10 things you need to know before the opening bell (SPY, SPX, QQQ, DIA, NFLX, UAL)

Jonathan Garber

January 16, 2019 12:06 PM

Here is what you need to know.

TSA workers

Theresa May faces a vote of no confidence . UK Prime Minister Theresa May is fighting for her political life Wednesday as she faces a vote of no confidence following Tuesday's historic Brexit defeat.
Even the White House admits the government shutdown is causing problems for the US economy . A White House official told INSIDER that an updated internal model now estimates the government shutdown is taking 0.13 percentage points off of quarterly GDP every week.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now has a huge say over Wall Street . Ocasio-Cortez, the democratic socialist representative from New York, has secured a spot on the House Financial Services Committee.
The world is swimming in a near record $244 trillion of debt . The amount of debt in the world has topped 318% of global gross domestic product, and is just below the record high of 320% set in 2016, according to a new report from the Institute of International Finance.
Investors are paying a record premium for the safest stocks . Stock-market investors are paying a 45% premium for low-volatility versus high-volatility names and Keith Parker, UBS' US head of equity strategy, says there's a more efficient strategy.
Netflix pops after announcing price hikes . Shares rallied more than 6.5% Tuesday after the streaming giant announced it was hiking prices for its plans by as much as 18%.
A new strategy propels United Continental to an earnings beat . The airline earned an adjusted $2.41 a share in the fourth quarter easily beating the $2.04 consensus by IBES data from Refinitiv as United Airlines won back customers by flying more flights out of its main hubs, Reuters says.
Stock markets around the world were mixed . Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+0.27%) led the gains in Asia and the Euro Stoxx 50 was little changed in Europe. The S&P 500 was set to open flat near 2,609.
Big banks report . Bank of America and Goldman Sachs were among the names reporting their quarterly results ahead of the opening bell.
US economic data keeps coming . Import and export prices were to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and the NAHB Housing Market Index was set to cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The Fed's Beige Book was due out at 2 p.m. ET.