10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Carlos Barria/Reuters

President Donald Trump stands behind Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

Here is what you need to know.

1. It's the start of the Jackson Hole conference in Wyoming today. Here's what to look out for.

2. After two years touting a booming economy as his own doing, President Donald Trump is test driving a new message on the economy: Any chance of a recession is not his fault. However, Democrats are calling the president's bluff, including Joe Biden.

3. China hopes the United States will stop its wrong tariff action, the commerce ministry said on Thursday. China will have to retaliate if the US persists in its current course, Gao Feng, a ministry spokesman, said in a news briefing.

4. China's currency just dropped to its lowest level in a decade. US exporters are expected to feel the brunt as goods become more expensive to sell to China.

5. A 'hard Brexit' could have massive consequences for global air travel. Though there had been concerns that flights would be grounded as soon as the UK left the bloc, interim agreements would prevent that in the short term, though most are yet to be agreed.

6. Two big numbers - $4 billion and $47 billion - sum up WeWork's business model and the risky reason it could collapse in a recession. The We Company's IPO filing has come under scrutiny this week.

7. A Russian shipping giant is suing a debt collector for allegedly swapping secret documents for a billionaire's sex tape. Novoship has accused a Burford Capital executive of trading sensitive files for a sex tape related to Floridian oil billionaire Harry Sargeant III.

8. Stocks are sliding today ahead of the Jackson Hole conference. US futures are down with the S&P 500 (-0.1%) and Nasdaq (-0.2%) dropping. In Europe, stocks had a muted open, with the Dax (-0.1%) and Euro Stoxx 50 (-0.1%) falling. In Asia, stocks were mixed with the Nikkei (+0.1%) up, as was the Shanghai Composite (+0.1%) but the Hang Seng (-0.8%) was down.

9. There are some interesting earnings out later. Today's highlight is Salesforce.

10. There is a stack of data out later. Initial jobless claims and Markit manufacturing PMI are both being released.