Hello friends and Fortune readers,
Wall Street stock futures are lower this morning, as Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen’s warning about stocks being expensive continues to weigh on the market.
Nearly 30 million U.K. residents are expected to head to the polls today to decide which political party will lead the nation’s new government. Meanwhile, the U.S. government will put out the latest weekly employment figures and Chinese e-commerce website Alibaba reports its financial results for the most recent fiscal year. Other companies reporting earnings today include CBS, Molson Coors Brewing, Post Holdings and Fortune publisher Time Inc (TIME).
Today’s must-read story is by Fortune‘s Barbara Thau on the gifts that CEOs give (and get) on Mother’s Day.
Here’s what else you need to know about:
1. Markets swing from greed to fear
Global stock and bond markets are falling heavily. In addition to Janet Yellen’s dampener on sentiment, the sharp sell-off in Eurozone bond markets continues, as investors abandon the one-way trade backed by the ECB’s quantitative easing program. A rebound in the Eurozone economy, the end of the deflation scare and the prospect of a Greek default are all pushing bonds in the same direction.
2. The U.K. heads to the polls
The United Kingdom’s 2015 parliamentary election has the makings of a hotly-contested race with recent polls showing no party with enough support to win a majority of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. Current Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party is again considered the frontrunner to win the most seats, although it’s far from clear whether he’ll be able to renew his coalition with the centrist Liberal Democrats. The strength of such a coalition is important to global markets as any political uncertainty could hinder what has recently been a steadily improving U.K. economy.
3. Alibaba’s earnings.
The Chinese e-commerce giant reported its fourth-quarter and fiscal year earnings before markets opened today, saying quarterly revenue rose 45%. Alibaba (BABA) also named Daniel Zhang as its new CEO. Zhang, who is currently chief operating officer, will start in his new role on Sunday.
4. Weekly jobless claims
The U.S. Labor Department is expected to report an increase in weekly jobless claims today, with the total number of claims jumping to 280,000 last week from 262,000 the previous week. The weekly report comes a day after ADP released its National Employment report, which showed the U.S. private-sector hired 169,000 people in April. That total fell short of analysts’ predictions while representing the lowest figure since January 2014.
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5. More earnings of note
Major broadcaster CBS Corp. (CBS) reports first-quarter earnings after the markets close today. The major broadcaster’s revenue could be weighed down by foreign currency fluctuations as well as higher programming costs, which have also recently hurt other major broadcasters such as the media networks unit at The Walt Disney Company (DIS). Fortune’s publisher, Time Inc. (TIME), reported earnings this morning. Results are also expected from brewing company Molson Coors (TAP), which is likely to beat Wall Street’s profit estimates. Molson Coors and joint venture SABMiller have seen improved sales after tweaking the labels of the Miller Lite and Coors Light brands while also increasing advertising spending.
—Reuters contributed to this report
