Sunday, February 28, 2016

Monday Watch

Today's Headlines
Bloomberg: 
  • China Stocks Tumble Toward 15-Month Low as Stimulus Bets Unwind. Chinese stocks sank, with the benchmark index approaching the lowest level since November 2014, as some investors were disappointed by a lack of specific measures to boost growth during the Group of 20 meeting in Shanghai. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 3.5 percent, after tumbling as much as 4.4 percent earlier. Declines were led by commodity producers and technology companies. The measure has lost 25 percent this year, the worst performer among 93 global equity gauges, on concern capital outflows will accelerate as the economic slowdown deepens. The yuan headed for its longest losing streak this year. Investors had hoped the government would announce measures to bolster the economy over the weekend, said Ronald Wan, chief executive officer at Partners Capital International Ltd. in Hong Kong. There are also increasing signs funds are shifting from equities to housing, according to Steve Wang, chief China economist at Reorient Financial Markets Ltd. "Investors feel disappointed over the lack of good news from the G-20, while the yuan has started to weaken again," Wang said in Hong Kong. "There are signs of panic buying in China’s property market as prices in large cities continue to rise. A hazy economic outlook prompted some people to sell shares and buy homes, while many stocks remain overvalued."
  • Chinese Tycoon Loses 37 Million Web Followers After Faulting Xi. China’s top Internet regulator closed the social media accounts of an influential retired property developer who criticized President Xi Jinping’s campaign to tighten control over state-run media. 
  • Nintendo Falls After Halving Profit Outlook on Weak 3DS Sales. Nintendo Co. fell the most in two weeks in Tokyo after halving its annual profit outlook on weak sales of 3DS handheld players and the impact of a stronger yen, increasing pressure on the company to make its smartphone debut next month a success. The stock dropped as much as 5.4 percent to 15,110 yen as of 9:04 a.m., the biggest decline on an intraday basis since Feb. 12. The Kyoto-based company on Friday slashed its net income target 51 percent to 17 billion yen ($150 million) in the year ending March and cut its 3DS sales outlook 13 percent.
  • U.K.'s Future Outside EU Is Rosy, Pro-`Brexit' Ministers Say. Two of the leading U.K. government ministers campaigning for an exit from the European Union played up the prospects for Britain if it votes to leave the bloc, rejecting warnings from Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. “Britain is a great country, the people here are inventive, innovative, and they will find a way with us to actually have a real deal that gives Britain access to the world and access to Europe,” Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said on BBC Television’s “Andrew Marr Show” on Sunday. “Why would we have such a low opinion of the British people that we go out and talk about leaping into the dark, we talk about profound shocks, we talk about them not being capable, that we’re too small?”
  • The World's Most Popular Stock Picks Are Sinking. A successful strategy to avoid the worst of this year’s equity retreat: ask your analyst what to buy and sell, then do the opposite. The stocks most beloved by strategists around the world, from U.S. gamemaker Activision Blizzard Inc. to Chinese electrical appliances maker Midea Group Co., have fallen 11 percent in 2016 on average. Companies ranked at the bottom of the heap by analysts are down 3.4 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
  • Arab States Face $94 Billion Debt Crunch on Oil Slump, HSBC Says. Gulf Cooperation Council countries may struggle to refinance $94 billion of debt in the next two years as the region faces slowing growth, rising rates and rating downgrades, according to HSBC Holdings Plc. Oil-rich GCC states have to refinance $52 billion of bonds and $42 billion of syndicated loans, mostly in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, HSBC said in an e-mailed report. The countries also face a fiscal and current account deficit of $395 billion over the period, it said. Expectations that these funding gaps "will be part financed through the sale of sovereign U.S. dollar debt will complicate efforts to refinance existing paper that matures over 2016 and 2017," Simon Williams, HSBC’s chief economist for the Middle East, said in the report. "With the Gulf acting as a single credit market, the refinancing challenge will likely be much more broadly felt" and "compounded by tightening regional liquidity, rising rates and recent downgrades," he said.
  • Chinese Shares Drop After G-20 as Japan Stocks Gain; Kiwi Falls. Asian stocks were a mixed bag after Group of 20 finance chiefs made only vague commitments to spur growth after talks in Shanghai. The yen rebounded from a three-day drop and New Zealand’s dollar weakened. Chinese stocks sank to the lowest level since November 2014, while Japan’s Topix index gained for a third day. Nissan Motor Co. surged the most since 2009 after announcing a plan to buy back shares. New Zealand’s dollar was headed for the biggest two-day loss in almost four months as weak economic data boosted the case for an interest-rate cut. Crude oil traded near $33 a barrel as U.S. drillers cut the number of active rigs to the lowest level in more than six years. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.2 percent as of 11:18 a.m. Tokyo time.
  • Trump Passes Up Opportunity to Disavow White Supremacist Support. Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump passed up a chance on Sunday to condemn former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and other white supremacists who’ve expressed support for his 2016 presidential bid. “I know nothing about David Duke,” Trump said on CNN’s “State of the Union” television show. “I know nothing about white supremacists.” Duke voiced backing for Trump on his radio program recently, and praised him for “taking on the Jewish establishment,” although he stopped short of endorsing the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. He also said that “voting against Donald Trump at this point is really treason to your heritage.”
Wall Street Journal:
CNBC:
  • Fed is paralyzed by the market: Raoul Pal. (video)
  • Christie Campaign's Finance Co-Chair Calls on Donors to Reject Trump. Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard who had an official role with Gov. Chris Christie's now-suspended presidential campaign, called his endorsement of Trump, "an astonishing display of political opportunism." Whitman served in the role of National Finance Co-Chair for Christie's campaign. "Trump would take America on a dangerous journey. Christie knows all that and indicated as much many times publicly," Whitman wrote in a statement.
Zero Hedge:
 Business Insider: Reuters:
  • Japan factory output rises fastest in a year, outlook uncertain. Japan's industrial output rose the most in a year in January, tentatively signaling a pick up in factory activity, but the outlook remains far from assured given global market jitters and weakening demand both at home and abroad. The 3.7 percent month-on-month gain compared with economists' median estimate of a 3.3 percent gain in a Reuters poll, and followed a 1.7 percent drop in December, trade ministry data showed.
 Financial Times:
  • US first-quarter earnings outlook dims on falling oil. Wall Street analysts have slashed expectations for US earnings in the first quarter as companies grapple with plummeting oil prices and slow economic growth. The growing pessimism comes amid a brutal start to the year for the stock market during which the S&P 500 has been marked by volatility as the outlook for global economic growth darkens, led by uncertainty over the slowdown in China.
 Telegraph:
  • Mervyn King: the eurozone is doomed. The eurozone is doomed to fail and will lurch from crisis to crisis unless it is broken up, according to the former governor of the Bank of England.
  • US shale frackers eye world conquest despite bloodbath. Dozens of indebted US shale companies face annihilation over coming months as their hedge protection runs out and creditors pull the plug, but veteran frackers insist defiantly that the slump will not stop the industry's march to world conquest.
 Welt am Sonntag:
  • EU's Oettinger Detects 'Alarm' in Bond Markets. Recent volatility in government bonds issued by Portugal must be seen as "sign of alarm," EU Digital Economy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said. Europe "shouldn't send signal that stability pact no longer valid". Governments haven't done enough to balance budget in recent years, now "best times are over". ECB's growth measures are becoming less effective, he also said.
Night Trading
  • Asian indices are -.75% to +.50% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 158.0 +2.0 basis points.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 75.75 -.25 basis point.
  • Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 68.11 unch.
  • S&P 500 futures -.10%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures -.22%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
  • (EBIX)/.56
  • (FSS)/.24
  • (FRO)/.63
  • (IPI)/-.11
  • (LL)/-.19
  • (VRX)/2.62
  • (ATML)/.07
  • (CECO)/-.06
  • (HTZ)/.05
  • (WDAY)/-.05
Economic Releases
9:00 am EST
  • The ISM Milwalukee for February is estimated to fall to 50.0 versus 50.36 in January.
9:45 am EST
  • The Chicago Purchasing Manager for February is estimated to fall to 52.5 versus 55.6 in January.
10:00 am EST
  • Pending Home Sales for January is estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.1% gain in December.
10:30 am EST
  • Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity for February is estimated to rise to -30.0 versus -34.6 in January.
Upcoming Splits
  • None of note
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Eurozone CPI report, Japan Jobless rate, China Manufacturing PMI, Bank of Australia rate decision, JMP Securities Tech Conference, JP Morgan High Yield Conference and the Morgan Stanley Tech/Media/Telecom Conference could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by industrial and consumer shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 25% net long heading into the week.

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