March 25 Premarket Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Wednesday, March 25:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were mixed Wednesday on word of a major deal to combine Kraft Foods and H.J. Heinz.

European stocks were mixed on Wednesday ahead of the European Central Bank Governing Council weekly stock-taking on emergency funds for Greece and as the German business climate improves.

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2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. on Wednesday includes the Mortgage Bankers' Association mortgage application data, which arrives at 7 a.m. Durable goods orders report at 8:30 a.m. The Energy Information Administration releases its petroleum inventory report at 10:30 a.m.

3. -- U.S. stocks on Tuesday sank into the red as an influx of strong economic data suggested that the Federal Reserve might raise rates sooner rather than later.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.58% to 18,011.14. The S&P 500 closed down 0.61% to 2,091.50. The Nasdaq fell 0.32% to 4,994.73.

4. -- Prepared foods maker Kraft Foods  will merge with H.J. Heinz in a deal orchestrated by 3G Capital, a Brazilian private equity company, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway . Berkshire has invested in Kraft for years, and Berkshire and 3G together own Heinz. The deal is worth in the ballpark of $40 billion.

Buffett described the deal as "my kind of transaction" in a statement. Heinz Chief Executive Bernardo Hees will run the combined company.