5 things to know before the stock market opens on Friday, November 25

Here are the most important news items investors need to start their trading day:

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving. If you have a schedule today, please don’t overwork. Either way, the US stock market is dropping early, at 1 p.m. ET. (The bond market closes at 2 p.m.) Although it’s been a short week with slightly low volume, the stock is on track to complete a frame in the positive territory. The minutes of the Fed meeting released on Wednesday gave a little more support to traders’ moves. Central bank policymakers say they are willing to slow the pace of rate hikes as there is evidence of some progress in the fight against inflation. Read live market updates here.

Retailers are under pressure to extend a strong holiday season, starting in earnest with the Black Friday sale. But retailers have also largely cornered themselves with a steady stream of promotions and clearance sales for months now as they seek to free up excess inventory piled up due to retailers. supply chain problems or simply changes in customer needs. The National Retail Federation says 166.3 million people are expected to shop over the weekend. That would be a record. But are they spending enough to get the stores they need? CNBC’s Melissa Repko explains What is at stake for the retail industry? at the most important time of the year.

Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy on Friday spoke to European governments, urging them to unite as Russia’s war in his country drags on. “There is no division, there is no division among Europeans and we must maintain this. This is our number one mission this year,” Zelenskyy said in a previous video address. a conference in Lithuania. Zelenskyy’s comments come as Ukraine grapples with widespread power outages and infrastructure failures following a series of Russian missile attacks. Read live war updates here.

Elon Musk will throw some more spaghetti on the wall at Twitter headquarters. The electric car and rocket ship billionaire said on Friday his social network will roll out a series of different colored verified checkmarks next week. “Yellow checks are for companies, gray checks are for governments, green checks are for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually validated before the check is activated. “, he wrote on Twitter, adding: “It’s painful, but necessary.” Musk said more details will come next week. The latest change comes after he was forced to suspend his $8/month Twitter Blue service, after many users impersonated brands and celebrities.

Crypto Exchange Binance Said It opened a $1 billion recovery fund for the industry as it reels from the bankruptcy of FTX and the growing scandal surrounding founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Binance, which is run by CEO Changpeng Zhao, said the fund is intended to help companies “through no fault of their own, which are facing significant, short-term financial difficulties.” About 150 companies have applied for help from the fund, Binance said, adding that they can increase the amount available to $2 billion, “if there is a need.”

– Carmen Reinicke, Sarah Min, Melissa Repko, Karen Gilchrist, Arjun Kharpal and Ryan Browne of CNBC contributed to this report.

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