Sunday, February 25, 2018

Monday Watch

Posted by Gary .....at 9:57 PM
Today's Headlines
Bloomberg:
  • Asia Stock Rally Builds as Yen Slips, Bonds Steady. Stocks advanced in Japan, Australia and South Korea and futures on the S&P 500 Index nudged higher following a solid U.S. session on Friday. Powell will speak before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday and the Senate Banking Committee two days later to give his Humphrey-Hawkins testimony. The yen retreated ahead of a barrage of upcoming data that may provide clues on Japan’s recovering economy. Japan’s Topix index climbed 0.8 percent as of 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.5 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 0.3 percent. Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.3 percent. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent.
  • Libya Oil Field Halt Slows Exports, Sending Crude Prices Rising. Libya’s oil exports from the Mellitah terminal will be “modified” after protests disrupted production at the key El-Feel deposit for the first time in two months, putting the OPEC nation’s crude production at risk of a decline again. Crude loadings at Mellitah, the export terminal for El-Feel, will be “modified” after force majeure was declared on deliveries from the deposit on Feb. 23, the state-run National Oil Corp. said in a document obtained by Bloomberg. NOC said Saturday guards at the field were protesting over pay and other benefits. Force majeure is a legal clause protecting a party from liability if it can’t fulfill a contract for reasons beyond its control.
  • Bond Traders Step Back From 3% to Watch Powell Navigate Fedspeak. Bond traders came the closest in four years to a 3 percent yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Whether it breaches that level may be determined by how new Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell handles the limelight. Powell, who took over from Janet Yellen this month, will speak before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday and the Senate Banking Committee two days later, in what’s known as the Humphrey-Hawkins testimony. It’ll be the first time since Powell was sworn in that bond traders get a chance to parse every word from the new Fed leader, as they did with his predecessors.
Wall Street Journal:
Night Trading
  • Asian indices are +.25% to +.75% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 69.0 -1.25 basis points.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 12.75 unch.
  • Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 75.81 +.13%. 
  • FTSE 100 futures +.42%.
  • S&P 500 futures -.05%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures -.14%.

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
  • (AWI)/.68
  • (BCC)/.31
  • (CPRT)/.39
  • (CLVS)/-1.29
  • (ESV)/-.27
  • (SBAC)/1.61
  • (THC)/1.28
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
  • The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for January is estimated to fall to .25 versus .27 in December.
10:00 am EST
  • New Home Sales for January is estimated to rise to 650K versus 625K in December.
10:30 am EST
  • The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Index for February is estimated to fall to 30.0 versus 33.4 in January.
Upcoming Splits
  • (BF/A) 5-for-4
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Fed's Bullard speaking, BoJ bond purchases, Mobile World Congress, Morgan Stanley Tech/Media/Telecom Conference, JPMorgan High Yield Conference, (CREE) investor day, BofA Merrill Animal Health Summit and the (FTNT) analyst day could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly 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 week.

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