1. Picking up the pieces

U.S. equities futures looked set for a mixed session Wednesday morning as investors sought to shake off the worst market rout since June 2020. All three major indices had a lousy Tuesday after the consumer price index came in hotter than expected. While the Dow fell an eye-popping 1,276 points, the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq suffered bigger drops percentage-wise as it sunk in across Wall Street that the Fed won’t back off its aggressive rate-hike plans any time soon. In fact, traders are now divided over whether the Fed will hike its benchmark rate by three-quarters of a point or one full point at next week’s meeting. Investors have more inflation data to chew over, too. The producer price index slipped slightly in August, matching expectations.

2. Trouble on the railroads

Thousands of rail workers could go on strike Friday as negotiations between a couple major unions and rail carriers are at an impasse over sick leave policies. The top union negotiator accused Union Pacific and Berkshire Hathaway-owned BNSF of holding things up over time off for medical appointments. BNSF called that untrue, while Union Pacific adopted a somewhat softer tone. “We are in active discussions with the unions to try to address these concerns,” the company told CNBC. The White House, meanwhile, has begun preparing for a work stoppage. A strike could end up costing $2 billion per day. “Strikes are a last resort. It does not help anyone because the employees lose money, and the companies lose money,” Dennis Pierce, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, told CNBC. “We’re not here to hurt the economy.”