5 things you should know before the stock market opens on Thursday

Here are the key news investors need to start their trading day:

Markets sold off on Wednesday as investors looked for something stable to hold on to during this uncertain time. The midterm elections may not have produced a GOP “red wave,” but control of Congress remains up in the air. Businesses are still reeling from earnings reports — major retailers are on the rise next week — and there are some major economic data points to read as the Federal Reserve continues its fight against inflation. The CPI, a key measure of price increases, hits at 8:30 a.m. ET and is expected to remain hot, not as much as in recent months. “As everyone knows, markets really don’t like uncertainty,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at the Independent Advisor Alliance, according to CNBC’s market live blog.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire needed a savior. For a day, it looked like Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, the world’s largest crypto company, would be his white knight. Binance said it would support FTX under Bankman-Fried liquidity. But then… never mind, said Binance. “Initially, our hope was to be able to support FTX customers to provide liquidity,” Binance said on Wednesday. “But the problems are beyond our control or ability to help.” Now FTX, which was valued at $32 billion earlier this year, is on the brink of extinction — a brink of mercy for Bankman-Fried and his company, which itself had become known as a savior of failing crypto companies.

According to CNBC’s Hugh Son, job cuts at major banks are accelerating as dealmaking is still frozen in a market situation restrained by uncertainty and rising interest rates. Citigroup and Barclays implemented dozens of layoffs this week, following hundreds of cuts at Goldman Sachs in September and continued layoffs at struggling Credit Suisse. JPMorgan Chase expects potential job cuts at the end of the year as it looks to cut costs, and Morgan Stanley also investigates possible layoffs. “Most banks are budgeting for revenue declines next year,” a person involved in providing data and analytics to the banking industry told CNBC.

Russian troops are withdrawing from Kherson in southern Ukraine. It is the latest embarrassing defeat for Vladimir Putin and his attacks on Russia’s former Soviet neighbor. Kherson was one of the regions that Russia belonged to in the illegal union of the Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, aware of the region’s importance to Russia, reacted cautiously to news of the withdrawal, wondering if Putin’s forces were being trapped. He also said, without providing further details, that his forces were planning more operations to force Russian forces off Ukrainian soil. Read live war updates here.

$1.5 billion? In this economy? Why not. A large part of Microsoft founder Paul Allen’s art collection, which includes works spanning 500 years, sold at auction Wednesday night for nearly $1.51 billion. That easily surpasses the $922 million paid for the collection of Harry and Linda Macklowe, the previous record holder. Allen’s collection includes works by legendary artists Vincent van Gogh, Edward Steichen and Gustav Klimt. Georges Seurat’s “Les Poseuses, Ensemble” sold for $149.2 million, the top score of the night. In all, the five works cost more than $100 million. More items from Allen’s collection are scheduled to go on sale Thursday. Proceeds go to charity.

– CNBC’s Alex Harring, MacKenzie Sigalos, Kate Rooney, Hugh Son, Holly Ellyatt and Robert Frank contributed to this report.

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