Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• China Factory Prices Surge Again as Pollution Drive Curbs Output. The producer price index rose 6.9 percent in October from a year earlier, versus a projected 6.6 percent rise in a Bloomberg survey and matching September’s pace. The consumer price index climbed 1.9percent, the statistics bureau said Thursday, exceeding the median forecast of 1.8 percent.

• Asia Stocks Test Record High, Extend Global Rally. (video) Stocks in Asia extended a global rally and are poised for a record high, underpinned by a solid earnings season and modest gains in U.S. shares overnight, with Japan’s equity benchmarks cementing advances to two-decade highs. Tokyo shares have touched their highest in about 25 years this week, supported by earnings, a weakening yen -- the currency is near its lowest since March -- the global equity rally and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s landslide re-election. They continued to outperform regional benchmarks on Thursday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index passed its 2007 peak. All major U.S. equity gauges edged higher, led by the Nasdaq 100 Index. Japan’s Topix index rose 0.9 percent as of 10:55 a.m. in Tokyo, while the Nikkei 225 added 1.3 percent. They are trading at the highest since 1991 and 1992, respectively. South Korea’s Kospi index was little changed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.4 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.6 percent.

• Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day. (video)

• Bipartisan Dodd-Frank Rollback Could Benefit Banks Big and Small. The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee is getting closer to striking a deal on a bipartisan bill to ease financial rules that could have wins for banks both big and small. Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho, the panel’s chairman, is in talks with moderate Democrats including Jon Tester of Montana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana on a plan for rolling back parts of the Dodd-Frank Act. A deal could come as soon as this week, Tester has said.

• Carlos Ghosn Says Car Ownership Is Here to Stay. (video) Personal car ownership isn’t going anywhere, regardless of the rise of Uber Technologies Inc. and ride-sharing, according to the man who may oversee more auto sales than anyone else this year. Global vehicle sales will continue to expand, with alternative forms of mobility making only a marginal impact or actually boosting demand, said Carlos Ghosn, the chairman of the alliance between Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. “A lot of people think this is substitution. It’s not -- it’s addition,” Ghosn said in an interview Wednesday at Bloomberg’s The Year Ahead conference in New York. “The traditional business of building cars and selling cars and owning cars is going to continue.”

Wall Street Journal:

• Trump Says Democrats Will Like Senate Tax Plan More Than House Version. President dialed into meeting of Senate Democrats from Asia trip and may have muddied the issue.

• Republicans Take Stock After Election Losses. Both parties re-examine plans for 2018 House and Senate campaigns following Democratic victories.

• Video Shows Texas Gunman Methodically Killing Church Members. Investigators are reviewing the video; Pence to visit region to attend prayer service and meet with victims and survivors.

• New Skin for 7-Year-Old Boy Marks Advance in Gene Therapy. Researchers transplanted genetically modified skin onto a boy with a life-threatening genetic disorder. The skin now covers approximately 80% of his epidermis.

Fox News:

• Mexico fights to stop Texas from executing convicted murderer, citing treaty.

CNBC:

• Roku(ROKU) shares skyrocket as sales crush Wall Street estimates. (video)

• The drivers behind the 10 top-performing stocks since Trump's election. (video)

• AT&T(T) should just dump CNN and not try to fight the Trump administration.

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: ROKU, FOXA, SQ & more.

• 21st Century Fox earnings: 49 cents, vs expected EPS of 49 cents. (video)

• What's on kids' wish lists? Here are 14 of the hottest toys for the holidays.

Zero Hedge:

• Asian Stocks Surpass 2007 Peak, Hit Record High As Chinese Inflation Comes In Hot.

• Michael Lewis Reveals His New "Big Short".

• Donna Brazile Exposes "The Cult Of Clinton" - She Lost Due To "Arrogance".

• LAPD Launches Investigation Into Hollywood Pedophile Ring After Corey Feldman Files Formal Report. 

• "Delhi Has Become A Gas Chamber" - Apocalyptic Smog Causes Health Concerns For Millions.

• Satellite Images Reveal Saudis May Be Lying How Much Oil They Have In Storage.

• A Look At America's Retail Apocalypse In Charts.

• It Begins: Pension Bailout Bill To Be Introduced This Week.

• Healthcare Spending Now Accounts For Almost One-Fifth Of The Entire US Economy.

• Junk Bonds Dump To 3-Month Lows Amid Longest Curve Flattening Streak In 6 Years. (graph)

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are unch. to +1.0% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 78.0 -.5 basis point. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 15.75 +.25 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 72.44 unch.

• S&P 500 futures +.11%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.12%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (AZN)/1.09

• (GOOS)/.21

• (DDS)/.27

• (DISH)/.61

• (DHI)/.81

• (JCI)/.86

• (KSS)/.72

• (M)/.20

• (MGA)/1.31

• (ODP)/.13

• (SUP)/.31

• (TK)/-.45

• (HTZ)/1.33

• (NWSA)/.02

• (JWN)/.64

• (NVDA)/1.07

• (RDFN)/.12

• (DIS)/1.12

• (ZOES)/.00

Economic Releases 

8:30 am EST

• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to rise to 232K versus 229K the prior week.

• Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 1885K versus 1884K prior.

10:00 am EST

• Wholesale Trade Sales MoM for September is estimated to rise +.9% versus a +1.7% gain in August.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The release of the Senate Tax Reform Bill, China CPI report, 20B 30Y T-Bond auction, WASDE Crop report, Bloomberg Nov. US Economic Survey, Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, Canaccord Medical Tech/Diagnostics Forum, Stifel Growth Conference, (GWR) investor day and the (MDSO) analyst day could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by industrial and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher.  The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.