10 things you need to know before the opening bell

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Here is what you need to know.

China is sending a senior official to the US to try to defuse the trade war. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will fly to Washington with the hopes of meeting senior officials before the expected informal talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Trump is once again moving closer to imposing auto tariffs. Trump on Tuesday will meet with his trade team to discuss a Commerce Department report on auto tariffs, according to Bloomberg. He previously threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all autos and auto parts coming into the US as part of his negotiations with trading partners including the European Union and Canada.

Morningstar's $US207 billion CIO breaks down why investors have 'significantly overpaid' for the biggest tech stocks - and what they should be doing with their money. In an exclusive interview with Business Insider, Morningstar's chief investment officer, Daniel Needham, explains why he thinks investors should be looking at defensive stocks.

General Electric hits a post-financial-crisis low.Shares touched $US7.72 apiece - their lowest since March 2009 - after CEO Larry Culp told CNBC that he felt a sense of "urgency" to cut the company's leverage.

Creditors urge Sears to shut down all of its stores.Unsecured creditors, in a filing, slammed the retailer's plan to stay in business as "nothing more than wishful thinking" and "an unjustified and foolhardy gamble with other people's money."

AT&T is ending contracts with a group of dealers who sell DirecTV products. AT&T has notified many longtime residential dealers, who sell DirecTV products and services including satellite, broadband, and phone services, that their contracts will expire December 1.

The world's biggest maker of bitcoin-mining hardware wants to go public, but there are questions over its profits.Bitmain, the world's largest manufacturer of chips in the machines used to mine bitcoin, in its filing to go public in Hong Kong, reported 2017 profits of $US701.4 million, but the Financial Times reports previous funding rounds showed profits that were significantly higher.

Wall Streeters are probably going to get bigger bonuses this year. Workers up and down Wall Street are in line for bigger bonuses this year, with equity traders set to see their extra pay up by as much as 20%, according to the compensation consultant Johnson Associates.

Stock markets around the world are mixed. Japan's Nikkei (-2.06%) was hit hard in Asia, and Germany's DAX (+0.64%) leads the gains in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open up 0.55% near 2,741.

Earnings reports keep coming. Cronos, Home Depot, and Tyson Foods report ahead of the opening bell, while Tilray releases its quarter results after markets close.