10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Reuters / KCNA

Here is what you need to know.

Geopolitical tensions are rising after North Korea launched a missile that flew over Japan. Japanese Prime Minister called the launch "an unprecedented, grave and serious threat" that damaged the security of the region.

Markets are sliding in response to the launch. Stocks fell across Europe and Asia and safety haven assets like gold jumped.

Flooding from Hurricane Harvey is still wreaking havoc It's expected to continue for days, with as much as 50 inches of rain forecast in and around Houston.

Best Buy posted a strong earnings report. Reuters reports that the big-box retailer turned in better-than-expected quarterly profits and sales, helped by strong demand for smartphones, connected home and wearable devices. The company's stock rose 2.8% to $64.20.

U.K. house price growth is slowing down. The measure turned negative again in August following a jump in the previous two months.

Australian new home sales hit a 4-year low. According to the Housing Industry Association (HIA), total sales fell by 3.7%, adding to the 6.9% fall recorded in June and now sit at the lowest level since August 2013.

There's another cryptocurrency you might want to get familiar with. It's called Litecoin, and it operates on similar blockchain technology to Bitcoin, although with faster processing speeds.

U.S. economic data will be released. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home-price index will come out at 9 a.m. ET before the Conference Board consumer confidence index is released 10 a.m. ET.

Wall Street is divided over the future of banks. Mutual funds and hedge funds have vastly different positions in bank stocks, according to an analysis conducted by Goldman Sachs.

A former manager at Target became a millionaire using one of Wall Street's favorite trades. Seth M. Golden, a 40-year-old who lives in a suburb of Ocala, Florida, says he's grown his net worth from $500,000 to $12 million in five years by shorting the CBOE Volatility Index - or VIX.