10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Chinese stocks are joining an important global group. MSCI is planning to add 222 China A Large Cap stocks to its Emerging Markets Index in 2018. The group of stocks will carry an approximate weighting of 0.73%.
Wall Street got something big from Paul Ryan's tax cut speech. While the House Majority Leader's speech didn't give any specifics, "Markets just want to know the process is still alive - and it is," Greg Valliere, chief global strategist at Horizon Investments, told Business Insider.
Oil holds near 7-month lows. West Texas Intermediate crude oil trades unchanged at $43.34 per barrel. It hit a 7-month low of $42.75 on Tuesday.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick resigns. "I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight," Kalanick said in a statement received by The New York Times early Wednesday morning.
Sears Canada is reportedly getting ready to seek creditor protection. A filing is expected in the next couple of weeks, The Globe and Mail says, citing a source familiar with the matter.
McDonald's is taking its biggest risk in history. The fast-food giant is adding fresh beef to its menu, which will be available nationwide beginning next year, Reuters says. The new patties will take 1-minute longer to prepare.
A big software deal is in the works. BMC Software and CA Inc. are in talks for a combination that would take publicly-listed CA Inc. private, Bloomberg's Kiel Porter and Alex Sherman report.
Stock markets are the world are lower. Australia's ASX (-1.9%) led the losses overnight and France's CAC (-1%) lags in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,435.
Oracle reports. Oracle is expected to earn $0.78 per share on revenue of $10.45 billion. The results are due out at the closing bell.
Us economic data is light. Existing home sales will cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 1 basis point at 2.15%.