10 things you need to know before the opening bell

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10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Forbidden City

Reuters/Jason Lee

The Meridian Gate, or Wu Men of the Forbidden City is lit up during a light show to celebrate the Chinese Lantern Festival on the last day of the lunar new year celebrations in Beijing, China.

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Here is what you need to know.

  1. Revenues collapsed at the end of the year at Europe's biggest bank and it's being blamed on Trump's trade war. "Growth rates are certainly lower on the balance sheet; we are seeing a softening in the asset side," HSBC CEO John Flint told the Financial Times. "Given the trade uncertainty, that's not surprising, but, yes, we're seeing a reduction in the rate of growth."
  2. 2 of the biggest investors in SoftBank's Vision Fund aren't happy. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Co. have invested almost two-thirds of the Vision Fund's $100 billion pledged capital and are unhappy with the valuations being paid to invest in some companies, The Wall Street Journal reports.
  3. Payless Shoesource is seeking bankruptcy protection. The discount-shoe retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time Monday, saying it will shutter all of its North American operations by the end of May, Reuters says.
  4. The world's cooling love affair with cars is pushing the global economy towards a recession. Slowing new car demand in the US and Europe is having a big impact on global trade, according to analysts at HSBC.
  5. Young investors are bringing back one of Wall Street's most-trusted investing strategies. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey found advisers had 40% of their holdings in individual stocks in January, up from 37% a year ago.
  6. A plastic-surgery app backed by Tencent is going public. The Chinese cosmetic-surgery website SoYoung confidentially filed for a US initial public offering, Bloomberg says, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
  7. Honda is closing its UK plant. The Japanese automaker confirmed Tuesday that it was closing its Swindon vehicle-manufacturing plant - which produces 150,000 cars a year and employees about 3,500 people - in 2021 due to global-market conditions.
  8. Stock markets around the world were mostly lower. China's Shanghai Composite (+0.05%) eked out a gain in Asia and Britain's FTSE (-0.43%) trailed in Europe. The S&P 500 was set to open down 0.19% near 2,770.
  9. Walmart reports ahead of the opening bell. The retail giant is expected to earn $1.37 a share on revenue of $138.7 billion, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
  10. US economic data trickles out. The NAHB Housing Market Index will be released at 10 a.m. ET.
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