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Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

There's a new hot term on Wall Street: the "debasement trade." It explains the recent gains in metals, crypto and stocks, even as the U.S. dollar declines amid concerns around the greenback's future.

Here are the other market stories we're following:

• Ferrari's U.S.-listed shares had their worst day on record yesterday after providing a downbeat outlook.
• Shares of American rare earth companies jumped after China tightened its restrictions on exports.
• Qualcomm shares fell more than 2.5% before the bell this morning after Chinese regulators said they would investigate the company's acquisition of Autotalks.
• Levi Strauss tumbled 7% in premarket trading despite beating Wall Street's expectations for earnings and guidance. Investors are likely profit taking, given the stock has rallied more than 40% this year.
• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are on track to end the week in the green, while the Dow has slid. Follow live markets updates here.

The list of Federal Reserve Chair candidates has been whittled down to five from 11, Treasury sources tell CNBC.

Those still in the running to succeed Jerome Powell include current Fed officials Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller. Waller told CNBC just this morning that while he sees more rate cuts ahead, the Fed needs to be "cautious about it."

External candidates such as BlackRock Fixed Income CIO Rick Rieder are also on the shortlist. See the full list of candidates here.

You might be in a different tax bracket next year.

The IRS on Thursday announced new federal income tax brackets for the 2026 tax year, raising the income threshold for each bracket. The agency also upped standard deduction caps and shared higher brackets for long-term capital gains taxes — a term that refers to investments owned for longer than a year.

A federal grand jury in Virginia last night indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. President Donald Trump has pushed for criminal charges against James, who called the allegations "baseless" and "a continuation of the president's desperate weaponization of our justice system."

Meanwhile in Washington, funding bills that could have ended the federal shutdown failed to pass the Senate for a seventh time. During a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Trump threatened to use the shutdown to cut "Democrat programs" that "aren't popular with Republicans."

Delta passengers are opting for the finer things in life.

Airline executives said Thursday that those nicer, more expensive seats toward the front of the plane could start bringing in higher total revenue than their coach counterparts for at least part of next year. Delta's premium ticket sales have risen 9% from a year ago, and the carrier doesn't see signs of higher-end travel demand cooling.

But United is aiming to give Delta a run for its money. The air carrier yesterday unveiled a slate of direct flights to smaller European cities in a bid to win luxury travel market share.

Here are some stories worth bookmarking for a weekend read:

• Shaq, Sam Altman-backed college startup Campus taps former Meta AI head as CTO
• A mom-turned-CEO is looking to shake up the infant formula industry
• Macao aspires to be more than a gambling destination
• Can AMD pose challenge to Nvidia with the OpenAI deal?
• Workers are returning to the office — but on their own terms
• Why the perfect home listing may be too good to be true

— CNBC's Sean Conlon, Steve Liesman, Jeff Cox, Kate Dore, Greg Iacurci, Dan Mangan, Kevin Breuninger, Erin Doherty, Leslie Josephs, Spencer Kimball, Gabrielle Fonrouge and Sam Meredith contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.