valley venture capitalists amid a slump in IPOs.

About the listing: Sources told CNBC that SpaceX’s IPO prospectus could be released as early as next week. Mr. Musk’s reusable rocket company plans to begin a roadshow early next month aimed at pitching the deal to investors, the people said.

Automakers are slowing efforts to expand headcount. As CNBC’s Michael Weiland reports, traditional automakers are laying off workers as they deal with the rise of AI and other technological changes in the industry.

Applications and employment data show ‘Detroit Three’ – GM, ford and Stellantis —In total, the companies are cutting more than 20,000 U.S. salaried jobs, or about 19% of their combined workforce.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are calling on President Trump to ban Chinese automakers from the U.S. market, warning that failure to do so could jeopardize domestic manufacturing jobs. But Chinese companies already have a foothold in the U.S. auto supply chain through ownership of U.S.-based parts suppliers.

The Senate Banking Committee approved the Transparency Act on Thursday. As CNBC’s Emily Wilkins points out, this is a huge win for the crypto industry.

The legislation is the first bill focused on cryptocurrencies and would add oversight and guardrails to the new industry. But banks, labor unions and law enforcement oppose the bill, citing concerns it would harm consumers and the financial system. The Clarification Act was approved by the Banking Committee on a largely party-line vote, but it still needs to be passed by all members of the Senate as well as the House.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrencies, gemini announced a $100 million strategic investment from its owner’s venture capital fund. The cryptocurrency exchange’s stock price soared more than 20% in pre-market trading.

Here are some articles I recommend making time for this weekend.

—CNBC’s April Roach, Dan Mangan, Leslie Josephs, Arjun Karpal, Laura Kolodny, Evelyn Chen, Kevin Breuninger, Sean Conlon, Michael Weiland, Luke Fountain, Jordan Novett, Kif Leswing, CJ Haddad, Emily Wilkins and Tanaya Machel contributed to this report.

Davis Giangiulio helped produce this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.