10 things you need to know before the opening bell (SPY, SPX, QQQ, DIA, NFLX, UAL)
Here is what you need to know.
- Theresa May faces a vote of no confidence. UK Prime Minister Theresa May is fighting for her political life Wednesday as she faces a vote of no confidence following Tuesday's historic Brexit defeat.
- Even the White House admits the government shutdown is causing problems for the US economy. A White House official told INSIDER that an updated internal model now estimates the government shutdown is taking 0.13 percentage points off of quarterly GDP every week.
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now has a huge say over Wall Street. Ocasio-Cortez, the democratic socialist representative from New York, has secured a spot on the House Financial Services Committee.
- The world is swimming in a near record $244 trillion of debt. The amount of debt in the world has topped 318% of global gross domestic product, and is just below the record high of 320% set in 2016, according to a new report from the Institute of International Finance.
- Investors are paying a record premium for the safest stocks. Stock-market investors are paying a 45% premium for low-volatility versus high-volatility names and Keith Parker, UBS' US head of equity strategy, says there's a more efficient strategy.
- Netflix pops after announcing price hikes. Shares rallied more than 6.5% Tuesday after the streaming giant announced it was hiking prices for its plans by as much as 18%.
- A new strategy propels United Continental to an earnings beat. The airline earned an adjusted $2.41 a share in the fourth quarter — easily beating the $2.04 consensus by IBES data from Refinitiv — as United Airlines won back customers by flying more flights out of its main hubs, Reuters says.
- Stock markets around the world were mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+0.27%) led the gains in Asia and the Euro Stoxx 50 was little changed in Europe. The S&P 500 was set to open flat near 2,609.
- Big banks report. Bank of America and Goldman Sachs were among the names reporting their quarterly results ahead of the opening bell.
- US economic data keeps coming. Import and export prices were to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and the NAHB Housing Market Index was set to cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The Fed's Beige Book was due out at 2 p.m. ET.
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