Anything For You All: 10 things you need to know before the opening bell

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December 18, 2017

Here is what you need to know.

Here's what Wall Street is predicting for 2018. Almost no one is bearish, as Oppenheimer's John Stoltzfus and JPMorgan's Dubravko Lakos-Bujas are the most optimistic with year-end 2018 S&P 500 price targets of 3,000.

Tech will sound the alarm on the next big bubble. The best way to spot the next big market bubble is to pay attention the divergence between tech stocks and tech companies with high-yield credit ratings, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Home prices in China keep falling. New-home prices grew by 5.1% over the year, down from 5.4% in the 12 months to October, as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Shenzhen all saw declines from a year earlier, National Bureau of Statistics data showed.

CME Group launches bitcoin futures. Bitcoin futures trading got off to an uneventful start at the CME, with light trading volumes in the opening hours.

Bitcoin gets close to 20,000. The cryptocurrency hit a high of $19,843 a coin before paring its gains. It's now little changed at $19,034, according to Markets Insider data.

Oracle agrees to buy Australia's Aconex. Oracle has agreed to pay $1.19 billion for the Australian web-based project-management software company, Reuters says.

Hershey is closing in on a deal to buy the maker of SkinnyPop. Hershey is close to buying Amplify, the SkinnyPop maker, for $1.6 billion, or $12 a share, according to CNBC.

Power has been restored after more than 1,000 flights grounded at the world's busiest airport. Power has been restored at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after a fire in an underground electrical facility caused more than 1,000 flights to be grounded, AP says.

Stock markets around the world are gaining ground. Japan's Nikkei (+1.55%) led the advance in Asia, and Germany's DAX (+1.43%) is out front in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open higher by 0.50% near 2,689.

US economic data trickles out. NAHB home prices will be released at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up 2 basis points at 2.37%.