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Happy Friday. If you’re as curious about the retail industry as I am, check out this exclusive article by CNBC’s Melissa Repko. I don’t want to spoil it, so I’ll just say this. target The boycott’s woes are not over.
Stock futures are falling this morning. The three major indexes fell sharply yesterday.
Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.
1.+10 days
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks next to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on March 26, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA.
Evelyn HochsteinReuter
President Donald Trump announced yesterday that he is extending the moratorium on attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, extending the deadline to April 6. President Trump said the 10-day extension was at the request of the Iranian government.
Here’s what you need to know:
2. Agreement with DHS
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, speaks to members of the media outside his office at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Washington, DC.
Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Senate reached an agreement early this morning to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security, a sign of progress toward ending the department’s shutdown. The bill will now be sent to the House of Representatives, where it could be voted on as early as today.
The package doesn’t include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is exactly what Democrats wanted, but it also doesn’t include changes to ICE’s enforcement practices that Democrats wanted.
The agreement comes amid a partial government shutdown that has left Transportation Security Administration employees working without pay and led to long security lines at airports. President Trump said yesterday that he would issue an executive order to bypass Congress and pay TSA employees “immediately.”
3. Conquest of Claude’s Court
In this illustrated photo, the Anthropic logo is displayed on a smartphone screen. An AI company is suing the Pentagon after the Pentagon moved to blacklist the company following disagreements over safeguards that limit the use of AI systems in surveillance and autonomous weapons.
Jonathan Ra | Null Photo | Getty Images
Yesterday, Anthropic got its wish in federal court. Judge Rita Lin granted an artificial intelligence startup’s request for an injunction against the White House.
Lin said the Pentagon’s blacklisting of Anthropic is “classic illegal First Amendment retaliation.” Anthropic said in a statement that it was “grateful to the court for acting quickly” and said it would continue to work with the government if possible.
In other AI policy news, venture capitalist David Sachs said yesterday that President Trump’s role as crypto and AI czar is coming to an end. Sachs said he will serve on the President’s Science and Technology Advisory Council, a federal advisory committee.
4. Battle of words
Kevin Warsh, former US Federal Reserve Board member, speaks at the Monetary Policy Conference at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, in Palo Alto, California, USA, on May 9, 2025.
Ann Safir | Reuters
Sen. Elizabeth Warren didn’t mince words in her Thursday letter to Kevin Warsh, President Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve. “You have not learned anything from your mistakes,” Warren told Warsh in a scathing eight-page letter.
The Massachusetts Democratic Party said Warsh’s tenure at the Fed from 2006 to 2011 “should disqualify him from promotion.” Warren also warned that Warsh would provide a “rubber stamp to President Trump’s Wall Street First agenda.” Warsh did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, the Fed’s board of governors is asking a judge to throw out a request by prosecutors to recall subpoenas issued as part of a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell.
5. Battery up
A panoramic view of Trust Park during the bottom of the fifth inning of the second game of a doubleheader between the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins on August 9, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Matthew Grimes Jr. | Atlanta Braves | Getty Images
Yesterday was the opening day of MLB’s 2026 season. As CNBC’s Alex Sherman reports, this could be the last game before big changes begin for the league.
The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and its players expires at the end of the season. Bruce Meyer, interim executive director of the MLB Players Association, said last month that a lockout was likely during negotiations.
Additionally, one-third of the league’s teams did not have in-season local TV deals until this week. Some teams announced Wednesday that a new team channel run by MLB will be operated by DirecTV.
daily dividend
Here are some articles I recommend making time for this weekend.
—CNBC’s Dan Mangan, Sean Conlon, Yi Ling Xiang, Itzel Franco, Kevin Browninger, Ashley Caputo, Jennifer Elias, Justin Papp, Leslie Josephs and Alex Sherman contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.
