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Stock futures are sinking Tuesday morning amid rising geopolitical concerns; President Donald Trump has threatened new tariffs on a number of European countries unless the U.S. is allowed to acquire Greenland; gold and silver prices are surging to new record highs as investors turn to safe-haven assets; tech stocks are under pressure amid the volatiity; and Netflix's latest quarterly results are due after the closing bell as the company sweetens its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery. Here's what you need to know today.

Stocks are tumbling after President Trump over the weekend threatened new tariffs on several European countries if the U.S. isn't allowed to acquire Greenland. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and tech-heavy Nasdaq were recently down 1.2%, 1.4%, and 1.7%, respectively. The major indexes posted modest losses last week amid concerns that Federal Reserve independence could be compromised. Gold futures were up 3% at $4,730 an ounce recently, a new all-time high, while silver futures surged nearly 8% to $95.30 an ounce, also a record, as investors turned to safe havens. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 4.29%, up from its previous close of 4.23% and at its highest level since early September. Bitcoin was just above $91,000, down from a weekend high of above $95,000 and on track to decline for a sixth straight day as its early-year rally stalls.

Financial markets are volatile this morning after President Trump said that Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland will each face a 10% tariff at the start of February that will increase to 25% on June 1 if the U.S. is not allowed to purchase Greenland. The Trump administration in recent weeks has stepped up its interest in acquiring Greenland, saying it aims to do so with money or with military force. Early Tuesday, Trump posted fake images of himself, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance putting an American flag in the ground next to a sign calling Greenland U.S. territory, along with a photoshopped map showing Canada with an American flag on it.

Gold is leading another safe-haven-asset rally, hitting a record of nearly $4,740 an ounce earlier this morning. Silver is also adding to its gains to start the year, setting its own record high just above $95 an ounce. Gold and other precious metals typically increase in value when investors are uncertain of the economy or the state of geopolitics and therefore less likely to invest in more-volatile assets such as stocks or cryptocurrency. The precious metals have already been gaining steadily this year amid concerns over the independence of the Federal Reserve. Gold futures have risen 70% over the past 12 months, while silver has surged about 200%.

All seven of the Magnificent Seven stocks are losing ground this morning amid the larger market sell-off that is hitting tech stocks particularly hard. Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Tesla (TSLA), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta Platforms (META) are all down between 1% and 3% in premarket trading. Chipmaker stocks including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Broadcom (AVGO) are also down sharply. Tech stocks have powered much of the market's growth in recent years amid the AI boom, making the stocks also vulnerable to being hit hard when there is a broad sell-off like the one happening today.

Netflix (NFLX) stock has resisted the sell-off so far this morning, as investors await the streaming giant's latest quarterly earnings report after the closing bell and digest news that the company is now offering all cash to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Netflix executives will likely face questions from analysts during the earnings call about the pending acquisition, on topics including regulatory hurdles, competition from Paramount Skydance (PSKY), how the deal will be financed, and the timeline for when the deal could be completed. Netflix is expected to report that revenue rose 17% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, while earnings per share are projected 30% higher, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Netflix shares were up about 1% ahead of Monday's opening bell.

• Netflix is due to report earnings after the market closes Tuesday, with options pricing suggesting traders expect the stock could move up to 7% by the end of the week.
• Investors could focus more on what executives have to say about Netflix's pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery than the fundamentals of its business.

Netflix is set to report fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes Tuesday, with traders anticipating a big swing in the streaming giant's stock following the results.

Options pricing suggests traders expect Netflix (NFLX) stock could move up to 7% in either direction by the end of the week. At the high end, a move of that size from Friday's level at $88 would push the stock up to around $94, recovering some of its recent losses. At the low end, shares could slip below $82, their lowest level in over a year.

Netflix shares are down nearly 30% since the company's last quarterly report in October, when an earnings miss due to a surprise tax expense sent the shares tumbling 10% the day after the results. The shares have also been pressured over the last month by worries about the streaming giant's pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), which has faced some pushback from politicians and rival bidder Paramount Skydance (PSKY).

Netflix executives will likely receive a number of questions about the deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, including how the company plans to pay for the purchase amid reports that it is considering making its offer all-cash rather than a mix of cash and stock.

Netflix is expected to report a nearly 17% jump in revenue to $11.97 billion, while earnings per share are expected to gain nearly 30% year-over-year to $0.55, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Goldman Sachs analysts told clients earlier this month that they expect the fourth-quarter report to "reflect a solid end to 2025 as management continues to execute well against its core areas of strategic focus," such as growing user engagement and scaling live sports and gaming offerings, along with Netflix's ad business. However, the analysts said investors' attention could be more focused on questions surrounding the Warner Bros. deal, including regulatory uncertainty, competition from Paramount, and how Netflix's business will operate until the deal potentially closes.

Ahead of Tuesday's results, most Wall Street analysts are bullish on Netflix stock. Of the 10 analysts with current ratings tracked by Visible Alpha, eight consider the stock a "buy," compared to two "hold" ratings. Their average price target of $135 would suggest over 50% upside from its recent level.

• President Donald Trump will speak at the annual World Economic Forum this week.
• He has signaled he will use his speech to roll out “aggressive” housing policy reforms.
• Experts expect Trump to propose changes to mortgages and fees during his speech in Davos, Switzerland.

Housing affordability has been a problem for the U.S. economy in recent years, and President Donald Trump is set to roll out what he describes as a series of "aggressive" reforms for the housing market this week.

Trump has said he will use his Wednesday speech at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, to lay out his ideas for the housing market. Trump and his advisors have signalled that the plans could have big implications for mortgages and how Americans buy homes.

High home prices and mortgage rates affect household budgets, labor mobility, and long-term wealth building for millions of Americans, especially first-time buyers. Policies that change borrowing costs, housing supply, or how people use retirement savings can ripple through the broader economy by influencing consumer spending, investment returns, and financial security in retirement.

Here's what we know about the plan so far.

Trump will announce a proposal to let Americans tap into their 401(k) retirement plans to pay for housing, said National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser to the White House, on Fox Business last week.

The government already allows retirement savers to withdraw $10,000 without penalty from Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), but not 401(k)s, which are a common workplace benefit.

"The typical monthly payment about doubled for an ordinary family buying an ordinary home. And the down payment they needed to buy a home went from about $15,000, to about $32,000. And so there's a real lot of room to make up," Hassett said. 

Already, Trump has announced some of his ideas for housing market reform, including a proposal to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. The proposal is designed to free up more housing inventory.

“People live in homes, not corporations,” Trump wrote on social media in early January.

Industry experts have said that most investors buying homes are unlikely to meet the criteria if it is designed for larger, institutional players.

He also signaled an effort to lower mortgage rates by instructing government-backed mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion worth of mortgage bonds.

The move may already be having an impact, with Goldman Sachs noting that mortgage rates dropped 15 basis points after the announcement.

“This should improve affordability and improve sentiment in the housing market ahead of the key spring homebuying season,” wrote Goldman Sachs analyst Arun Manohar, who forecasted home sales could rise by 5% to 7% in 2026. 

One idea Trump could lay out this week is a 50-year mortgage, which his administration has floated before.

Longer loan terms could lower borrowers' monthly payments. However, it would also increase the borrowing costs a homeowner would pay over the life of the loan. 

Another change that Trump is reportedly considering is a “portable mortgage,” which would allow home borrowers to transfer their mortgage from an existing house to a new one. The idea was also recently backed by leading Senate Democrats in their housing policy proposals, outlined this month.

Supporters say it could help tackle the “lock-in” effect, where homeowners are reluctant to list their house for sale because their mortgage rate is significantly lower than the borrowing costs for a new home loan. But others argue that the system isn’t designed to support the policy.

“Portability isn’t compatible with the architecture of U.S. mortgage finance, and even if it were, it wouldn’t fix the broader affordability problems facing the housing market today,” wrote Realtor.com Senior Economist Jake Krimmel.

• Nike could be set to join an exclusive club of stocks called the dividend aristocrats this year, a move that could make it more attractive to investors.
• In order to become a dividend aristocrat, companies must raise their dividend annually for 25 or more years straight.

Nike's stock could be set to join an exclusive club.  

If the sports apparel giant raises its dividend again this year—as it's widely expected to—the stock will join what's known as the dividend aristocrats, a subset of S&P 500 companies that have raised their dividends annually for at least 25 years in a row. That reliability then makes them more attractive to investors who are seeking income as well as gains.

Currently, there are 69 dividend aristocrats. Three companies—Erie Indemnity (ERIE), Eversource Energy (ES), and FactSet Research System (FDS)—are among the newest entrants, having joined the group's ranks last year. 

Becoming one of the dividend aristocrats, which have a reputation for steadily rewarding their investors over the longer term, could help raise the appeal of Nike's stock by enhancing its perceived quality and reliability. Exchange-traded funds that track the group would also be pushed to buy the shares, which could boost the stock.

The dividend aristocrats have underperformed the broader market in recent years, with a total return of roughly 7% in 2025, including dividends, compared to the S&P 500's 18%. Still, they have sometimes outperformed during periods of heightened market volatility. When the 2008 financial crisis sent the S&P 500 tumbling 37% that year, the dividend aristocrats sustained a smaller 22% decline.

For Nike's (NKE) stock, which has suffered lately, becoming a dividend aristocrat might add a "layer of credibility at a moment when the market is still debating the timing of [Nike's] recovery," Jefferies analysts said earlier this month. Shares of Nike are down over the past 12 months and off some 50% over the past five years.

Nike's stock, which fell about 9% over the past 12 months as the company continues to grapple with the impact of higher tariffs, intense competition, and challenges associated with its turnaround plans, remains well off its 2021 highs.

Still, Jefferies analysts said they would "buy shares aggressively," and called the stock a "top pick" for 2026, anticipating easing headwinds in China and improving sales in other regions soon under the leadership of Elliott Hill, who took over last October.

Jefferies' price target of $110 is well above the analyst consensus around $75 compiled by Visible Alpha. It suggests over 70% upside from Friday's close.

• ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, known for big bets on disruptive technologies, said she sees strong gains for U.S. equities in the next few years. 
• Wood suggested falling interest rates, tax cuts, and deregulation could help support investments in technology that spur growth.

Worries about an AI bubble have some on Wall Street expecting the market's brisk pace of recent gains to cool down this year. Not Cathie Wood.

The ARK Invest CEO, known for big bets on disruptive technologies, last week said she believes markets could be headed for a "Golden Age" over the next three years. Wood anticipates that a less restrictive business environment under the Trump administration would support investments in technology that help "unleash" growth for American businesses.

Falling interest rates, tax cuts, and deregulation that Wood called "Reaganomics on steroids" could lift stocks and see nominal U.S. gross domestic product growth accelerate to 6% to 8% annually in the coming years, Wood projected.

Cathie Wood's focus on investing in companies seen as leading industry-disrupting innovations have earned her a sizable following, particularly within the tech investing community.

Wood is also counting on heavy capital spending by America's biggest companies giving way to a productivity boost thanks to advances in technology such as AI, with the costs of running models expected to decline.

Developments in AI, robotics, energy storage, blockchain, and biological technology "are likely not only to push productivity growth to sustainable new highs but also to generate significant wealth creation," she wrote.

Wood’s 2026 outlook, published Thursday, didn't include a target for the S&P 500, though it was more bullish in tone than the outlooks of many Wall Street analysts, who largely expect the benchmark index to rise more modestly in 2026 than it did last year.

The biggest holdings of Wood's flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), including Tesla (TSLA), Crispr Therapeutics (CRSP), Roku (ROKU), and Coinbase (COIN), speak to the firm's bets in these areas.

Last year, the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) logged a total return of roughly 35%, outperforming the S&P 500's 18%.

It's a short trading week due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, but there is still plenty happening.

Stock and bond markets are closed for the holiday on Monday, the day the World Economic Forum begins in Davos, Switzerland. President Donald Trump is expected to speak on Wednesday in Davos, where he is expected to address housing market reforms and other economic topics.

The delayed Personal Consumption Expenditures price index for October and November is scheduled for release, as is the final reading for third-quarter Gross Domestic Product. Netflix and Intel lead the tech firms on this week’s earnings calendar. United Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, Travelers Companies, GE Aerospace, and 3M are also reporting this week.

Read to the bottom for our calendar of key events—and one more thing.

Housing affordability is expected to be a key topic for Trump during his Wednesday address in Davos. He has announced several housing market reform proposals, including banning large institutional investors from buying homes and instructing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase mortgage bonds to help lower borrowing costs.

PCE inflation data for October and November will be released on Thursday as the Bureau of Economic Analysis continues to catch up on reports delayed by last year’s government shutdown. The Fed’s preferred measure of prices follows last week’s Consumer Price Index report showing that inflation continued to cool. Officials will be closely watching the inflation reading ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting, with central bankers divided over whether to continue to lower interest rates.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Fed Governor Lisa Cook's challenge to Trump's efforts to fire her.

Netflix’s report and commentary, set for Tuesday, could offer additional insight into the streaming giant’s efforts to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery, which could be upgraded to an all-cash offer to match bids from rival Paramount Skydance. Netflix missed on its most recent quarterly earnings due to a tax hit in Brazil. 

Also reporting is Intel, the stock of which stock has been surging on optimism over its new AI PC chip and significant investments into the company from the U.S. government, Nvidia, and others. GE Aerospace, also slated to report, has seen its stock price near all-time highs after its most recent earnings showed strong demand for commercial and military aviation. Investors will be watching United Airlines’ report after rival Delta Air Lines reported a weaker-than-expected profit outlook, sending shares of airlines lower.

Several Dow Jones Industrial Average components are also scheduled this week, including 3M, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Travelers Companies.

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Monday, Jan. 19

• Markets closed for Martin Luther King Jr. holiday
• World Economic Forum meeting in Davos begins

Tuesday, Jan. 20

• Key Earnings: Netflix (NFLX), 3M (MMM), U.S. Bancorp (USB), Fastenal (FAST), D.R. Horton (DHI), United Airlines (UAL), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Interactive Brokers (IBKR)

Wednesday, Jan. 21

• President Trump delivers remarks at the Davos World Economic Forum
• Supreme Court oral arguments in Fed Governor Lisa Cook case
• Data to Watch: Construction spending (October, September), Pending home sales (December)
• Key Earnings: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Charles Schwab (SCHW), Truist Financial (TFC), Travelers Companies (TRV), Halliburton (HAL), Citizens Financial Group (CFG)

Thursday, Jan. 22

• Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index (November, October)
• More Data to Watch: Gross domestic product - final reading (Q3), Initial jobless claims (Week ending Jan. 17)
• Key Earnings: GE Aerospace (GE), Procter & Gamble (PG), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Intel (INTC), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Capital One Financial (COF), CSX (CSX)

Friday, Jan. 23

• WEF in Davos concludes
• Consumer sentiment - final (January)
• More Data to Watch: S&P flash U.S. PMI (January)
• Key Earnings: Ericsson (ERIC), First Citizen (FCNCA), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH)

Americans last year said they regretted not saving enough money and making too many impulse buys. Investopedia’s Trina Paul has more on how you can avoid these money mistakes in 2026.

• Retailers are sorting through a sea of AI tools and possible uses for technology that consumers will want to use, said Daniel Danker, executive vice president of AI acceleration, project and design at Walmart.
• He said a few uses seem particularly promising, such as having apparel displayed on images of the shopper, rather than models.

Some AI tools beg the question: who asked for this?

In the rush to capitalize on artificial intelligence, companies have released a myriad of "agentic commerce" tools that aim to revolutionize shopping. (Agentic commerce refers to AI agents performing tasks, such as comparing prices or making purchases, on behalf of consumers.) More than a few lack consumer appeal, according to Daniel Danker, Walmart’s (WMT) executive vice president of AI acceleration, project and design. 

“We've all been playing with the technology to understand it better,” Danker said at a conference earlier this week, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. “A lot of things have been built that won't necessarily work. A lot of things have been built that don't necessarily reflect exactly what the customer wants.”

Tech companies want to find ways to capitalize on the billions they've invested in AI. Some consumers are willing to pay for chatbots, but tech companies may have better luck licensing their technology to other businesses.

Still, AI is playing a growing role in e-commerce, which according to the U.S. government accounted for about 16% of total retail spending last quarter. Roughly one-third of shoppers said they used AI assistants, according to surveys Adobe conducted in November. Shoppers who access merchants’ websites using AI are more likely to buy and tend to spend more, Adobe says.

Retailers don’t want to miss out on big spenders—or be left behind if, as some experts expect, AI use explodes. Merchants are working to understand how AI can enhance the typical shopping experience, Danker said.

Here's how he thinks the technology may catch on:

Apparel displays may get personal, giving shoppers a better idea of how a color or cut would look on them. Rather than seeing clothing on professional models, items may be displayed on an image of the person browsing, Danker said.

Shoppers may do less scrolling. AI may remember consumers' typical orders and anticipate the items they're looking for, Danker said.

He used grocery shopping as an example: "By the time you've added the tomato paste and the ground beef and the mozzarella, we're pretty sure you're making lasagna," he said. "We don't need you to search eight times and scroll through many, many pages just to add the basil and the tomato sauce and the ricotta."

Finding the right fit may get easier. People may ask the technology what type of electronics are compatible with the devices they already own, Danker said. (The technology may also be used to find furniture that fits with the layout and aesthetic of customers' homes, experts have suggested.)

Consumers may get help with their to-do lists. Walmart's AI agent, Sparky, may remind customers of everything they need to do at Walmart, so they can avoid making separate trips to pick up groceries, prescriptions and get their car serviced, Danker said.

• Jobs platform Indeed released its list of the top 50 best jobs for 2026.
• Heath care, the trades and technology are three of the fields that dominated the lineup.
• The top 10 jobs all command a median annual salary of $100,000.

As artificial intelligence eats into demand for some roles, a new report suggests a bright spot: Some of the most in-demand jobs of the year are still very much people-dependent.

Seven of the top 10 spots on Indeed’s 50 Best Jobs in the U.S. for 2026 ranking are in health care-related fields. Most of them are rely on human-to-human interaction. All 10 jobs also command a median yearly pay of more than $100,000, according to the jobs platform.

The No. 1 job on the list is cardiac medical technician. Indeed’s report said the healthcare specialty, with an estimated median annual salary of $133,907, has seen robust job openings and wage growth over the past three years. 

Other top health care-related fields for job seekers are nurse practitioner (No. 3), speech language pathologist (No. 4), licensed professional counselor (No. 5), licensed clinical social worker (No. 6), physical therapist (No. 7), occupational therapist (No. 8) and radiation therapist (No. 9).

The U.S. labor market is still rewarding skills, such as empathy, care, and hands-on expertise, that are harder for AI to replace. As automation reshapes white-collar jobs, practical careers may offer both security and opportunity—and may not requir advanced degrees.

For its annual best jobs ranking, Indeed researchers analyzed thousands of occupations listed on its platform and ranked them based on where workers can get hired and thrive. Among the criteria they used were above-average pay, immediate demand, salary growth, hiring momentum, and remote work flexibility.

“The labor market overall has been in this low-hire, stagnant space for the last year,” Laura Ullrich, North America research director for Indeed Hiring Lab, said in the report. “One major exception is healthcare." Only 11% of all jobs are in healthcare, according to Indeed, but the field represents nearly three-quarters of broader job-market growth.

Demand for healthcare workers is being fueled by the needs of an aging population for both essential and elective procedures, boosting job security in these professions. The number of people ages 100 and older is projected to more than quadruple in the next 30 years, according to the Pew Research Center.

These trends “may help explain why roles like occupational therapist or aesthetic nurse appear on this year’s list," the report said. "This trend isn’t expected to slow any time soon. In fact, it could accelerate as more Americans live to be 100 and older.”

Outside of healthcare, the skilled trades are hotbeds of hiring activity. In addition to owner-operator truck driver in the top 10, HVAC technician and electrical foreman positions are also on the list. 

The No. 2 best job on Indeed’s list is owner-operator truck driver, with an estimated median annual salary of $160,000. While its wage growth is down 5%, job openings have jumped 39% over the past three years. Demand also remains high for HVAC technicians, electricians and electrical foremen.

“As some workers question the return on investment of traditional higher education options and weigh the impact of AI disruption, skilled trades are emerging as a practical, cost-efficient path with long-term demand,” Indeed researchers said in the report.

Top hiring trends in the tech sector are for roles that support AI, cloud infrastructure and security solutions. Data scientist (No. 10) was the only role in the field to make the top 10, but the field was well-represented on the rest of the list. Positions such as solution architect (No. 20), software architect (No. 34) and security engineer (No. 47) indicate where businesses are adding jobs.

“Despite a 36% decline in job postings since early 2020, actual employment in computer and mathematical occupations remains nearly 20% higher than pre-pandemic levels,” said Ullrich. “This indicates that the current tech hiring slowdown is a structural rebalancing versus a dramatic collapse."

AI power stocks were on the move Friday following reports President Trump intends to urge America’s largest electricity grid to make tech giants pay for new power plants. 

The Trump administration and a group of governors intend to urge PJM Interconnection, which coordinates electricity for part or all of 13 mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states, as well as Washington, D.C., to hold an emergency electricity auction in which tech giants will bid on 15-year electricity generation contracts, according to reports. The proceeds would go toward adding an estimated $15 billion worth of new power plants, according to a White House spokesperson.

GE Vernova (GEV) stock was among the top performers in the S&P 500 on Friday, rising 6.1%, on expectations the power plant buildout would be a boon to its gas turbine business.

On the other hand, shares of independent power providers Constellation Energy Corp. (CEG) and Vistra (VST), which have both struck deals with tech giants to power their data centers, fell 9.8% and 7.5%, respectively, leading decliners in the S&P 500.

Electricity bills have soared in the last year, especially in areas with a high concentration of data centers, like Virginia, which PJM services. AI’s electricity consumption and its effect on household expenses has become a hot button topic in the lead-up to this year’s midterm elections, in which affordability is expected to be a key issue. 

Investors in the tech giants whose data centers are squeezing grids appeared unfazed by the proposal on Friday.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) finished the session slightly higher, while Meta and Alphabet (GOOG) ticked lower.

• Kevin Warsh, the new front-runner to be President Donald Trump's nominee for Fed chair, could be less aggressive about cutting interest rates than his closest contender.
  
• Warsh's odds to become the next Fed chair surged on betting markets Friday after Trump indicated he wanted Hassett to remain in his current position.
  
• Both Warsh and Hassett have advocated lower interest rates, but each would face constraints in making that a reality.
  

The new front-runner to become the nation's next top banker could be less inclined to steeply cut interest rates than his closest rival.

On Friday, gamblers on betting markets sharply raised the odds that President Donald Trump would nominate former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to be the next Fed chair. Earlier in the day, Trump cast doubt on whether he would nominate Warsh's closest competitor for the job, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.

As of Friday afternoon, Polymarket was pricing in a 60% chance Warsh would win the job, and just a 15% chance for Hassett. Hassett's odds plunged after Trump praised his economic advisor at a health care event Friday.

"You were fantastic on television today," Trump told Hassett during the president's public comments at the White House. "I actually want to keep you where you are if you want to know the truth."

Treasury yields rose slightly on Friday after Warsh took the lead over Hassett to become the next Fed chair in betting markets, suggesting financial markets believe interest rates will stay higher in the future.

Current Fed Chair Jerome Powell's term expires in May and Trump has said he will announce his nominee for the position before then.

The selection could significantly affect the Federal Reserve's monetary policy and future levels of the fed funds rate, which in turn influence borrowing costs for all kinds of loans. The independence of the central bank from White House control is also at stake, and with it, its credibility for keeping inflation under control.

Hassett has joined Trump in advocating for steep rate cuts. Some experts considered him the most likely among the people floated for Fed chair to toe Trump's line and push the central bank to slash rates.

"In our view, Hassett would likely bring the greatest risk of politicization at the Fed," David Seif, chief economist at Nomura, wrote in a commentary in October. "Hassett is widely viewed as a Trump loyalist and has consistently supported the president as an advisor in both his first and second terms."

Warsh, a lawyer and banker, has also appeared on television, praising Trump's policies and advocating for rate cuts.

"We can lower interest rates a lot," Warsh said on Fox News in October.

However, he may not be as "dovish" or as inclined toward rate cuts as Hassett.

"Although Warsh has argued for lower rates recently, we do not view him as structurally dovish," Matthew Luzzetti, chief economist at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a commentary in December.

The new Fed chair will take charge of the central bank at a crucial moment for the economy, assuming they are confirmed by the Senate.

Members of the Fed's 12-person policy committee that votes on interest rates have been divided. They are trying to decide whether to cut rates to support the faltering job market or keep them higher for longer to fight inflation that's running above the Fed's 2% annual target.

In recent months, the job market has slowed down significantly while inflation has remained stubbornly high, pulling the FOMC in opposite directions. The new Fed chair will take over that balancing act from Powell, who has led the Fed to cut interest rates by three-quarters of a point over its last three meetings—fewer rate cuts than Trump would prefer.

Fed officials are widely expected to keep interest rates steady at the next meeting later this month, and it's an open question whether any more rate cuts are coming this year.

Fed chairs are influential in policy decisions, but don't make them singlehandedly, and must win over a majority of the Federal Open Market Committee to their position. That job will be complicated by political tensions: Trump's demands for steep interest rate cuts, as well as his administration's criminal investigation into members of the committee, have raised alarms among Fed officials and lawmakers about the central bank's independence from White House control.

Fed officials and economists have warned that if Trump and future presidents successfully pressure the central bank to sharply cut interest rates, the public would begin to doubt the central bank's ability to control inflation—a belief that could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

As a result, the new Fed chair may face pressure not to cut rates simply to prove the Fed's inflation-fighting credibility.

"Regardless of President Trump’s choice, the market could look to test the next Fed chair’s independence and the credibility of his commitment to achieving the inflation target," Lutezzi wrote. "These bona fides always need to be earned by an incoming chair."