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

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August 22, 2016

Here is what you need to know.

Stanley Fischer, the Fed vice chair, says the Fed is nearing its targets. Speaking at a conference in Aspen, Colorado, Janet Yellen's right-hand man thinks the Federal Reserve is close to full employment and 2% inflation, the two parts of its dual mandate, Reuters reports. The Fed's biggest monetary-policy conference of the year, the annual Jackson Hole Symposium, begins Thursday, and Yellen will speak on Friday.

Crude oil is lower following a downbeat note from Morgan Stanley. West Texas Intermediate crude oil is down by 2.5% at $47.31 a barrel after Adam Longson, the head of energy commodity research at the firm, released a note suggesting there were "too many headwinds and logistical challenges to a meaningful [production freeze] deal."

The Reserve Bank of India has a new governor. Urjit Patel has been named as the next governor of India's central bank. He served as deputy governor in charge of monetary policy under his predecessor Raghuram Rajan. India's rupee is down 0.2% at 67.2125 per dollar.

Pfizer is buying Medivation. The deal is reportedly worth about $14 billion and values the cancer drugmaker at $81.50 a share. It represents a sizable premium to the offer of $52.50 a share that Sanofi made for Medivation earlier this year.

Valeant has a new CFO. The embattled Canadian pharmaceutical company has named Paul Herendeen as its chief financial officer. Herendeen resigned from his post as CFO at the animal-health company Zoetis on Friday.

2 groups are dominating fintech VC deals in 2016. Of the $9.4 billion of global fintech investment in the first half of the year, $2.5 billion was backed by venture capital. Five of the top 10 fintech VC deals have occurred in Asia, with most of those happening in China, and insurance tech is growing in popularity.

Bonnie Baha of DoubleLine Capital has died. Baha, DoubleLine's head of Global Developed Credit, died in an automobile accident at 57, Reuters reports. "For a quarter century Bonnie was my trusted colleague and dear friend," DoubleLine CEO Jeffrey Gundlach said. "She was honest and direct, with a sardonic wit perfectly matching her investment skepticism helping shape the DoubleLine philosophy."

Stock markets around the world are mixed. Japan's Nikkei (+0.3%) led the gains in Asia, while China's Shanghai Composite (-0.8%) lagged. In Europe, Britain's FTSE (-0.5%) trails the pack. S&P 500 futures are down 3.00 points at 2,178.75.

Earnings reporting is light. Nordson and Zoe's Kitchen will report after markets close.

US economic data trickles out. Chicago Fed will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is little changed at 1.58%.