Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the Federal Open Markets Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve on Dec. 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
This is CNBC's Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox. Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Holding out for a hero
2. Diverging paths
A sign is posted in front of the Oracle headquarters in Redwood Shores, California, on March 11, 2024. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Oracle missed analysts' expectations for revenue in its high-profile earnings report yesterday. Shares of the software company dropped 11% in extended trading, dragging down other artificial intelligence plays such as Nvidia and CoreWeave . The revenue miss overshadowed Oracle's quarterly earnings per share, which blew past Wall Street's forecast for the second quarter. Oracle also said its remaining performance obligations soared more than 400% from a year ago, driven by new commitments from companies including Meta and Nvidia. On the other hand, shares of Cisco rallied to an all-time closing high in yesterday's session. As CNBC's Jordan Novet points out, it's the first such record for Cisco since its dot-com bubble peak in 2000.
3. Taking the tanker
A U.S. military helicopter flies near an oil tanker during a raid described by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as its seizure by the United States off the coast of Venezuela, Dec. 10, 2025, in a still image from video. U.S. Attorney General | Via Reuters
Trump said yesterday that the U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. He said it was "the largest one ever seized." Matt Smith, head U.S. analyst at energy consultancy Kpler, told CNBC that the tanker has been identified as the Skipper, a Guyana-flagged "Very Large Crude Carrier" that appeared to be en route to Cuba. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an X post yesterday that the tanker had been sanctioned by the U.S. for years "due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations." The move comes as Trump continues to escalate his pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, saying in a Politico interview published Tuesday that Maduro's "days are numbered." Oil prices popped yesterday following Trump's announcement.
Get Morning Squawk directly in your inbox CNBC's Morning Squawk recaps the biggest stories investors should know before the stock market opens, every weekday morning. Subscribe here to get access today.
... continue reading