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5 things to know before the stock market opens Friday

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani departs the U.S. District Courthouse after he was ordered to pay $148 million in his defamation case in Washington, U.S., December 15, 2023.
Bonnie Cash | Reuters
  • Stocks bounced back from a down day.
  • Nike's planning $2 billion in cost cuts.
  • Global shipping costs are rising with ongoing tensions in the Red Sea.

Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:

1. Boomeranging

Well that didn't last long. Wall Street quickly bounced back from Wednesday's losing day with all three major averages seeing gains again on Thursday. Stock futures were shifting lower again Friday morning, but the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are all on pace for eight winning weeks in a row. That streak would be a first for the S&P 500 since 2017 and for the Dow dating back to 2019. The S&P 500 is up 0.58% for the week, while the Dow has a gain of 0.27%. The Nasdaq is up 1% in the period. Follow live market updates.

2. Nike trips up

People walk past a Nike sporting goods store at a shopping complex in Beijing, China, on March 25, 2021.
Florence Lo | Reuters
People walk past a Nike sporting goods store at a shopping complex in Beijing, China, on March 25, 2021.

Nike shares slumped 10% in extended trading after the retailer said it plans to cut $2 billion in costs over the next three years. The sneaker giant also cut its revenue outlook for the fiscal year, expecting it to grow approximately 1%, when it had previously expected growth in the mid-single digits. Nike said it's hoping to cut costs by simplifying its product assortment, increasing automation, reducing management layers and leveraging its scale "to drive greater efficiency." The plan will cost the company between $400 million and $450 million in pretax restructuring charges that are mostly related to employee severance costs, Nike said.

3. Shipping costs soar

Passage under the cable-stayed bridge of El Qantara which spans the Suez Canal. It is the result of a collaboration between Japan and Egypt. on Janvier 20, 2017 in Suez Canal, Red sea, Egypt.
Camille Delbos | Corbis News | Getty Images
Passage under the cable-stayed bridge of El Qantara which spans the Suez Canal. It is the result of a collaboration between Japan and Egypt. on Janvier 20, 2017 in Suez Canal, Red sea, Egypt.

Supply chain concerns are back in a new way. Cargo prices are soaring as ocean freight vessels are diverting away from the Red Sea amid continuing attacks from the Houthis. Just when the global supply chain seemed to have recovered from inflation that was spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic, ocean freight rates are increasing 40% on some trade routes. As of Thursday morning, 158 vessels carrying an estimated $105 billion in freight were re-routing from the Rea Sea. Logistics CEOs say if the increased costs continue for a month or more, inflationary pressures will be felt and seen in the supply chain and eventually at the consumer level.

4. America's debtor

"America's Mayor" has filed for bankruptcy protection. In a filing, Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and lawyer for former President Donald Trump, estimated that he has assets worth between $1 million and $10 million but owes between $100 million and $500 million. The move comes after he was recently hit with a nearly $150 million civil judgment for defaming Georgia election workers while serving as one of Trump's lawyers — and a day after a judge ordered him to start paying that out. The list of non-secured creditors in the filing includes several other entities and people still suing him.

5. Ruling the roost

A Chick-fil-A meal is displayed at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Novato, California, on June 1, 2023.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
A Chick-fil-A meal is displayed at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Novato, California, on June 1, 2023.

Chick-fil-A has that secret sauce: a hold on its customers that every other restaurant wants. It's become the top fast-food chicken chain in the country, beating out Popeyes and KFC. It's also the third-largest restaurant chain in the U.S. by sales overall (not just counting chicken spots), despite having fewer locations than Sonic Drive-In or Papa John's. Part of that success may be thanks to Americans eating more chicken, with annual consumption projected to keep climbing. Even McDonald's, which outstrips Chick-fil-A by sales and footprint, is leaning into chicken to drive growth.

CNBC's Sarah Min, Jesse Pound, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Lori Ann LaRocco, Dan Mangan and Amelia Lucas contributed to this report.

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