Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:       

• What Happened in the World Economy This Week and What It Means.  

• Shorting China Stocks From New York Could Get Easier.

• Asian Stocks Open Higher as U.S. Prices Reassure: Markets Wrap. Asian stocks opened higher after their U.S. counterparts rallied amid relief the latest reading on American inflation suggested less need for the Federal Reserve to accelerate monetary tightening. The dollar steadied after dropping the most since March. Equity benchmarks advanced in Japan and South Korea, and futures on Hong Kong shares rose before the open there. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is heading for its best week since March thanks to easing investor concern that higher U.S. yields and a stronger dollar would spur broad contagion. Ten-year Treasury yields dropped further below 3 percent after the consumer-price report showed a smaller gain in prices than forecast for April. Malaysian assets trading offshore began to stabilize after the shock election win for the opposition. Japan’s Topix index rose 0.6 percent as of 9:21 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3 percent. Hang Seng futures rose 0.9 percent. Futures on the S&P 500 were little changed after the underlying gauge closed up 0.9 percent. The Kospi advanced 0.5 percent.

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

• Nvidia(NVDA) Reveals Crypto Sales for First Time and Predicts Big Drop. 

• Four Things to Look for in Trump's Drug Pricing Speech Friday.

• Amazon(AMZN) Stops Buying Prized Shopping Ads on Google(GOOGL).

Wall Street Journal:

• North Korea-Trump Summit Set for June in Singapore as Detainees Return.

• U.S. Raises Pressure on Iran, Targeting Currency Exchange.

• Record Buybacks Help Steady Wobbly Stock Market.

• Goldman Sachs, Apple Team Up on New Credit Card.

• U.S. Stocks Climb as Inflation Fears, Volatility Ebb.

• Program Allowing Foreign Students to Work in U.S. Has Grown Rapidly.

MarketWatch.com:

• Here’s why the stock market has its swagger back — at least for now.

• Nvidia’s(NVDA) stock eases back from record high following big earnings beat, strong outlook.  

• Red-hot chip stocks are actually getting cheaper as their prices rise.

Fox News:

• Democrat states lead charge to dump Electoral College, back popular vote.

CNBC: 

• Alphabet(GOOGL) is considering investing in Flipkart alongside Walmart(WMT) — insiders explain why.

• Symantec(SYMC) plunges 20 percent after it reveals internal investigation by board's audit committee.

• JP Morgan(JPM) revamps its stock trading business in a sign of the changes sweeping through Wall Street.

• After-hours buzz: DBX, NVDA, SYMC & more.

• Supplier fire isn't just hurting Ford, supply issues are rippling across auto industry.

• Oil prices risk spiking to $100 a barrel next year, Bank of America analysts say.

• Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross: I think China 'agreed to the concept' of reducing the trade deficit.

• Dropbox(BOX) falls despite beating on every count.

Zero Hedge:   

• Avenatti Exposed: Stormy's Lawyer May Face Disbarrment, Legal Action As Past Catches Up.

• Cryptos Crash After Nvidia Forecasts Big Drop In Mining Demand.

• China "Regrets" Trump's Decision, Vows To Protect Iran Nuclear Deal.

• Students "Deeply Hurt" By Criticism Of Liberal Intolerance.

• Gas Price Tops $4 In California For First Time Since July 2014.

• US Posts Biggest Budget Surplus In History.

• Five "Most Wanted" ISIS Leaders Captured, Trapped Using Smartphone App.

• Stocks Jump For 6th Straight Day As Dollar, Yield Curve Dump.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are +.25% to +1.0% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 75.50 -2.0 basis points. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 12.5 -.5 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 72.61 +.04%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.05%.

• S&P 500 futures +.03%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.07%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (TRI)/.65

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• The Import Price Index MoM for April is estimated to rise +.5% versus unch. in March.

• The Export Price Index MoM for April is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.3% gain in March.

 10:00 am EST

• Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Sentiment Index for May is estimated to fall to 98.3 versus 98.8 in April.
  

Upcoming Splits

• (HLF) 2-for-1

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Australia Home Loans report and the (CTB) investor day 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 modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly mixed.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.