10 things you need to know before the opening bell

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10 things you need to know before the opening bell

jeffrey epstein

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Here is what you need to know.

1. 2 days before he died, Jeffrey Epstein signed a new will putting his $577 million in assets in a trust - $18 million more than he told the court he was worth. The assets were transferred to a trust called "The 1953 Trust," named after the year he was born. The documents do not list any beneficiaries to the trust.

2. The Trump administration is considering a tax cut for millions of workers to boost the economy and stave off fears of a recession, according to the Washington Post. The discussions are preliminary according to The Post. Any proposal would require Congress to sign off on it.

3. EU officials reject Boris Johnson's new Brexit demands before he even sits down with European leaders. EU officials and Irish leaders have rejected Boris Johnson's request to remove the Northern Ireland backstop from the Brexit deal.

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4. Europe has a 70% chance of falling into recession, top economist warns. Allianz's chief economic adviser, Mohamed El-Erian, pointed to Brexit and a shrinking German economy as key drivers of a downturn.

5. UBS names new CEO for European Union operations. Christine Novakovic was appointed as the chief executive officer of the Swiss bank's EU operations.

6. Luigi Di Maio, head of Italy's ruling 5-Star Movement, has signaled the imminent demise of the country's coalition government with a Facebook post thanking Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Markets have been teetering in anticipation of a no-confidence vote.

7. Elanco Animal Health has agreed to buy Bayer's animal health unit in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $7.6 billion. The move would create a leading animal health business and expand Elanco's reach in the pet e-commerce space.

8. Markets are rising marginally today, after Asia's mixed close. US futures are up as the S&P 500 (+0.1%) and the Nasdaq (+0.2%) inched up. In Europe, the story was similar with the Dax (+0.1%) up marginally as was Euro Stoxx 50 (+0.2%). In Asia, the Nikkei (+0.6%) closed up but the Shanghai Composite (-0.1%) and Hang Seng (-0.2%) fell.

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9. There are some major earnings out later. The highlights being Home Depot and Urban Outfitters.

10. There's lots of interesting data on the docket today. The Redbook Index is out in the US, as well as Germany's producer price index.

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