10 things before the opening bell
Happy Friday readers. The stock market just saw its worst day of the year. There's a lot of moving parts, and we're piecing it all together for you.
Let's get started.
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1. E-commerce stocks were at the center of yesterday's crash after lackluster earnings and weak guidance spooked investors. The broad sell-off in the sector also pulled shares of Amazon down as much as 7% Thursday.
As indexes cratered, one analyst warned that e-commerce troubles would keep pressure on tech shares. Angel investor Mike Ghaffary said investors should prepare for a bumpy ride ahead, and warned against holding out "false hope" the Fed won't be overly aggressive.
Bitcoin, for its part, also cratered amid the broader sell-off, erasing any doubt that the cryptocurrency is highly correlated with risk assets. One analyst said the world's largest crypto by market cap could sink another 30%.
The stock market has whipsawed dramatically over the past two days. After the Dow soared over 900 points after Wednesday's Fed meeting, the index plunged over 1,100 points during Thursday trading in what turned out to be the worst trading day of 2022.
The move erased all of Wednesday's gains from the big rally as investors took in the Fed's decision to raise interest rates by 50 basis points, but signaled bigger increases were off the table.
In other news:
2. US stock futures were down early Friday after a rough-and-tumble couple days of trading. It comes ahead of the release of crucial US jobs data, amid growing concern over the economic outlook. Here are the latest moves on the market.
3. Earnings on deck: Under Armour, Broadwind Inc, and Draftkings, all reporting.
4. Morgan Stanley broke down two charts that show why the outlook for stocks is dim. Analysts at the firm think the S&P 500 could fall another 19% before the sell-off is over. "This bear market is far from completed."
5. Hungary says an EU ban on Russian oil would be a 'nuclear bomb' for its economy. The Hungarian prime minister made the comment early on Friday as he opposed the EU's proposal to ban Russian oil. It comes as energy giant Shell warned the sanctions could be undermined regardless, as there are no systems that can trace Russian oil refined overseas. Here is the latest.
6. The US could still force Russia into defaulting on its debt in the coming weeks. That's according to a debt strategist from BlueBay. After narrowly missing a default this week, he explained why the danger is far from over for Russia — and why America has all the leverage.
7. Elon Musk and Cathie Wood agree that passive management's takeover of the investing world has gone too far. The pair took to Twitter to discuss the trend away from actively managed funds — and how it has prevented investors from reaping massive gains.
8. These are the best passive ways to earn crypto from a small amount of capital, according to the CEO of a blockchain investment firm. The options have varying risk levels and require an additional investment, but can yield results over time. See his three best ideas.
9. The boss of a $2.2 billion hedge fund laid out why he's moved virtually all his assets into cash. He's correctly called the last two big bear markets — and shared what he wants to see before buying back into the market.
10. China bought a lot of cheap oil at the start of the pandemic, and could look to snap up discounted barrels from Russia in the event of a full EU oil ban. It comes as one top analyst told Insider that Moscow would soon need to search for alternative markets, like China, to sell its oil as the EU embargo bites. Here's why Moscow could turn to Beijing to pick up the slack if Europe shuns Russian crude.
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Curated by Phil Rosen in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email prosen@insider.com or tweet @philrosenn.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.