Author: Editor-In-Chief

This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.Happy Thursday. I just got back from a long weekend skiing in Colorado, just in time for yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting.Stock futures are falling this morning. The three major indexes have come out of the decline.Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.1. Progress steadilyFederal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference after the Federal Open Market Committee at the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, March 18, 2026.Brendan Smialowski AFP | Getty Images2. Stay up to date with…

U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security, testifies during his Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on March 18, 2026, at the Capitol in Washington, DC.Evan Vucci | ReutersA day after grueling confirmation hearings, a Senate committee is scheduled to vote Thursday morning on the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to head the Department of Homeland Security.Mullin on Wednesday cleared the first procedural hurdle to lead the department, despite facing scrutiny from senators over his temperament, the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration policies and overseas travel he repeatedly said was…

Jan van Veen has been diagnosed with kidney stones and will miss the Premier League Night 7 in Dublin. The Dutch number one was due to face Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals on Thursday night, but the latter was given a walkover to advance to the semi-finals. Van Gerwen also gained two league points and a +1 leg difference, while Van Veen took no points with a -6 leg difference. Van Veen is currently in fourth place after six nights with three runner-up finishes, but has been ruled out due to being hospitalized. Use Chrome Browser for a more…

Vice President J.D. Vance and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are scheduled to meet with the oil industry on Thursday as the White House looks for ways to address rising fuel prices.The meeting at the American Petroleum Institute in Washington will also include U.S. governors and bipartisan leaders in Congress. API is a lobbying group representing all major oil and gas companies in the United States. An API spokesperson told CNBC that participants will discuss “supporting reliable energy supplies amid global instability.” Vance said Wednesday that the White House would announce additional measures in the next 24 to 48 hours to…

Israel said it killed Iran’s intelligence minister in an attack on Tehran on Tuesday night, a day after killing two other senior Iranian officials in an attack on the capital. The attack demonstrates Israel’s relentless efforts to target power brokers within the regime. Meanwhile, Iran accused the United States and Israel of attacking some of its oil and gas production facilities, including South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas field. Iran has vowed to retaliate against the attack, which marks a significant escalation of the war. Here’s what you need to know on day 19. What are the main headings?…

England are in a good position to qualify for a fifth time in the Champions League in 2026-27, despite their disappointing run in the last 16.Four of the six Premier League teams – Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur – were eliminated on Tuesday and Wednesday night, leaving only Arsenal and Liverpool in contention. However, England remain comfortably at the top of the UEFA coefficient table, which measures how each country’s clubs perform in Europe’s three competitions. The top two finishers at the end of the campaign will be awarded an additional Champions League spot, known as the European…

Amid stagflation fears, Powell thinks we’re far from itWith fears of higher oil prices heating up inflation while weakening growth, Fed Chair Powell said that he wouldn’t use the term “stagflation” to describe the U.S. economy. “I always have to point out that that was a 1970s term, at a time when unemployment was in double figures and inflation was really high,” he said. “We actually have unemployment really close to longer-run normal, and we have inflation that’s 1 percentage point above that.”He added, “I would reserve the term stagflation for a much more serious set of circumstances.”The Fed’s summary…

Chinese technology giant alibaba on Thursday reported a 66% drop in net income from a year earlier, missing analysts’ revenue expectations.Alibaba’s financial results for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2025 are as follows:Sales: 284.8 billion yuan ($41.4 billion), compared with analyst expectations of 290.7 billion yuan, according to data compiled by LSEG Net profit: 15.6 billion yuan, compared with 46.4 billion yuan a year earlier. Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares fell 4% in pre-market trading on Thursday. The technology giant noted that the decline in net income was primarily due to a 74% year-over-year decline in operating income, impacted by investments…

President Donald Trump has temporarily waived a century-old shipping law to ease the cost of transporting oil, gas and other goods within the United States.The move will allow foreign-flagged vessels to transport goods between U.S. ports for the next 60 days, a measure taken to ease the movement of energy supplies across the country.Recommended stories list of two itemsend of list”This action will allow critical resources such as oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely into U.S. ports for 60 days,” White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt wrote in X.Here’s what we know:What is the Jones Act?The Jones…

Two weeks before President Donald Trump is scheduled to resolve a major dispute between the United States and China in Beijing, he has set new terms for negotiations to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. China has little incentive to concede to his demands. By shutting down key shipping routes, Iran has effectively cut off a fifth of the world’s oil supplies, raising fears of soaring prices and energy shortages that could upend the global economy. Currently facing the worst oil crisis in history, President Trump has called on other countries, including France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom,…