**__ Diplomatt’s Daily Digest – April 12, 2022__**
Good morning and happy Tuesday! U.S. stock futures were little changed this morning as investors braced for a key inflation report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped just 29 points or 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures shed less than 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures outperformed, climbing 0.1%. The moves come as investors await the release of March’s highly anticipated consumer price index. The data is expected to show an 8.4% annual increase in prices — the highest level since December 1981. The recent spike in U.S. inflation has helped increase expectations of tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. All of this is occurring amidst the background of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which is keeping investors on their toes.

Quote of the week: „The secret of getting ahead is getting started.“ – Mark Twain

**General News:**
• Defense Department press secretary John Kirby said the Pentagon was closely monitoring reports Monday evening of a possible Russian chemical weapons attack on the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
• Britain’s PM, Boris Johnson, visited the capital of Ukraine. Brazenly walking around the capital with President Zelensky.
• Elon Musk will not join Twitter’s board of directors.
• The Biden administration is bracing for the Labor Department’s consumer price index report to show that inflation is „extraordinarily elevated.“
• Japan has reported its first case of omicron XE — a new Covid-19 strain first detected in the U.K. — just as British cases of the subvariant rise.
• Key contracts totaling more than $1.95 billion have been awarded for a major interconnector project that will link Germany and the U.K. as countries worldwide attempt to shore up their energy supplies amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
• The U.S. State Department has ordered all non-emergency government staff and their family members in Shanghai to leave as Covid surges and told U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to China.

**StockTwits Top 10 Trending Tickers of the Day:**
1. VERU
2. NVDA
3. GOLD
4. MYOV
5. HL
6. KMX
7. PBR
8. NOK
9. SHOP
10. ATNM