5 things to know before the stock market opens on Wednesday February 22

Here are the most important information investors need to start their trading day:

The market returned from the three-day weekend in poor condition. The three major indexes each fell at least 2% on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq falling the most. The Dow Jones is now in negative territory for the young year, which had looked so promising at first. Bond yields rose as investors weighed what the Federal Reserve might do next while digesting the muted outlook from two major retailers (see below). They should get some clues later on Wednesday, when the Fed releases the minutes of its previous policy-setting meeting. Follow live market updates.

Amazon employee anger over CEO Andy Jassy’s sudden return to office mandate continues to grow. From May 1, people must be back in the office at least three days a week, Jassy and his management team announced a few days ago. Disgruntled workers spammed an internal website with messages slamming the decision. Some company techs created a Slack group, which had around 16,000 members as of Tuesday night, and started an internal petition pushing back against the rule. About 5,000 employees had signed the petition.

Norfolk Southern chief executive Alan Shaw sat down with CNBC’s Morgan Brennan to talk about his company’s response to a train derailment in Ohio that released toxic chemicals. He said the families were safe to return to East Palestine, Ohio, where the train derailed on February 3, and he pledged Norfolk Southern’s support for the town and its residents. Asked if it was safe for people to come back, he told CNBC: “Yeah, yeah I’ve been back many times. I drink water here. I interacted with families here .” Norfolk Southern came under heavy criticism for its response to the disaster, and the federal EPA ordered it to handle all cleanup and recovery efforts.

Walmart and Home Depot kicked off retail earnings season with a whimper. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer and grocer, offered a softer-than-expected outlook for the year as it expects inflation-weary customers to continue to shun discretionary purchases like electronics. and focus more on essentials, like groceries. Home Depot, meanwhile, reported revenue that missed estimates for the first time since November 2019. The home improvement giant also said it saw customers shopping more cautiously. “We saw an increasing degree of price sensitivity as the year progressed, which is actually what we expected in the face of persistent inflation,” the Home Depot’s chief financial officer told CNBC.

Howard Schultz may be leaving his third (and last, he says) CEO job at Starbucks on bad terms with the barista union, but he’s betting the new style of drink he’s introducing will leave a tastier legacy after he leaves on Tuesday. next month. The global coffee chain is showcasing Schultz’s latest brainchild, the “Oleato” line of olive oil-infused coffee drinks, on Wednesday in Italy. It will make its US debut this spring in California, before expanding to other markets. “This is a transformative moment in the history of our company creating a new category, a new platform,” Schultz told CNBC’s Jim Cramer.

– CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Annie Palmer, Noah Sheidlower, Melissa Repko, Amelia Lucas and Rebecca Picciotto contributed to this report.

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