Thursday, January 11, 2018

Friday Watch

Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
  • PC Shipments Rise for the First Holiday Quarter in Six Years. Demand for personal-computers rose over the holiday season for the first time in six years, buoyed by commercial upgrades and pockets of improving consumer demand. Although shipments declined slightly overall in 2017, it still marked the most stable year the market has seen since 2011, IDC said in a report Thursday.
  • Asia Stocks Are Mixed as Euro Gains, Bonds Steady. Equities rose in Sydney and were flat in Seoul, while a stronger yen weighed on Japanese stocks. The euro was boosted by signals from the European Central Bank the economy may be strong enough to warrant scaling back crisis-era guidance on stimulus. The ECB release was the latest in a series of communications from central banks that have started waking currency markets up from a low-volatility stupor. Treasuries steadied after a sell-off sparked by rising concerns on inflation and potential rollback of purchases by China. Japan’s Topix index fell 0.4 percent as of 9:40 a.m. in Tokyo. 7-Eleven store owner Seven & I Holdings declined with FamilyMart UNY Holdings Co. after reporting results. Fast Retailing surged 4.6 percent after profit topped estimates. Futures on the S&P 500 were little changed after the underlying gauge rose 0.7 percent Thursday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.2 percent and South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.1 percent. Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.3 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed, up almost 4 percent since the year began.
Wall Street Journal:
MarketWatch.com
CNBC:
Business Insider:
Night Trading 
  • Asian equity indices are unch. to +.5% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 60.0 unch
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 10.5 unch.
  • Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 75.24 +.10%.
  • S&P 500 futures -.05%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures -.06%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

  • (BLK)/6.02
  • (JPM)/1.69
  • (PNC)/2.20
  • (WFC)/1.02
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
  • The CPI MoM for December is estimated to rise +.1% versus a +.4% gain in November. 
  • The CPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for December is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.1% gain in November.
  • Retail Sales Advance MoM for December are estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.8% gain in November.
  • Retail Sales Ex Autos MoM for December are estimated to rise +.3% versus a +1.0% gain in November.
  • Retail Sales Ex Autos and Gas for December are estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.8% gain in November.
  • Real Avg. Hourly Earnings for December.
10:00 am EST
  • Business Inventories for November are estimated to rise +.4% versus a -.1% decline in October.
Upcoming Splits
  • None of note
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The China Imports/Exports report, WasDe Crop report and the North American Intl Auto Show could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are higher, boosted by technology and industrial 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.

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