Good morning. US stock futures nudged lower in Friday morning trading as investors took in a fresh round of corporate earnings and data on the health of the economy.

"Statistically you are far better of with huge gains because you are going to make some mistakes. If you're playing small ball and you make a few mistakes you can't recover"

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Top News

Fed President: No time to pull back now

WHAT: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester just threw her support behind another interest rate hike in the Fed's mission to crush inflation. Along with her support, she's also signaling the need to keep an eye out for any banking stress that might put a damper on credit and the economy.

WHY: "I anticipate that monetary policy will need to move somewhat further into restrictive territory this year, with the Fed Funds Rate moving above 5% and the real Fed Funds Rate staying in positive territory for some time" Mester said at an event hosted at the University of Akron.

Yellen pushes World Bank on reforms

WHAT: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is letting her feelings about the World Bank be known. She's calling on the Bank to speed up the pace of transformation, particularly in the areas of the Bank's private sector and poor country lending arms where she believes much more can be done to support developing countries.

WHY: Yellen kicked off efforts to retool the Bank back in October, after an independent report concluded that the Bank and other development banks could free up hundreds of billions of dollars by adjusting their balance sheets and accepting a bit more risk.

Musk's rocket launches in historic test flight

WHAT: Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship rocket took off like a bat out of hell in its most recent launch effort but unfortunately failed to make it into orbit after exploding mid-flight. Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built and represents years of technological tests for SpaceX.

WHY: Starship is designed to carry cargo and people beyond earth and is critical to NASA's plan to return astronauts to the moon.

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In Other News

Bye bye verified

WHAT: Twitter decided to finally start playing the un-verification game, leaving high profile users like Queen Bey and His Holiness Pope Francis feeling less blue as they were among many celebrities to lose their verified blue checkmark statuses.

WHY: Under Musk's ownership, Twitter has changed how it hands out the coveted blue checkmarks that were earlier given to noted individuals, journalists, executives, politicians and establishments after verifying their identity. Back in November, Musk said that Twitter would begin charging $8 per month for the badge in an effort to launch new revenue streams beyond advertising.

IKEA planning aggressive US push

WHAT: The owner of IKEA stores, Ingka Group, is making a big move in the US - they're planning to drop a whopping 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) to expand their presence over the next three years, making it the group's biggest investment in a single country.

WHY: The company said it's looking to win market share in the US, as cash-strapped consumers seek out more affordable options.

R.I.P BuzzFeed News

WHAT: BuzzFeed's latest news is not exactly the kind they'd like to be reporting. The digital media company has decided to shutdown its news division and give the axe to another 15% of its staff.

WHY: Digital advertising has taken a big hit in 2023, cutting into the profitability of major tech companies like Facebook and Google. Waves of layoffs have roiled the industry as a result.

Key Economic Events

• Friday - No Major Economic News

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