5 things to know before the stock market opens Tuesday, February 21

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

Stocks are coming off a mixed week and three-day weekend, meaning bulls have just four days to shake off recent losses. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 ended last week down slightly. It was the third consecutive week of losses for the Dow Jones and the second straight streak for the S&P. The Nasdaq managed to end in positive territory when the closing bell rang on Friday. This week, investors will have a big new list of earnings to analyze (see below). On Wednesday, they’ll get a glimpse of how Federal Reserve policymakers are thinking within minutes of January-February 31. 1 Fed meeting is published. Follow live market updates.

Earnings season enters a new phase this week as retailers begin reporting. Home Depot and Walmart released their holiday quarter results Tuesday morning. (See below.) Target and Lowe are also due to report next week. But before that, here are some of the big names reporting the rest of this week:

• Tuesday: Caesars Entertainment, Coinbase, Palo Alto Networks (after the bell)
• Wednesday: eBay, Etsy, Lucid, Nvidia (after the bell)
• THURSDAY: Papa John’s, Nikola (before the bell); Carvana, Beyond Meat, Block, Warner Bros. Discovery, Live Nation (after the bell)

The economy has given investors many mixed signals in recent months. It looked like holiday sales weren’t that hot overall, but retail sales easily beat expectations in January. Inflation is slowing down a bit, but it’s still high and forcing shoppers to be smarter about how they spend their money. This is where Walmart comes in. The nation’s largest retailer, grocer and employer posted profits and revenue that easily exceeded Wall Street expectations for the holiday quarter. And, according to CEO Doug McMillon, the company is entering its new fiscal year with great momentum as the economy faces uncertainty this year.

Home Depot said Tuesday it would spend $1 billion to raise wages for its hourly workers. The increase officially took effect on Feb. 6, so employees will see the hike in their paychecks this month. The move makes Home Depot the latest retailer to recognize that keeping employees happy in this tight job market is tough. Walmart recently said it would raise its minimum wage to $14, starting in March. Home Depot also announced its results Tuesday morning. The company missed Wall Street earnings expectations for the first time since November 2019 and released a lackluster outlook for the year.

President Joe Biden made a surprising visit to Kyiv on Monday, marching through the streets of Ukraine’s capital alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even as the air raid sirens went off. It was a bold move for Biden, who has pledged support and aid to Ukraine as it faces the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion, as it emerged as a direct shot at Russian President Vladimir Putin. . The Kremlin War is considered a failure so far, leaving Putin to blame the West and even the wealthy oligarchs who prospered under his rule. Follow live war updates.

– CNBC’s Fred Imbert, Melissa Repko, Gabrielle Fonrouge and Karen Gilchrist contributed to this report.

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