Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Trump Heads to Seoul, Bringing Him Near to Kim Jong Un’s Doorstep. (video) President Donald Trump departed Tokyo on Tuesday morning for a two-day visit to South Korea, bringing him near North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on a stop that will also feature talks on a trade deal he says hurts U.S. workers. The second leg of his five-nation Asia trip includes a visit with U.S. troops, a joint press briefing with President Moon Jae-in and an address to South Korea’s parliament. In contrast to Trump’s warm relationship with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his dealings with Moon got off to rocky start due to differences over trade and dialogue with North Korea.

• Asia Stocks Trade at Decade High as Oil Holds Gain. Equities rallied from Japan -- where earnings have propelled the Nikkei 225 Stock Average to near its highest level since 1992 -- to Sydney and Hong Kong, after a muted gain in the S&P 500 Index overnight. The kiwi advanced after New Zealand’s new, left-of-center government kept the central bank’s existing target for the pace of inflation. Australia’s dollar was flat ahead of a policy meeting where the central bank is expected to keep interest rates at record lows. A political power play in Saudi Arabia contributed to oil climbing to its highest in more than two years. The Topix index rose 0.4 percent as of 10:46 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.7 percent.
  South Korea’s Kospi index was little changed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.9 percent.

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

Wall Street Journal:

• Broadcom(BRCM) Bid Marks Upheaval in Chip Industry. The California-based chip maker offered made an unsolicited $105 billion takeover bid for Qualcomm(QCOM).

MarketWatch.com:

• Micron Technology(MU) and Starbucks(SBUX) are among 20 companies that are a better value today than a year ago.

Fox News:

• Texas church shooter reportedly fractured stepson's skull on purpose. (video)

CNBC:

• The US has regained Middle East influence thanks to Trump, says Egyptian president.

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: TRIP, PCLN & more.

• PayPal(PYPL) CEO: Fintech will change more in the next 5 years than it has in the last 30. (video)

• Salesforce(CRM) CEO Marc Benioff announces deeper tie-up with Google(GOOGL).

• Top House tax writer Kevin Brady says he's effectively closing the loophole for hedge funds. (video)

Zero Hedge:

• First Comey Memo Concluded Hillary Was "Grossly Negligent," Punishable By Jail.

• On The Verge Of Catastrophe: Saudi Arabia Says Lebanon Declared War.

• These Are The Two Heroes Who Stopped Texas Church Shooter Devin Patrick Kelley.

• Intel Committee Demands Fusion GPS Bank Records; Suspects Journalists Paid To Spread "Russian Collusion" Claims.

• Making Sense Of Saudi's 'Game Of Thobes'.

• Second Saudi Prince Confirmed Killed During Crackdown.

• Trump Defends Saudi Actions: "Some Have Been Milking Their Country For Years".

• Trump Says Trade With Japan Is Not Fair And Not Open - Awkward Moments Ensue.

• Saudi Arabia Is About To Confiscate $33 Billion From Four Of Its Richest People.

Business Insider: 

• Bill Clinton says the media was 'straighter' when he ran in 1992.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are unch. to +.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 75.0 +1.25 basis points. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 15.25 +.5 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 72.79 +.02%.

• S&P 500 futures +.02%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.08%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (AAWW)/1.16

• (CBOE)/.88

• (DF)/.21

• (EMR)/.80

• (EXPD)/.60

• (HAE)/.41

• (HAIN)/.23

• (MZOR)/-.11

• (RCL)/3.40

• (SMG)/-.29

• (SINA)/.74

• (VRX)/.90

• (WB)/.63

• (AGU)/-.05

• (AAOI)/1.02

• (COHR)/3.45

• (FOSL)/-.25

• (JAZZ)/2.89

• (MAR)/.99

• (MYGN)/.21

• (PHH)/-.72

• (ZG)/.17

Economic Releases 

10:00 am EST

• JOLTS Job Openings for Sept. are estimated to fall to 6050 versus 6082 in August.

3:00 pm EST

• Consumer Credit for Sept. is estimated to rise to $17.750B versus $13.065B in August.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Eurozone Retail Sales report, $42B 3Y T-Note auction, weekly US retail sales reports, Baird Industrial Conference, Stephens Fall Investment Conference, Wells Fargo Tech/Media/Telecom Conference and the RBC Tech/(PSMT) monthly sales report 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.