Big earnings reports are due in from Alphabet, AbbVie, Amazon, Ford Motors, and Starbucks. The economic calendar includes the January jobs report, which could surprise due to the large number of hourly workers who were caught up by Omicron quarantines during the month. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.9%.

Nearly $1T of U.S. private equity deals were announced in 2021, including buyouts and exits, which is 2.5x the volume of the previous year and more than double the previous peak in 2007. Big leveraged buyouts are continuing apace this year as well, with private equity firms Elliott Management and Vista Equity nearing an agreement to purchase Citrix Systems for about $13B. The company makes software that allows employees of companies to access their network remotely, among other cloud computing capabilities.

With one day to go, January is shaping up to be the worst month for stocks since the beginning of the pandemic. As it stands, the S&P 500 is down 7 percent this month, making it the fourth-worst January since at least 1928, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.