10 things you need to know before the opening bell (SPY, SPX, QQQ, DIA, EFX)

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October 11, 2017 11:48 AM

This is what traders are talking about.

Here is what you need to know.

The US stock market is on the cusp of history. The S&P 500 has delivered a total-return gain for every month of 2017, matching 1995 as the only occurrences in history, Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid says. It's on track to break the record with a 10th straight month of gains, trading up 1.24% in October.

Stocks are behaving in a way not seen since the tech bubble. As of earlier this month, 65% of the risk associated with the average S&P 500 stock was inexplainable by a set of six macro risk factors maintained by Morgan Stanley over the past 252 days, the highest since 2001, according to Morgan Stanley data.

Bitcoin hits a record high. The cryptocurrency touched a record high of $4,926 a coin on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg data, and now trades near $4,820.

Steve Cohen loses his top trader. Phil Villhauer is leaving Point72 ahead of Cohen's return to managing outside money, The New York Times reports, citing an internal memo.

The extent of the Equifax hack keeps growing. The credit-reporting agency on Tuesday announced that hackers accessed the records of 15.2 million clients in Britain, Reuters says. Overall, about 145.5 million clients have had their information compromised.

Japan's Kobe Steel is under fire for fudging its metals data. Japan's third-largest steelmaker has plunged more than 35% over the past two sessions after admitting to selling aluminum and copper materials using falsified data on such things as the products' strength, the Associated Press reports.

The FOMC releases the minutes from its September meeting. Traders will be looking for further indications that the central bank will hike interests rates again later this year. The Federal Open Market Committee minutes will cross the wires at 2 p.m. ET.

Japan's Nikkei closes at its best level since 1996. The Nikkei gained 0.28% on Wednesday, supported by defensive names. Elsewhere, Germany's DAX (+0.08%) leads a quiet session higher in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,549.

Earnings reports trickle out. BlackRock and Delta Air Lines report ahead of the opening bell.

US economic data is light. Jolts Job Openings will be announced at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 2 basis points at 2.34%.

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