5 things to know before the stock market opens Wednesday, February 22

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

The market returned from the three-day weekend in bad shape. The three major indexes each fell at least 2% on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq the worst. The Dow is now in negative territory for the young year, which looked promising at first. Bond yields rose as investors weighed what the Federal Reserve would do next while they also digested a muted outlook from the top two retailers (see below). They should get some clues later Wednesday, when the Fed releases minutes from its previous policy-setting meeting. Follow live market updates.

Amazon employee anger over CEO Andy Jassy’s return to office mandate continues to grow. From May 1, people must return to work at least three days a week, Jassy and his leadership team announced a few days ago. Disgruntled workers spammed the internal website with messages slamming the decision. Several tech workers at the company started a Slack group, which had about 16,000 members as of Tuesday night, and created an internal petition pushing for the rule. About 5,000 employees have signed the petition.

Norfolk Southern chief executive Alan Shaw sat down with CNBC’s Morgan Brennan to talk about the company’s response to a train derailment in Ohio that released toxic chemicals. He said it was safe for his family to return to East Palestine, Ohio, where the train derailed on February 3, and his commitment to support Norfolk Southern for the city and residents. Asked if it was safe for people to return, he told CNBC: “Yes, yes, I have returned many times. I drink water here. I have been in contact with my family here.” South Norfolk has come under harsh criticism in response to the disaster, and the federal EPA has been ordered to handle all cleaning and recovery efforts.

Walmart and Home Depot kick off the retail earnings season with a bang. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer and wholesaler, offered a softer-than-expected forecast for this year, as it expects inflation-weary customers to continue to avoid discretionary purchases like electronics and focus more on essential items, such as groceries. Home Depot, meanwhile, reported revenue that missed estimates for the first time since November 2019. The home improvement giant also said it saw customers shopping more cautiously. “We’ve seen an increased level of price sensitivity over the past year, which is exactly what we predicted as inflation continued,” Home Depot’s CFO told CNBC.

Howard Schultz can leave his third (and final, he said) stint as Starbucks The CEO is on bad terms with the baristas union, but he is betting that the new style of drink he introduced will leave a tastier legacy after he leaves next month. The global coffee chain introduced Schultz’s latest brainchild, the “Oleato” line of olive oil-infused coffee drinks, on Wednesday in Italy. It will make its US debut this spring in California, before rolling out to other markets. “This is a transformational moment in our company’s history creating a new category, a new platform,” Schultz told CNBC’s Jim Cramer.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Annie Palmer, Noah Sheidlower, Melissa Repko, Amelia Lucas and Rebecca Picciotto contributed to this report.

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