Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Kia Unveils Plan for 16 New Electric or Hybrid Vehicles by 2025.

• Samsung Profit Misses Estimates as Stronger Won Hits Sales.

• Asia Stocks Build on Gains as Japan Traders Return. (video) Asian equities built on the best start to a year since 2006 as Japanese traders returned from a holiday following new all-time highs for U.S. shares. The dollar maintained gains and oil rose above $62 a barrel. Shares in Tokyo and Sydney rose as the S&P 500 Index eked out a fresh closing high, while declines at Samsung Electronics Co. in wake of its profit announcement weighed on South Korea’s equity index. Earnings will continue to be a focus as the week goes on, with financial firms including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. on the schedule. The dollar’s softness last year may reverberate for some, as it did negatively for Samsung. Japan’s Topix index rose 0.6 percent as of 9:10 a.m. in Tokyo. Futures on the S&P 500 Index were flat after the underlying gauge rose 0.2 percent Monday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.2 percent and is up 3.7 percent since the year began. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.2 percent and South Korea’s Kospi was little changed. Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.1 percent.

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

Wall Street Journal:

• Huawei, Long Seen as Spy Threat, Rolled Over U.S. Road Bumps. Chinese telecom giant has gobbled up huge global market share; now Washington is warning anew about alleged spy threat as U.S. telecoms embark on $275 billion 5G network build-out.

• Apple(AAPL) Defends Its Smartphone Practices for Children After Investor Critique. Company says it has been offering parental controls since as early as 2008.

• A Crypto Website Changes Its Data, and $100 Billion in Market Value Vanishes. Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP fall sharply after Coinmarketcap.com removes data from some South Korean exchanges.

CNBC:

• Buy Apple(AAPL) because it could acquire more than $120 billion of its stock in two years, UBS says.

Zero Hedge:

• A Curious Thing Happened When Ontario Hiked Minimum Wages By Over 20%.

• New Department Of Labor Report Reveals Rampant Embezzlement By Union Employees Around U.S.

• Mueller Set To Interview Trump "Soon".

• WikiLeaks: John Podesta Was Briefed On "Gross Negligence" Before FBI Removed Phrase From Clinton Exoneration.

• Fired Engineer Damore Sues Google For Discrimination Against White Male Conservatives.

• CEO Of Porn-Focused Cryptocurrency Disappears With Investors' Money.

• Credit Card Debt Hits All Time High As Consumers Unleash Historic Shopping Spree. (graph)

• Ripple Rebounds After Rout As S&P Gains 'Guarantee' 2018 Up-Year For Stocks. (graph)

Forbes:

• Illumina(ILMN) Unveils $20,000 Desktop Sequencer Aimed At Sequencing Germs.

Night Trading 

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 61.0 -1.75 basis points. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 11.0 -.5 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 74.94 unch.

• S&P 500 futures +.01%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.04%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (AYI)/2.09

• (AZZ)/.58

• (SCHN)/.61

• (EXFO)/.05

• (VOXX)/.14

• (WDFC)/.84

Economic Releases

6:00 am EST

• The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for December is estimated at 107.5 versus 107.5 in November.

10:00 am EST

• The JOLTS Job Openings report for November is estimated to rise to 6025 versus 5996 in October.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Eurozone Trade Balance report, $24B 3Y T-Note auction, weekly US retail sales reports, JPMorgan CES Tech Forum and the Goldman Energy Conference 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.