Brian Swint

STOCKSTOWATCHTODAY BLOG Liberty Broadband shares jumped early Tuesday after it said it had submitted a counterproposal to Charter Communications for combining the two businesses. The stock rose 19% in premarket trading to $71.

Greater hopes that China will snap out of its extended slump is good news for any company with operations there.

Analysts at Baird led by Ben Kallo expect that number to come in higher than Wall Street anticipates.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 44 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were also down 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.2%. To be fair, they're still close to all time-highs–the Dow finished Friday at a record.

U.S. stocks managed a strong finish to the third quarter, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closing at record highs on Monday. Dow futures lost 114 points, or 0.3%. The first is Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comment Monday that quarter-point rate reductions are preferred, when many traders had their hopes up for more half-point moves.

The stock hit the lowest since it merged with a shell company in March on Sept. 23, but has risen markedly since then.

Stocks extended yesterday's decline in early hours trading as Iran's missile attack on Israel prompted traders to be cautious. A flight to safety is the usual reaction when geopolitical events create uncertainty. For now, the threat of more violence in the Middle East is causing investors to shun riskier assets such as stocks and buy oil and haven assets such as gold and U.S. treasuries.

Stellantis the parent company of automobile brands Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler, is taking drastic steps to reverse a 43% slide in its share price since the start of the year. On Thursday, the company said Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight will leave the firm and be replaced by Doug Ostermann. It also named new chief operating officers for North America, Europe, and China.

The broader problem is weak demand for refined products such as gasoline and jet fuel amid an economic slump in China, as well as increased supply from new refineries in Asia and the Middle East.

The broader problem is weak demand for refined products such as gasoline and jet fuel amid an economic slump in China, as well as increased supply from new refineries in Asia and the Middle East.