Hi, I'm Joe Kernan, co-host a Swackbox, and this is Five Things to Know before today's

opening bell.

President Trump saying that the U.S. will provide insurance to tankers in the Persian

Gulf to get traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

You can see we were, we had a five-hand-hand all for very briefly on crew now almost 75.

Invidia, Amazon, Alphabet, among the tech companies that have been scrambling to ensure the safety of their employees who are based in or traveling through the Middle East.

NVIDia has temporarily closed its Dubai offices with employees there working remotely.

All this is according to an email from Jensen Wong to employees that was reviewed by CNBC.

And cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, beating analyst earnings and revenue estimates.

Fourth quarter sales jumped 23% year over year.

Off-price retailer Ross Stores jumping after it beat Wall Street earnings and revenue expectations.

Finally, Democratic lawmakers are reportedly working on a proposal that could lead to the breakup of U.S. meatpacking companies.

A Wall Street Journal reports that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is preparing legislation

that would prohibit companies from processing more than one kind of meat.

We'll be back later today with an all-new Squawk Pod, our daily podcast,

featuring the best of Squackbox.

Check it out wherever you get your podcast and listen anytime.