5 issues to know earlier than the inventory market opens Friday, September 20

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 42,000 for the first time Thursday after a 500-point rally. The S&P 500 likewise notched a new record, rising 1.7% to close above 5,700. The Nasdaq Composite gained 2.5%. All three major indexes are on pace for winning weeks: The Dow and the S&P are each up about 1.5% since Monday, and the Nasdaq is up almost 1.9%. Follow live market updates.

Nike is just doing away with its CEO. John Donahoe is leaving his post at the sneaker giant next month, to be replaced by Elliott Hill. Donahoe has been Nike’s top executive since January 2020 and has been overseeing a broad restructuring effort after Nike shifted its strategy to sell directly to consumers. He will retire from his position on Oct. 13 and remain as an advisor through the end of January. Hill was most recently president of consumer and marketplace at Nike before retiring in 2020.

Home sales disappointed again in August, falling 2.5% from July levels and 4.2% from a year ago. That readout from the National Association of Realtors came in slightly below what analysts expected. But it may not be all bad news. The report is based on closed contracts on previously owned home sales, meaning the dotted lines were likely signed in late June and July,  when mortgage rates had started to come down but were not yet as low as they are today. “Home sales were disappointing again in August, but the recent development of lower mortgage rates coupled with increasing inventory is a powerful combination that will provide the environment for sales to move higher in future months,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. 

The UAW is once again eyeing the picket line. Union leadership is threatening work stoppages at Ford and Stellantis, a year after historic strikes during national contract negotiations. This time it’s local contracts on the table, as the UAW takes aim at “job security, wage parity for Skilled Trades, as well as work rules.” The union has set a strike deadline at a Ford plant for 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 25, and it’s announced strike authorization votes at one or more local unions covering U.S. Stellantis plants.

Thirteen letters. Five syllables. One new buzzword. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is all about recalibration these days. He used the term, or some variation, no fewer than eight times during this week’s news conference following the central bank’s first rate cut in four years. “It really allows him to push this narrative that this easing cycle is not about us being in recession, it is about extending the economic expansion,” said Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at PGIM Fixed Income. “I think it’s a really powerful idea. It’s something we had been hoping that he would do.”

– CNBC’s Hakyung Kim, Brian Evans, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Diana Olick, Michael Wayland and Jeff Cox contributed to this report.