10 things you need to know before the opening bell

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10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Trump

Reuters/Leah Millis

US President Donald Trump speaks at a Make America Great Again rally at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

Here is what you need to know.

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Trump had the "worst day" of his presidency. President Donald Trump suffered through the "worst day" of his presidency on Tuesday as his former longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight counts related to tax evasion, bank fraud, and campaign finance violations and said he made illegal campaign and corporate contributions "at the direction of" a 2016 presidential candidate and with the "purpose of influencing the election." Also on Tuesday, Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was convicted on eight counts related to tax fraud, bank fraud, and failure to report foreign bank accounts.

We are about to be in the longest bull market in history. The S&P 500 touched a record high of 2873.23 on Tuesday, and the US stock market will be in its longest bull market in history, as measured by its rise from the trough hit in March 2009, at the end of the day Wednesday as long as there isn't a 20% crash.

Russia is stockpiling gold as fresh US sanctions loom. Russia added about 26 tonnes of gold, worth about $1 billion, as it sold Treasurys, in response to the first new US sanctions since 2011.

Bitcoin spiked after a major trading platform went down, and it created a golden opportunity for traders. The cryptocurrency spiked more than $300, or 7%, in a matter of minutes Tuesday evening after a scheduled maintenance shutdown of trading platform BitMEX created an arbitrage opportunity for traders.

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A cryptocurrency is making huge inroads in Venezuela. Two hundred Venezuelan merchants per month are signing up to accept Dash as hyperinflation runs wild in the country, Dash Core Group CEO Ryan Taylor told Business Insider.

Another Wall Street bank has dropped coverage of Tesla - and it could be a sign Elon Musk is making progress in taking the company private. It could also mean that Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas is leaving the firm. Morgan Stanley declined to comment and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Xiaomi releases its first results as a publicly traded company. The Chinese smartphone maker said revenue soared 68% in the second quarter amid strong sales of smartphones and connected devices, Reuters reports.

Tim Cook donates Apple stock to charity. Apple's CEO donated 23,215 shares, worth about $5 million, to an unspecified charity, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing out Tuesday.

Earnings reports keep coming. Lowe's and Target report ahead of the opening bell while L Brands releases its quarterly results after markets close.

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US economic trickles out. Existing home sales will be released at 10 a.m. ET and the minutes from the Fed's August meeting will cross the wires at 2 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 1 basis point at 2.82%.

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