5 things to know before the stock market opens on Monday

Happy Monday. I watched “The Social Reckoning” over the weekend, the first in a series of new movies and TV shows focused on executives at technology companies.

Stock futures were little changed this morning. Stocks ended last week higher.

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

President Donald Trump said Friday after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Russian government will supply more than 4 million tons of diesel to the global market. The deal comes as President Trump faces pressure to deliver relief to Americans ahead of the midterm elections, but analysts are skeptical it will lead to lower prices.

Here’s what you need to know:

Many experts and lawmakers said the agreement appeared to be inconsistent with sanctions imposed by the United States on Russian oil sales during the Russia-Ukraine war. President Trump signed a bill last month that allows him to impose tariffs on top buyers of Russian oil and gas, and on Sunday, Trump said Russia and Ukraine had reached an “energy ceasefire.” Such a ceasefire could also ease the global oil and gas crisis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kiev would agree to a ceasefire if Russia also agreed to it, and claimed in a livestreamed speech this morning that Russia had already violated the ceasefire. Meanwhile, attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have soared to the highest level since the start of the Iran war. The surge in attacks has raised questions about whether global oil supplies can be significantly increased. Crude oil futures rose this morning, reversing earlier losses. Oil prices rose last week, but it wasn’t enough to stop US stocks from ending the week in the green. Follow live market updates here.

Independent evaluators once occupied a quiet corner of the world of artificial intelligence. Now, they are being leveraged to keep the industry on the right track as safety concerns increase.

AI giants are turning to third-party rating agencies like Model Evaluation and Threat Research (METR) and Transluce to monitor their models. As CNBC’s Ashley Caputo reports, the role of these organizations has grown in the absence of a federal security framework.

When it comes to AI safety: microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Saturday became the latest industry leader to express concern about the risks of AI, writing on social media that the technology needs an “emergency brake.” Nadella said models should be built with containment and independent controls.

The Justice Department is investigating whether the White House television press team violated antitrust laws by suspending coverage of Trump when the president banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from accessing the White House.

The Justice Department said it was investigating whether the press suspension violated the Sherman Act, a federal law that prohibits agreements that unreasonably restrict trade. Reporters including CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS and NBC did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Meanwhile, lawyer and conservative commentator Katie Zacharias will be sworn in as White House press secretary today. Zakaria replaces Caroline Leavitt, who resigned from the Trump administration in August, and is expected to take up her role at Fox News next month.

Yields on French government bonds remain close to levels last seen in 2002. As Italy considers widening its budget deficit, some investors are wondering whether Italy could face a similar fate.

The Italian government is expected to present a budget that includes recently confirmed allocations for defense and energy. The new spending levels could widen Italy’s budget deficit over the next two years, making it the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in Europe, according to Goldman Sachs.

As a result, Italian debt could come under further pressure ahead of next year’s general elections. Still, some investors see Italy as having a better economic situation than France, thanks largely to its domestic bond holdings.

Retailers are trying to clean up their balance sheets. To do so, many are removing products from shelves.

As CNBC’s Ryan Baker writes, lower inventories can help companies stabilize sales and reduce the likelihood of product oversupply. But on the other hand, fewer products mean fewer choices for shoppers.

This is a compromise many big-name retailers have made as energy and food prices soar. brand of dollar general to BJ’s Wholesale Club to lululemon Companies have announced plans to reduce the number of products they sell.

Here’s what to watch this week:

— CNBC’s Spencer Kimball, Kevin Bruninger, Garrett Downs, Elsa Oren, Deena Zaidi, Mike Sheen, Sean Conlon, Ashley Caputo, Greg Iacrussi, Liz Napolitano, Terry Cullen, Hugh Leask and Ryan Baker contributed to this report.

Caleigh Keating helped produce this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.

Disclosure: CNBC and MS NOW are divisions of Versant Media.