CNBC MORNING SQUAWK - March 28, 2017

CONTRIBUTORS

Matthew J. Belvedere Senior Producer @Matt_Belvedere

Peter Schacknow Senior Producer @peterschack

IN THE NEWS TODAY U.S. stock futures were lower after the Dow logged its first eight-session losing streak since August 2011. A drop today would match a rough stretch not seen since 1978. (CNBC) While down for the month, the Dow and S&P 500 were up nearly 4 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, for the first quarter. The Nasdaq, slightly higher in March, was up nearly 8.5 percent on the quarter. President Donald Trump is set to sign this afternoon an executive order aimed at rolling back a number of Obama-era climate policies, including a rule to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. (CNBC) Trump touted Ford's (F) expected announcement later today, tweeting the automaker would be making a major investment in three Michigan facilities. (Reuters) Trump's approval rating slid to a new low of 36 percent this weekend, according to Gallup, after the Republican attempt to replace Obamacare failed in dramatic fashion. (CNBC) A Russian bank under Western economic sanctions over Russia's incursion into Ukraine said its executives had met with Trump son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner during the campaign. (Reuters)  The House Intelligence chairman is defending his White House visit the day before he announced he had information suggesting Trump associates might have been caught up in intelligence activity. (CNBC) Trump's childhood home in Queens has been sold for over $2 million, in a transaction facilitated by a lawyer who specializes in investments made by overseas Chinese buyers. (NY Times) Carl Icahn, a billionaire investor and an unpaid advisor to Trump, has been pulled into a high-profile insider trading trial taking place in federal court in Manhattan. (NY Times) Amazon (AMZN) has agreed to buy the largest online retailer in the Arab world, Souq.com. A Dubai-based shopping mall operator had offered $800 million for the platform. (CNBC) Japan's SoftBank has approached China's ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing about an investment of roughly $6 billion. Didi merged with Uber's China operations last year. Apple (AAPL) has a $1 billion investment in Didi. (WSJ) American Airlines (AAL) has agreed to pay $200 million for a stake in China Southern Airlines, the biggest of the three major state-owned carriers, in a bid for a bigger share of the growing Chinese travel market. (AP) Comcast (CMCSA), parent of NBC and CNBC, is planning to rebrand and expand a streaming video option for broadband subscribers who do not want to pay for a traditional cable package, sources told Reuters. Facebook (FB) has rolled out a bunch of features that are almost exactly like Snapchat (SNAP). Square (SQ) launched in the U.K. today with the financial services firm on the lookout for further acquisitions, according to CEO Jack Dorsey who's also the chief executive of Twitter (TWTR). Dorsey brushed off calls to step down at Twitter. (CNBC) Elon Musk's SpaceX strives to make history again this week, with the scheduled launch of the first large, liquid-fueled rocket powered by engines previously fired in space. (WSJ) Musk's Tesla (TSLA) is defending itself against a lawsuit filed by an employee who says he was racially harassed, physically threatened, and discriminated against while working at the auto company. (CNBC) China-based investment firm Tencent has disclosed a 5 percent passive stake in Tesla, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. (CNBC) The billionaire entrepreneur Musk has founded another company, Neuralink, aimed at developing a "neural lace," described as a way to connect the human brain to computers. (CNBC) Researchers in Italy and California have crafted artificial retina implants that offer hope to macular degeneration suffers, many of whom eventually go blind from the condition. (NBC News) BY THE NUMBERS If far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen were to lose this year's election, it would spur a "significant" surge of inflows, at least 10 percent, into European stocks, according to research from JPMorgan. Investors get a snapshot on housing at 9 a.m. ET, with the release of the January Case-Shiller report on home prices. A reading on how Americans feel about the economy hits at 10 a.m. ET, when the Conference Board issues March consumer confidence. Five Fed officials speak today, including Fed Chair Janet Yellen, Kansas City Fed President Esther George, Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan, and Fed Governor Jay Powell. Meanwhile, CNBC interviews Vice Chair Stanley Fischer at 1:30 p.m. ET. Carnival (CCL), FactSet (FDS), and McCormick (MKC) are among the companies reporting earnings this morning. Dave & Buster's (PLAY), Sonic (SONC), and Restoration Hardware (RH) issue quarterly results after the closing bell this afternoon. wATERCOOLER Apple (AAPL) has released iOS 10.3, the latest update to its mobile operating system, with few noteworthy new features including one to help users find their parked cars. (CNBC)