Ferrari technicians inspect supercars on the production line inside the company’s factory in Maranello, Italy, October 2, 2025. REUTERS\/Remo Casilli\/File Photo<\/p>\n
Remo Casilli | Reuters<\/p>\n
This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter.\u00a0Subscribe here<\/a>\u00a0to receive future editions in your inbox.<\/p>\n Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:<\/p>\n 1. Heard on the street<\/p>\n There’s a new hot term on Wall Street: the “debasement trade.”<\/a> It explains the recent gains in metals, crypto and stocks, even as the U.S. dollar declines amid concerns around the greenback’s future.<\/p>\n Here are the other market stories we’re following:<\/p>\n 2. And then there were five<\/p>\n Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller speaks during the Clearing House Annual Conference in New York City on Nov. 12, 2024.<\/p>\n Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters<\/p>\n The list of Federal Reserve Chair candidates has been\u00a0whittled down<\/a>\u00a0to five from 11, Treasury sources tell CNBC.<\/p>\n Those still in the running to succeed Jerome Powell include current Fed officials Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller. Waller told CNBC just this morning that while he sees more rate cuts ahead, the Fed needs to be “cautious about it.”<\/a><\/p>\n External candidates such as BlackRock Fixed Income CIO Rick Rieder are also on the shortlist.\u00a0See the full list of candidates here.<\/a><\/p>\n 3. Bracket bumps<\/p>\n A view of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 16, 2025.<\/p>\n Annabelle Gordon | Reuters<\/p>\n 4. Indicted<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Oct. 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. <\/p>\n Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images<\/p>\n A federal grand jury in Virginia last night indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James<\/a> on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. President Donald Trump has pushed for criminal charges against James, who called the allegations “baseless” and “a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile in Washington, funding bills that could have ended the federal shutdown failed to pass the Senate for a seventh time<\/a>. During a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Trump threatened to use the shutdown to cut “Democrat programs”<\/a> that “aren’t popular with Republicans.”<\/p>\n Get Morning Squawk directly in your inbox5. Sitting pretty<\/p>\n A Delta Air Lines Airbus A220 airplane prepares to takeoff at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on July 10, 2025. <\/p>\n Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images<\/p>\n Delta<\/a> passengers are opting for the finer things in life.<\/p>\n Airline executives said Thursday that those nicer, more expensive seats toward the front of the plane could start bringing in higher total revenue <\/a>than their coach counterparts for at least part of next year. Delta’s premium ticket sales have risen 9% from a year ago, and the carrier doesn’t see signs of higher-end travel demand cooling.<\/p>\n But United<\/a> is aiming to give Delta a run for its money. The air carrier yesterday unveiled a slate of direct flights to smaller European cities<\/a> in a bid to win luxury travel market share.<\/p>\n