1. Toys “R” Us is shutting stores: More than 180 of them, in fact, accounting for about a fifth of its U.S. retail outlets. The decision comes four months after the toy seller filed for bankruptcy, struggling with $5 billion of debt in the face of competition from rivals like Walmart and Amazon.
The store closures, which will begin next month and are expected to be completed by April, will give Toys “R” Us “the best chance to emerge from our bankruptcy proceedings as a more viable and competitive company,” CEO Dave Brandon said.
The company’s stores outside the U.S. — more than 700 of them — are unaffected.
2. Day 2 in Davos: The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos enters its second full day, with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel scheduled to address the gathering of the world’s elite.
But virtually everyone is talking about another attendee — President Trump, who is scheduled to speak Friday. His team has already landed in the Swiss mountain resort, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross talking tax, trade and the dollar early Wednesday.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Alibaba founder Jack Ma will also take the stage, as will U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.
3. GE earnings: General Electric is set to release earnings before the open Wednesday. The company has just experienced its worst week on the stock market since the Great Recession, and has lost 45% of its value since President Trump was elected.
Comcast, Baker Hughes, Progressive and Royal Caribbean will also report earnings before the open, while Ford, Ethan Allen and Las Vegas Sands will do so after the close.
Also reporting earnings after the close: Whirlpool. The U.S. home appliance maker gained around 3% on Tuesday, after the Trump administration announced new tariffs on washing machines imported into the country.
4. Global market overview: U.S. stock futures were steady, after the Dow Jones industrial average closed slightly lower on Tuesday while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit new record highs.
Netflix surged 10% to a record high on Tuesday after reporting record new subscriber numbers, joining the coveted $100 billion club in the process.
European markets edged lower in early trading, while Asian markets ended the day mixed.
5. Economics: The U.S. will release data on existing home sales for December at 10:00 a.m. ET.
The weekly report on U.S. crude inventories will be published at 10:30 a.m. ET. U.S. crude oil futures were holding steady around $64.45 per barrel.
6. Coming this week:
Wednesday — Comcast, Ford, GE earnings.
Thursday — American Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest, Caterpillar, Intel, Starbucks earnings.
Friday — Honeywell earnings, Q4 GDP.