Upgrades
• $AGNC Investment Corp (AGNC.US)$ : KBW Upgrades to Outperform from Market Perform - PT $13.25 (from $12.25)
• $Dynex Capital Inc (DX.US)$ : KBW Upgrades to Outperform from Market Perform - PT $18.75 (from $17)
• $Freeport-McMoRan (FCX.US)$ : Credit Suisse Upgrades to Neutral from Underperform - PT $38 (from $32)
• $IAA Inc (IAA.US)$ : Guggenheim Upgrades to Buy from Neutral - PT $52
• $Magellan Midstream (MMP.US)$ : Goldman ...

Gainers
• $The Lovesac (LOVE.US)$ +16.39%, $Ginkgo Bioworks (DNA.US)$ +10.16%, $Jefferies Financial (JEF.US)$ +4.3%, $Taboola Com (TBLA.US)$ +5.05%
• $IGM Biosciences (IGMS.US)$ +36.02% (IGM Biosciences and Sanofi announce collaboration agreement for oncology immunology and inflammation targets; also reported earnings)
• $Nielsen (NLSN.US)$ +21.79% (enters into agreement to be acquired by Evergreen and Brookfield (BBU) consortium for $16 bln)
• $Vertical Aerospace (EVTL.US)$ +13.3% (A...

$Pfizer (PFE.US)$ $BioNTech (BNTX.US)$ Pfizer (PFE), BioNTech (BNTX) – The Covid-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech showed 90.7% effectiveness in children aged 5-11. Health officials say a rollout of the vaccine for kids could come as soon as early November.
$Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX.US)$ Southwest Gas (SWX) – Investor Carl Icahn is calling on Southwest Gas to first offer shares to existing shareholders, amid the energy producer’s plans to sell up to $1 billion in equity as part of financing to buy pipeline company Questar. Icahn – who holds a significant stake in the company – is against the deal, and is moving ahead with a tender offer to buy the shares he doesn’t already own for $75 per share.

By Julianna
Hey, mooers! Here are things you need to know before the opening bell:
- U.S. stock futures pointed to a big decline Wednesday as October continued to be volatile amid concerns about rising rates, higher inflation, the state of the reopening and the debt limit.
- Palantir Technologies stock is trading sharply higher after the software company said it won the vast majority of an $823 million program to provide data and analytics software to the Army.
Market Snapshot
U.S. stock futures pointed to a big decline Wednesday as October continued to be volatile amid concerns about rising rates, higher inflation, the state of the reopening and the debt limit.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 346 points, or 1%. S&P 500 futures shed 51 points and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 194 points.
Top News
U.S. stock futures and global indexes decline
Stock futures fell, suggesting Wall Street indexes will pull back from the prior day's rally.
Biden backs Powell after Sen. Elizabeth warren intensifies opposition
The Fed chairman, whose term expires in four months, has tried to quell a controversy over officials' investment activities
World's largest palm oil producers rally on tight supply
Shares of some of the world's largest palm oil producers jumped as prices of the edible oil look set to hit another record high.
Democrats wrangle over how to shrink $3.5 trillion proposal
Lawmakers wrestled with how to squeeze their healthcare, education and climate wish lists into a package whose size and scope centrists in the party are willing to support.
Mark Zuckerberg breaks silence on whistleblower testimony
The CEO said $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$'s work and motives have been mischaracterized, and he pledged that he would continue pursuing internal research into potential harms of social media.
Google rolls out emission-curbing tools for nest thermostat
$Alphabet-C (GOOG.US)$ $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$says changing people's behavior around energy use will become crucial as more power comes from intermittent renewable energy sources.
Palantir stock is surging on a big army contract win
$Palantir (PLTR.US)$ stock is trading sharply higher after the software company said it won the vast majority of an $823 million program to provide data and analytics software to the Army.
Carl Icahn holds significant stake in Southwest Gas, opposes planned deal
The activist investor is pushing the Nevada utility to abandon a planned acquisition of Dominion Energy's Questar Pipeline and focus on improving its share price instead. $Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX.US)$
Hertz names former Ford CEO as interim chief
The leadership change comes as the car-rental company resets after emerging from bankruptcy under new ownership. $HERTZ GLOBAL HOLDINGS INC (HTZGQ.US)$ $Ford Motor (F.US)$
Read More
Palantir becomes top WallStreetBets interest; Facebook, Tilray, Tesla and these are other top trends
Tesla sued Rivian over batteries, EV trade secrets. It's not a big deal, yet
AMC begins accepting Dogecoin for digital gift cards
Key Events This Weeks
Source: CNBC, Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg