10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Here is what you need to know.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before Congress. "With appropriate monetary policy, the job market will remain strong and inflation will stay near 2 percent over the next several years," Powell said before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.

3 men who played a central role in navigating the US through the financial crisis are worried we're forgetting the lessons learned. Former Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and Timothy Geithner, and former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warned at a roundtable discussion marking the 10th anniversary of the financial crisis that the rising US budget debt, a "dysfunctional" political system, and a drive to loosen reforms put in place after 2008 could combine to endanger the economy.

Housing prices in China are still rising, but there was a surprising twist in the latest data. Data released Wednesday showed home prices in China rose in 63 out of 70 cities, but CBA analyst Vivek Dhar says, "In a surprise change from recent history, median new home prices in China's medium-sized cities (Tier 2) eclipsed growth in China's smaller cities (Tier 3 and below)."

Bank of America has a plan to profit from the market's biggest fear. The bank's fund-manager survey for July showed that for the third time in five months a trade war topped the list of the biggest tail risk to markets, and that provoked Bank of America to lay out four strategies for contrarian investors who want to bet that trade disputes won't lead to financial carnage.

Goldman Sachs names David Solomon as its next CEO. Solomon will replace Llyod Blankfein as CEO on October 1, and as chairman starting next year.

Elon Musk has apologized to a British diver who helped with the Thailand cave rescue. "His actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader," Musk tweeted. "The fault is mine and mine alone."

Walmart is reportedly working on its own streaming service. The streaming service, which would compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime, would cost less than $8 a month, the technology news site The Information says.

Stock markets around the world trade mixed. China's Shanghai Composite (-0.39%) lagged in Asia and Germany's DAX (+0.81%) is out front in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,812.

Earnings reporting picks up. Morgan Stanley reports ahead of the opening bell while American Express, Ebay, and IBM are set to release their quarterly results after markets close.

US economic keeps coming. Housing starts and building permits will both be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and the Fed's Beige Book will cross the wires at 2 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is unchanged at 2.86%.