10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Trump kicks the trade war with China into high gear. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump's administration released a list of $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, including seafood and other fresh goods, that could be subject to a new 10% tariff.
China vows to fight back. "In order to safeguard the core interests of the country and the fundamental interests of the people, the Chinese government will, as always, have to make the necessary counter-measures," China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
Stock markets around the world are getting pummeled. China's Shanghai Composite (-1.76%) led Asia lower and Germany's DAX (-1.38%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.69% near 2775.
Another bear market signal has been triggered. Bank of America Merrill Lynch says 14 of the 19 signposts that it's watching for a bear market have been triggered, but that there still may be huge stock market gains ahead.
Rupert Murdoch wins out in the race for Sky. Murdoch's 21st Century Fox has agreed to buy Britain's Sky in a deal worth $32.5 billion, Reuters says.
Tesla is planning to build a plant in China. The company said the plant, which will take about two years to start producing vehicles and another two-to-three years to be fully operational, could produce about 500,000 vehicles a year when completed.
Pfizer is holding off on price increases to some of its drugs after being singled out by Trump. Pharma giant Pfizer said the price for 100 of its products will go back to their pre-July 1 levels "as soon as technically possible" after the company was singled out by Trump in a tweet about drug pricing.
Seth Klarman's investing bible was up for grabs on Kindle for $9.99. An unauthorized copy of "Margin of Safety," the investing bible written by the billionaire value investor and hedge fund manager Seth Klarman, was sold for $9.99 on the Amazon Kindle for a few days. Investors have been known to pay thousands of dollars for the out-of-print book.
The Bank of Canada is expected to hike rates. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg see a 97.4% chance the Bank of Canada raises its key interest rate 25 basis points to 1.50%. The Canadian dollar is down 0.25% at 1.3165 ahead of the decision.
US economic is light. Producer prices will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 2 basis points at 2.83%.