10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

MIKE BIRD

 OCT. 15, 2014

REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

Oil prices are still falling.

Good morning! Here’s what you need to know. 

Greek Stocks Are Getting Hammered Again.Markets are spooked following a rift between the Greek government and other EU states and the rise of the far-left SYRIZA party. 

BlackRock’s Third Quarter Profit Rose 26%. The world’s largest money manager reported net income of $917 million, or $5.37 per share, up from $730 million, or $4.21 per share, a year earlier.

A Saudi Prince Is Warning About Falling Oil Prices. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al-Saud has published a letter expressing his “astonishment” at reports that the Saudi oil minister is comfortable with collapsing oil prices.

The US Military Has Admitted That ISIS Has “Tactical Momentum.”  Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria are still making advances. 

UK Unemployment Is Back To A Pre-Crisis Low. Unemployment in the UK has fallen to 6%, the lowest rate since 2008, right before the economic crash.

Retail Sales Are Coming. US retail sales figures for September are out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists are expecting a 0.1% decline between August and September. 

Scotland Knows Who Its New First Minister Will Be. Scotland’s nationalists have a new leader, Nicola Sturgeon, who will be the country’s new first minister, and a key figurehead for the independence movement.

Toyota Has Recalled 1.67 Million Cars Worldwide. Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it was recalling more than 1 million vehicles for there seperate defects, including leaking break fluid. 

European Markets Are Slumping. The FTSE 100 is down 0.93%, Germany’s DAX is down 0.85% and France’s CAC 40 is down 0.87%. Asian markets closed up, with a 0.92% boost for the Nikkei and the Hang Seng closed up 0.40%.

Bank Of America Made A Third Quarter Loss. The second-largest US bank reported a quarterly loss due to a huge mortgage settlement with the US government.