Anything For You All: 10 things you need to know before the opening bell

March 19, 2018

Here is what you need to know.

Putin wins another term. Russian President Vladimir Putin won a landslide reelection Sunday, extending his term in office until at least 2024.

China nominates a new central-bank head. The American-trained economist Yi Gang has been selected to become the next head of the People's Bank of China, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

A 'wall of money' is pouring into the stock market, but it's still struggling. Equity funds absorbed a record $43.3 billion of inflows over the past week, but that's "at odds with lackluster cross-asset returns," Bank of America Merrill Lynch's chief investment strategist, Michael Hartnett, wrote in a note.

The Fed is stuck in a trap of its own making. Wall Street thinks Federal Reserve Chairman James Powell could move toward holding press conferences at every policy meeting, but the market may interpret that as a signal more aggressive interest-rate hikes are coming, so he may have to wait until later this year to make the announcement.

Millennials are finally moving out of their parents' basements. The most recent US Census Bureau report shows the homeownership rate is increasing, with the largest gains in the under-35 cohort, JPMorgan says.

Apple is developing its own MicroLED screens. Apple has made a huge investment in the screens, which are being developed at a secret plant in California, Bloomberg reports.

Spotify is hemorrhaging money, and it needs to become Netflix to stop the bleeding. Spotify's public filings reveal that the company is spending most of its money on fees for licensed content and music royalties, and Duncan Davidson, a general partner at the venture-capital firm Bullpen Capital, says the company needs to become a music label to fix its biggest problem.

'Black Panther' wins the box office — again. Disney/Marvel's "Black Panther" raked in $27.02 million at the domestic box office this past weekend, according to BoxOffice Pro, making for the first time since "Avatar" (2009) that a movie has been atop the list for five straight weeks.

Stock markets around the world are lower. Japan's Nikkei (+0.9%) lags in Asia, and Britain's FTSE (-1.01%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.51% near 2,738.

Earnings reports trickle out. Oracle reports after the closing bell.