More Weakness on Tap for Stocks Wednesday

The Federal Reserve killed any chance of a rally yesterday, releasing minutes from its March 13 policy-setting meeting that showed the Fed less inclined to pump more money into the U.S. economy.

The Fed is also concerned about the robust pace of job creation seen so far this year slowing down.  The government will release official figures for March employment on Friday, even though the stock market will be closed for Easter weekend.  Economists are expecting the fourth straight month with job gains totaling at least 200,000.

Earlier Wednesday, ADP said the private sector created about 209,000 jobs in March, a bit more than economists had been expecting.

Futures are looking weak this morning, with pre-market activity showing Dow futures down more than 100 points.

In corporate action, there's more bad news for Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO).  The struggling search giant could announce up to 2,000 layoffs, or 14% of its global workforce, today, according to tech blog All Things D.  Yahoo is still one of the most popular websites but is having a hard time keeping up with the growth of rivals Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Facebook. U-S Airways (NYSE:LCC) wants to get bigger.  The fifth-largest U.S. carrier by traffic has reportedly told some American Airlines creditors that merging the two could create more than $1.5 billion in annual revenue and labor savings.  American's parent AMR filed for bankruptcy protection in November.

Burger King is returning to Wall Street as a public company within the next three months. The fast-food giant, recently unseated in sales by Wendy's (NYSE:WEN), has changed its menu, its look, and its advertising, and is now looking to re-list on the New York Stock Exchange.

Burger King was taken private for the third time two years ago. Its private-equity owner 3G Capital is selling a 29% stake of Burger King to a British company for $1.4 billion. The new company will be Burger King Worldwide.