Hello friends and Fortune readers.
Stock futures are pointing higher this morning, looking to add to a strong rally in the prior day’s session that that regained some of the market’s losses in recent months. Reports on weekly jobless claims and May retail sales are due out this morning.
Nike (NKE) shares are higher after the company said late Wednesday it will take over the rights to outfit the National Basketball Association in 2017.
And today’s must-read story is from Fortune‘s Dan Primack and it explores some of the possible reasons behind this year’s surprising dearth of venture capital-backed IPOs.
Here’s what else you need to know today.
1. The (J) crew cuts
Late Wednesday, J.Crew said it is slashing 10% of the jobs at its New York headquarters, and has tapped a new head of design for women’s wear at its namesake brand. The moves come as the struggling fashion company looks to reverse an ongoing, worsening slide in sales.
2. Facebook shareholder meeting
The social networking giant’s annual stockholder meeting takes place today and Facebook (FB) investors will be voting on a “one share, one vote” proposal similar to one voted down at Google’s (GOOG) annual shareholder meeting earlier this month. As The New York Times notes, today’s vote is largely symbolic as CEO Mark Zuckerberg controls a majority of the company’s votes and is unlikely to cede any control of Facebook. Meanwhile, Facebook-owned virtual reality company Oculus is set today to unveil plans for its first personal computer-compatible headset.
3. Weekly jobless claims
The U.S. Labor Department is expected to report a slight increase in the number of weekly jobless claims today. The total number of claims could rise to 277,000 for last week after 276,000 claims were filed during the previous week.
4. May retail sales
The Commerce Department issues its monthly report on retail sales today and the government is expected to reveal a May rebound led by increased automobile purchases. Analysts forecast a 1.1% bump in May retail sales after the economy saw just a 0.1% increase in April’s retail sales.
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5. Bojangles earnings
The southern chicken-and-biscuit fast-food chain will issue its first earnings report since the company went public last month in an IPO that raised more than $169 million. Bojangles joined the growing list of hot fast-food IPOs, following in the footsteps of the strong market debuts of companies such as Shake Shack (SHAK) and sandwich shop Potbelly (PBPB). However, investors have been cautious ahead of Bojangles’ (BOJA) first quarterly report as a public company, as the restaurant chain’s stock is down roughly 8% since the start of June. It remains to be seen if Bojangles will join the list of recent restaurant stocks that regressed a bit after their strong IPOs.
