5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens

Stock futures are rising Monday as the market looks to open the holiday-shortened trading week on a positive note; gold and silver prices hit record highs early this morning; crude oil prices are surging as the U.S. Coast Guard is reportedly pursuing another Venezuelan oil tanker; Tesla CEO Elon Musk's 2018 pay package has been reinstated by the Delaware Supreme Court; and fintech software maker Clearwater Analytics will be taken private in a deal worth over $8 billion. Here's what you need to know today. Major indexes closed out last week with two straight days of gains as tech stocks rebounded from a recent slump.Michael Nagle / Bloomberg / Getty Images Stocks Futures Rise to Kick Off Holiday-Shortened Trading Week Stock futures are pointing to a higher open at the start of a trading week that will be abbreviated due to the Christmas holiday . Futures tied to the benchmark S&P and the tech-focused Nasdaq were recently up 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively, as tech stocks gained ground, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures tacked on 0.1%. The major indexes are coming off of two consecutive days of big gains , fueled by a rally in tech stocks following a recent slump amid concerns about a possible AI bubble. Bitcoin was trading at $90,100 this morning, up from a low over the weekend below $88,000. Crude oil futures and gold futures jumped more than 2% and 1%, respectively. (See more below) The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was at 4.17%, up from 4.15% at Friday's close. Gold and Silver Prices Hit Record Highs The prices of precious metals jumped to record highs this morning amid hopes that the Federal Reserve could be in a position to continue cutting rates next year. Gold futures surged above $4,400 an ounce for the first time and were trading at $4,445 recently, up 1.3% from Friday's close. Silver futures were up 2.2% at $69 an ounce. Inflation data released last Thursday came in cooler than expected, and Fed officials will be looking for more signs of easing inflationary pressure as they weigh the possibility of rate cuts in the coming months. The price of gold has surged nearly 70% since the start of this year, while silver has more than doubled . The precious metals are typically seen as safe investments when things like inflation, trade tensions or the potential for global conflict create uncertainty that can make stocks and other investments more volatile. Coast Guard Reportedly Pursuing Another Venezuelan Oil Tanker Oil futures are sharply higher Monday morning as the the U.S. is reportedly ramping up its pressure campaign on Venezuelan oil. The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday that the Coast Guard was pursuing another oil tanker shipping oil out of the South American country. The Trump administration has already seized two tankers from Venezuela in recent weeks, saying that the tankers were operating under a false flag to conceal their true country of origin. The tanker currently being pursued by the...

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