Thursday, October 13, 2016

Friday Watch

Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
  • France’s Chaotic Election Could Put the Future of Europe at Risk. France’s 2017 presidential election is set to be like no other in the modern era. As supporters of the center-right Republican party prepare to vote in their primary next month, there are at least 12 declared candidates, with President Francois Hollande and his former Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron shaping up to join the fray. Though not all of the contenders will make it to April, the race is wide open with far-right leader Marine Le Pen making the running with her attacks on the European Union as voters’ satisfaction with the bloc plummets. For the first time since Charles de Gaulle’s return to power in 1958 ushered in the Fifth Republic, both France’s two main political parties are holding primary contests, and Hollande is the first incumbent to reach such depths of unpopularity.
  • Bromance Between Xi and Putin Grows as U.S. Spats Escalate. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will have more than vodka shots and gifts of ice cream to show for their warming relationship when they meet this weekend on the sidelines of a developing nations’ summit in India. Recent months have seen greater security cooperation between Russia and China as they find common ground against the U.S. The neighboring giants last month held their first joint naval drill in the South China Sea and both have condemned U.S. plans to deploy a U.S. missile shield in South Korea. A Russian general said this week the military was working with China to counter an expansion of U.S. missile defenses, which they see as upsetting the balance between the three nuclear powers.
  • China Builder Debt Risks Rise on Double-Blow From Regulators. China’s developers are reeling from a double blow of cooling measures on home sales and curbs on their access to the bond market. At least 21 cities have introduced purchase restrictions and toughened mortgage lending limits since late September, while people familiar with the matter said last month that the Shanghai Stock Exchange is considering barring builders rated below AA from selling exchange-traded notes. The average yield on Asian dollar-denominated high-yield notes, most of which are from Chinese developers, has jumped to a more than three-week high of 6.4 percent, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s indexes.
  • Singapore’s Economy Contracts Annualized 4.1% in Third Quarter. Singapore’s economy contracted in the third quarter from the previous three months, according to an advanced estimate from the government, more signs that the Southeast Asian financial and trading hub is struggling in the face of a global slowdown. Gross domestic product fell an annualized 4.1 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis, compared with a revised 0.2 percent expansion in the second quarter, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a statement Friday.
  • Turkish Lira Weakens to Record as Rising Fed Bets Add to Risks. Turkey’s lira depreciated to an all-time low and its stock and bond markets sold off as expectations the U.S. will raise interest rates this year added to concern about the nation’s economic outlook. The currency lost as much as 0.8 percent per dollar to record 3.1131, before trimming losses to 0.2 percent as of 4:28 p.m. in Istanbul. The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index headed for the longest losing streak in three months and the yield on the government’s 10-year bonds exceeded 10 percent for the first time since July.
  • Asian Stocks Set for Weekly Decline Before China Inflation Data. Asian stocks headed for their biggest weekly loss in four as investors waited for Chinese inflation data after disappointing export figures. Thailand’s market will be closely watched following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.1 percent to 137.81 as of 9 a.m. in Tokyo, taking its loss this week to 2 percent, amid more than a six in ten chance of a U.S. interest-rate increase before year-end. After digesting the export data that missed estimates, eyes are on consumer and producer prices to be released later on Friday.
  • Oil Rebound’s Dirty Little Secret Threatens U.S. Gas Bulls. One of the biggest threats to an extended rally in U.S. natural gas prices is lurking in the oil patch. Gas production in most of the country has dropped amid cost-cutting. Not so in the Permian Basin, the nation’s biggest crude reservoir and one of the few places where drilling has remained profitable. Permian drillers led by Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. are pumping more oil as prices rise, pushing natural gas extracted as a byproduct from the West Texas play to almost 7 billion cubic feet a day, Bloomberg Intelligence data show. That’s about 8 percent of U.S. supply.
Wall Street Journal:
  • The Press Buries Hillary Clinton’s Sins. As reporters focus on Trump, they miss new details on Clinton’s rotten record. If average voters turned on the TV for five minutes this week, chances are they know that Donald Trump made lewd remarks a decade ago and now stands accused of groping women. 
CNBC:
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
Nikkei Asian Review:
  • Peer-to-peer lending inflates China property bubble. The rapid growth of online lending is contributing to China's surging housing prices, giving borrowers a way around government efforts to control a potentially dangerous bubble. Borrowing for real estate investment through online platforms totaled 125.6 billion yuan ($18.6 billion) this year through August, roughly double the year-earlier figure, data from Chinese research firm Yingcan Zixun shows. Growth likely continued at the same pace in September. This year's total "has definitely reached 140 billion yuan," vice managing director Yu Baicheng said.
Night Trading 
  • Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 113.75 -3.0 basis points. 
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 34.5 +.25 basis point.
  • Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 72.22 +.03%
  • S&P 500 futures +.06%
  • NASDAQ 100 futures +.08%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate 

  • (C)/1.16
  • (DFRG)/.05
  • (INFY)/15.33
  • (JPM)/1.39
  • (PNC)/1.78
  • (WFC)/1.01
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
  • Retail Sales Advance MoM for September are estimated to rise +.6% versus a -.3% decline in August.
  • Retail Sales Ex Autos MoM for September are estimated to rise +.5% versus a -.1% decline in August.
  • Retail Sales Ex Autos and Gas MoM for September is estimated to rise +.3% versus a -.1% decline in August. 
  • PPI Final Demand MoM for September is estimated to rise +.2% versus unch. in August.
  • PPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for September is estimated to rise +.1% versus a +.1% gain in August.  
10:00 am EST
  • Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Sentiment for October is estimated to rise to 91.9 versus 91.2 in September.
Upcoming Splits 
  • None of note
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Fed's Yellen speaking, Fed's Rosengren speaking, Eurozone retail sales report and the (SAFM) investor conference could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by consumer and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.

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