Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Asian Equities Dip as Cheer Ebbs Over U.S. Tax Cut. (video) Benchmark gauges in Sydney, Tokyo and Hong Kong dipped after the S&P 500 Index gave back a rally of as much as 0.4 percent to close down for the session in New York. Treasuries continued to slide Wednesday, led by the long-end, with 10-year yields breaching 2.5 percent for the first time since March. The euro is within a cent of its high for the month. Japan’s Topix Index fell 0.2 percent as of 10:35 a.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 0.4 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.2 percent, and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4 percent. Futures on the S&P 500 Index were little changed after the underlying gauge slid 0.1 percent to 2,679.25 Wednesday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.2 percent.

• Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day.

• House Republican Leaders Push Bare-Bones Temporary Funding. Republican leaders in the House are pushing lawmakers to pass a bare-bones stopgap funding plan that would avert a government shutdown on Saturday and force the Senate to abandon attempts to add provisions on health care and other issues.

• Top Weedkiller Found in Some ‘Natural’ Bigelow Tea, Lawsuit Says.

Wall Street Journal:

• Sweeping Tax Bill Heads to Trump But Uncertain When He Will Sign. Congressional Republicans score big legislative win with passage of $1.5 trillion tax cut.

• GOP Tax Plan: Live Coverage.

• Tables Turned: Saudi Arabia Hunts for Oil Assets in the U.S. Aramco has held initial talks with Tellurian, other U.S. producers about energy assets.

• Trump Threatens Countries That Oppose His Decision on Jerusalem. U.S. president suggests he will cut aid to nations voting at U.N. for reversal of Washington’s declaration on Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

MarketWatch.com:

• 10 things you need to know about the new tax law.

• This dominatrix makes men mine cryptocurrency for her — and she now has over $1 million.

Fox News:

• McCabe draws blank on Democrats’ funding of Trump dossier, new subpoenas planned. (video)

CNBC:

• Wells Fargo(WFC), Fifth Third Bancorp(FITB) unveil minimum wage hikes after tax bill passage.

• AT&T(T) is giving $1,000 bonuses to 200,000 employees after tax bill. (video)

• Trump celebrates tax bill with GOP leaders: 'We are making America great again'.

• Stocks could see another year of double-digit gains, says Credit Suisse. (video)

• Al Franken will resign from the Senate on Jan. 2.

• FedEx(FDX) projects a nearly $1.5 billion earnings boost from tax cut

• The unlikely ‘dogs of the Dow’ picks that could howl in 2018. (video)

• Apple(AAPL) could ring in the New Year with $1 trillion market cap. (video)

• Chipotle(CMG) shares drop on yet another report of possible food safety issues. (video)

Zero Hedge:

• Ex-FBI Assistant Director: Patriots Within The FBI Will Soon Step Forward And Expose The "Cabal".

• Bank Of Japan Leaves Policy Unchanged As Expected - Admits "Inflation Weakening".

• Litecoin Founder Cashes Out, Sells Entire Stake After 9,300% Rally.

• What Bubble? Silicon Valley Homes Going For Nearly $2 Million Over Asking Price.

• Bank of Japan Decision Preview: Here's What Wall Street Expects.

• Rosie O'Donnell Offers GOP Senators $2 Million To Vote Against Tax Bill, Angry Backlash Follows.

• Illinois Lost 1 Resident Every 4.3 Minutes In 2017, Dropped To 6th Most Populous State.

• McCabe Testimony Contained "Numerous Conflicts" With Previous Witnesses; Subpoenas Planned.

• Trump Tax Bill Sparks Worst 2 Days For Stocks & Bonds In 2017. (graph)

Business Insider:

• Congress is going to investigate whether Obama undermined an investigation into a major terror group to secure the Iran deal.

• Companies are rushing to announce special bonuses and pay hikes after the GOP tax plan.

• The amazing changes intermittent fasting does to your body and brain. (video)

Telegraph: 

• Kim Jong-un has nuclear chief executed for test delays and tunnel collapse, according to reports.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.5% to +.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 68.25 -.25 basis point. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 13.25 unch.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 73.78 unch.

• S&P 500 futures +.07%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.05%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (ACN)/1.67

• (APOG)/.96

• (KMX)/.81

• (CAG)/.52

• (FINL)/-.36

• (HOV)/.01

• (LNN)/.36

• (PAYX)/.59

• (CTAS)/1.28

• (NKE)/.40

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• The Philly Fed Business Outlook for December is estimated to fall to 21.0 versus 22.7 in November.

• 3Q GDP is estimated to rise +3.3% versus a prior estimate of a +3.3% gain.

• 3Q Personal Consumption is estimated to rise +2.3% versus a prior estimate of a +2.3% gain.

• 3Q GDP Price Index is estimated to rise +2.1% versus a prior estimate of a 2.1% gain.

• 3Q Core PCE QoQ is estimated to rise +1.4% versus a prior estimate of a +1.4% gain.

• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to rise to 233K versus 225K the prior week.

• Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 1898K versus 1886K prior.

• The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for November is estimated to fall to .5 versus .65 in October.

9:00 am EST

• The FHFA House Price Index MoM for October is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.3% gain in September.
  

10:00 am EST

• The Leading Index for November is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +1.2% gain in October.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The BoJ rate decision, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index and the EIA natural gas inventory report could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by consumer 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.