10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Here is what you need to know.

China is in a bear market. China's Shanghai Composite tumbled 3.6% on Friday to enter a bear market. The "national team" was reportedly active, but was unable to stem the slide. Selling since December 22 peak has dropped the index 20%, and back to levels last seen in December 2014.

China's data disappointed. New loans in China totaled 597.8 billion yuan, missing the 700 billion yuan estimate. Outstanding loans fell short of expectations, growing 14.3% over the year, compared the 14.8% increase that was anticipated. Finally, M2 money supply was also light, expanding by 13.3% versus the 13.5% that economists were looking for.

Oil is back below $30. Heavy selling has pushed West Texas Intermediate crude oil back below the $30 per barrel mark. Today's 4.7% plunge has the energy component trading at $29.75, its weakest in 12 years.

Goldman Sachs has agreed to a huge settlement related to RMBS. The investment bank will pay $5 billion to settle claims related to the sale of residential mortgage backed securities between 2005 and 2007. The $5 billion payment will be broken up into three parts: a $2.385 billion in civil monetary penalty, $875 million in cash payments, and $1.8 billion in consumer relief. Goldman says the settlement will reduce its fourth quarter earnings by $1.5 billion when it reports on Wednesday, January 20.

China's Haier is buying GE's appliance unit. Chinese appliance maker Haier will buy GE's appliance unit for $5.4 billion. AP reports, as part of the deal the two sides will form a strategic alliance, focusing on the Internet, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing. The sale continues GE's plan of shedding non-strategic assets as it shifts back to an industrial focus.

BHP Billiton took an enormous write-down. The mining giant announced it's taking a $7.2 billion write-down on its US shale oil and gas assets. According to FT, BHP Billiton spent $20 billion on shale assets in 2012. But, as the price of oil has collapsed, it has taken down the value of those assets with it. "While we have made significant progress, the dramatic fall in prices has led to the disappointing write down announced today," CEO Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement. "However, we remain confident in the long-term outlook and the quality of our acreage. We are well positioned to respond to a recovery."

Citigroup is set to announce its quarterly results. The Bloomberg consensus anticipates the banking behemoth will report earnings of $1.05 per share on revenue of $17.95 billion. The report is expected to cross the wires at 8 a.m. ET.

Wells Fargo reports ahead of the opening bell. The bank is expected to earn $1.02 per share on revenue of $21.84 billion, according to the Bloomberg consensus. Wells has beat on adjusted earnings per share eight straight quarters and on revenue for seven of the past eight. The report will cross the wires at 8 a.m. ET.

It's a sea of red all over the world. Aside from the weakness in China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-1.5%) saw the biggest overnight decline. In Europe, Spain's IBEX (-1.7%) lags. S&P 500 futures are down 29.50 points at 1885.00.

US economic data is heavy. Empire Manufacturing, PPI and retail sales will all cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET before industrial production and capacity utilization are announced at 9:15 a.m. ET. Then, at 10 a.m. ET, University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment and business inventories are released. The US 10-year yield is lower by 4 basis points at 2.05%.