Stock Futures Muted Before Fed Meeting Minutes

Futures on Wall Street are modestly lower this morning, after a resurgent tech sector sent yesterday's session higher. Later today, investors will unpack the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes at 2 p.m. ET, which could include some clues into the central bank's next policy move. Looking ahead, the consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) readings are due out on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including: 

• Schaeffer's Senior Quant Rocky White weighs in on stocks vs. alternative assets.
• Watch these 3 cannabis stocks this election season.
• Plus, Reddit's fresh analyst coverage; HELE pops; and a lithium buyout to watch.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.5 million call contracts and 839,722 put contracts exchanged on Monday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.54 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.64.
2. Shares of Reddit Inc (NYSE:RDDT) are 3% higher before the bell, after Jefferies initiated coverage on RDDT with a "buy" rating, citing the fact that the company's user growth accelerated to its highest level in more than two years. In addition, Needham hiked its price target to $85 from $75. RDDT is poised to tack onto a 57.3% six-month lead.
3. Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) sports an 11.4% pre-market lead, after the consumer products company's fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue were higher than Wall Street estimated. The firm also reaffirmed its full-year guidance, putting HELE on track to cut into its 48.4% year-to-date deficit.
4. Arcadium Lithium PLC (NYSE:ALTM) boasts a 30.7% gain before the opening bell, after Rio Tinto (RIO) inked a deal to buy the lithium producer. The buyout tallies in at $6.7 billion, with Rio Tinto paying $5.85 per share -- a 38% premium to ALTM's close on Tuesday. Over the last month, ALTM has added 87.6%.
5. Everything that is on tap this week.

Chinese Markets Suffer Steep Selloff

Mainland China stocks were the story today, steeply selling off. The Shanghai Composite gapped lower by 6.6% to snap a 10-day win streak, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.4%, adding to Tuesday’s 9.4% plummet. South Korea’s Kospi was closed for a public holiday, while Japan’s Nikkei bucked the regional trend with a 0.9% gain.

Over in Europe, the volatility in China is weighing on bourses, though major indexes have bounced off their session lows. At last check, London’s FTSE 100, the French CAC 40, and German DAX are all up 0.3% apiece, the latter brushing off a sharp drop from biotech giant Bayer.