5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday, October 27

Here are the most important news investors should start their trading day:

Markets don’t look much clearer now that we’ve topped a busy earnings week. The three major indexes had a mixed Wednesday. The Dow posted a fourth straight winning session, just barely, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 snapped their three-day winning streaks. Thursday morning’s futures also didn’t look so clear. Investors are largely chewing over the outlook from several Big Tech earnings that have already been reported this week, including Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta (more on that below). Two more biggies are also coming on Thursday, as Apple and Amazon are set to report after the bell. There’s another Fed meeting next week, which means another big rate hike is on the way (see below). Read live market updates here.

… can you still lose money on it? You bet. Wall Street had low expectations for Meta’s quarterly earnings and Meta outperformed them, on the wrong side, sending the stock down 20% in after-hours trading. Parent company Facebook missed a big profit, as average revenue per user and revenue fell for two consecutive quarters. Worse, Meta expects another drop in revenue in the current quarter, issuing guidance that was largely lower than analysts had expected. The advertising environment is rough, as we’ve already seen with Alphabet and Snap, and Meta is feeling it, too. Beyond that, CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to keep spending big in 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. .

Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian capital of Kiev again as Vladimir Putin pushes his offensive from the sky as his forces try to regroup on the ground. The Russians also hit the Zaporizhzhia region, which is home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, a senior Russian official warned that Kremlin forces could target US commercial satellites, which have already provided images of Russian troops and formations. Read live updates of the war here.

There are just under two weeks left until Election Day, when Americans will decide the balance of power in Congress. The economy is again voters’ top concern as concerns about Covid have faded and prices have risen to levels not seen in four decades. The Federal Reserve has had little luck so far slowing inflation with its steep interest rate hikes, even as critics warn the central bank’s actions threaten a recession. And now one of the top Democrats in the Senate, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, is warning Fed Chairman Jerome Powell that the Fed’s actions could lead to job losses. “It is your duty to fight 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 rate hike by three quarters at next week’s meeting, just days before the election.

Elon Musk appeared on Wednesday at I tweet headquarters with a sink in his hands, more or less just so he could do a “let it sink in” pun, you guessed it, Twitter. All signs point to Tesla’s billionaire CEO closing his $44 billion deal to take the social media company private just in time for Friday’s court deadline. Musk’s takeover will end a months-long saga that included reaching a deal for $54.20 a share, walking away from it and Twitter suing him to end the deal. Now the question is, 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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