This content is blocked because you are not allowing cookies.

To view this content, click on Cookie Preferences here or at the bottom of the page to allow all cookies.

Hello, this is Justina Lee writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

U.S. President Donald Trump is considering wading into another conflict, as Iran-backed Houthis target Saudi Arabia.

Investors are looking ahead to the earnings season with U.S. big banks set to report results Tuesday, with focus also on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s annual meetings, which could offer clues to the global financial outlook.

What you need to know today

The Middle East conflict continues to heat up after a deadly attack on Riyadh’s main airport by Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen. This development could also draw the U.S. deeper into the regional conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering joining Saudi Arabia in its retaliation against the Houthis. The kingdom requested “urgent defense support” from the U.S. following the attacks, two Saudi Arabian government officials told MS NOW.

“We may [back Saudi]. We’re going to look at it,” Trump told reporters.

That could further complicate the possibility of a lasting resolution to the end of the Mideast war. On Saturday, Russian state media reported that President Vladimir Putin conveyed Tehran’s message for a possible end to the war in Iran to Trump.

Over in Europe, traders are keeping a close watch on the Ukraine conflict, with Trump declaring an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine — but it’s unclear whether either side has agreed to a truce. The two countries have been trading blows on energy infrastructure. While there have been ceasefires between the two nations since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, they have been difficult to hold.

Further, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also reportedly pushed back on Trump’s call for a new president in Ukraine, stating that only Russia was responsible for the war in his country. His response came after Trump blamed him for high diesel prices.

Moving over to the financial markets: futures for the S&P 500 were little changed, as investors look forward to a busy week with major banks including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs set to kick off the earnings season. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.24%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank kick off their annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday, drawing thousands, including finance ministers, central bankers, business leaders and asset managers, for a week of talks on the global economy and the strength of the world’s financial system.

CNBC will be on the ground at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, with interviews with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas on Monday; Kattiya Indaravijara, CEO of Kasikornbank, one of Thailand’s largest lenders on Tuesday; and many more to come throughout the week.

The IMF is set to release its World Economic Outlook and Global Financial Stability Report on Tuesday as part of the annual meetings. Investors will also be watching closely for a conversation featuring Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh on Friday.

— CNBC’s Anniek Bao also contributed to this newsletter.

And finally…

Pokémon card values are soaring. What collectors should know before buying or selling

The record $16.5 million Pokémon card sale is drawing fresh attention to a collectibles market where grading, scarcity and authentication can determine whether a card is worth dollars or hundreds of thousands.

“It is one of our fastest-growing categories that we’ve seen and one of the largest contributors to [our] growth over the last number of quarters,” said Adam Ireland, vice president and general manager of collectibles at online marketplace eBay, which also provides authentication and price guides for TCGs and non-sports cards.

“From an investment point of view, you start with Pokémon,” he said. “It was the most searchable term within the eBay collectibles environment through the first half of the year.”

— Bob Woods

This content is blocked because you are not allowing cookies.

To view this content, click on Cookie Preferences here or at the bottom of the page to allow all cookies.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into whether the White House television press pool’s decision to suspend coverage of President Donald Trump violated antitrust laws.

The Justice Department said in a statement that it is examining whether the White House TV press pool — a group of broadcasters including CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS and NBC — violated the Sherman Act by temporarily halting pooled TV coverage of Trump.

The Sherman Act is a federal law that prohibits certain agreements that unreasonably restrain trade. Introduced in the 1890s, the law has rarely been applied to media organizations, particularly regarding their coverage.

Members of the press pool did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment sent outside of normal business hours.

The DOJ investigation follows the White House television press pool ceased its coverage of Trump on Sept. 21, shortly after he prohibited CNN, MS NOW and Politico from accessing the White House.

In a Truth Social post, the president said then that those outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America.”

A judge lifted restrictions on those reporters on Sept. 24, several days after White House staff confiscated their press passes. Despite the ruling, reporters from CNN and Politico were barred from traveling with the president on Air Force One, the New York Times reported.

The Trump administration now faces a lawsuit from CNN, MS NOW and Politico over its ban of their reporters from the White House grounds.

Television pool coverage of the White House has also resumed.

The DOJ investigation marks another escalation in an ongoing dispute between Trump and the media over press rights.

The Trump administration has moved to restrict news agencies that have produced critical coverage of its policies.

Last year, Trump moved to rescind about $1.1 billion previously approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, federal funding earmarked for public broadcasters NPR and PBS. Trump and his allies have also sued several media organizations, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and BBC News, over alleged biases or inaccuracies in their reporting.

Seth Stern, chief of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called the DOJ investigation “nonsense.”

“Depriving Trump of the attention he craves is not a competitive harm and in any case, antitrust law has long recognized First Amendment exceptions even when there is anticompetitive impact,” he said. “After all his ‘fake news’ rhetoric, Trump is weaponizing the DOJ to pressure the networks he calls the ‘enemy of the people’ to stay at the White House. It’s a weird way of telling the press how much he missed them.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Disclosure: CNBC and MS NOW are divisions of Versant Media.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league could begin using a new “smart ball” in games as soon as 2027, potentially transforming how officials make calls on the basketball court.

In an interview with CNBC’s Contessa Brewer, Silver revealed that the NBA is working with official basketball manufacturer Wilson to develop a ball embedded with a tiny microchip Bluetooth sensor that can track movement, spin and changes in trajectory.

“We’re experimenting with putting a small chip in the ball that weighs roughly a gram,” Silver said.

The technology has already been tested in the NBA’s G League, Summer League, and some preseason games, where players used basketballs both with and without the chip. Silver said players have been pleased with the results.

“Nobody could tell the difference. So that’s a good sign,” he said.

The chip weighs just one gram, compared with the roughly 620-gram or 1.4 pound basketball. Silver said the league wanted to ensure that even the most experienced players wouldn’t notice a change in how the ball feels or bounces.

One of the most immediate applications could be officiating.

Silver said the technology could help referees determine whether a player touched the ball before it went out of bounds by detecting subtle changes in its spin. It could also help identify whether a shot’s trajectory was altered.

“I think you could see as soon as next year us using it for officiating in our games,” Silver said.

Beyond officiating, Silver sees a significant opportunity to bring the technology to consumers, allowing basketball players of all ages to analyze and evaluate their shooting mechanics.

For example, a player taking hundreds of shots could use data collected by the chip to understand which shooting angles and ball rotations are most likely to result in a basket.

“You’ll then see the graph, and you’ll see for which the angle of the shots that went in, they’re more likely to go in,” Silver said.

While the officiating application could arrive as soon as next year, Silver said a consumer version may take longer.

“I think the consumers version [of the smart ball] is a few years away, but it’s a really exciting opportunity.”

NBA players’ union raises concerns over wearables

The league is also exploring the use of wearable technology during games, but negotiations with the National Basketball Players Association have yet to produce an agreement.

The NBA says officials experimented with wrist wearables in select preseason and summer league games this year in a “successful pilot program,” but it will not extend into the season. The technology allowed the referees to communicate with the replay center about reviews, scoring changes and clock malfunctions.

Silver said players routinely use wearable devices off the court to monitor everything from sleep to physical performance, but concerns remain over how data collected during games could be used by teams.

“I think we have to come to some agreement on exactly how the information is used. But it seems everybody wants that information,” Silver said.

The biggest sticking point is whether that information could affect contract negotiations, Silver said.

“If you could see a player was slowing down or something like that, they’re worried that that could get used in bargaining, and I get that,” he said.

Silver acknowledged those concerns and said the league needs to reach an agreement with the players’ union on how the information would be used.

Still, he suggested that allowing wearables during games is a logical next step as athletes increasingly rely on technology to monitor their performance.

“I think the players are in a position right now where they’re essentially wearing wearables 22 hours a day, and the only time they’re not wearing them is when they’re playing in the game,” Silver said. “So that can’t make sense.”

“We’ll work something out with them,” he added.