Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:   

• Giuliani Leans Against Trump Walking Into Mueller's `Trap'.  

• U.S. Crude Edges Toward $70 as Traders Brace for Iran Decision.

• Asian Stocks Mixed at Open; Dollar Pares Gains: Markets Wrap. Equity benchmarks in Japan fluctuated and gained in Australia. Hong Kong futures climbed alongside S&P 500 Index futures. The MSCI Asia Pacific declined for a second consecutive week last week. Oil hovered closer to $70 a barrel as traders braced for a re-imposition of some U.S. sanctions on Iran. Treasuries were little changed. Topix index fell 0.1 percent as of 9:09 a.m. in Tokyo. S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7 percent. Hang Seng Index futures gained 0.7 percent. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent.

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

Wall Street Journal:

• Mueller Probe Might Have to Go Dark for Midterm Elections. 

• Trump Lawyers Take Aggressive Stance on Mueller Investigation.

• Privacy Is Dead. Here’s What Comes Next.

• Unemployment Plunge Raises Stakes in Fed’s Goldilocks Conundrum.

• Companies Trying to Deal With Discrimination Face Backlash.

• State Budgets Get Lift From Economy, Tax Bill.

• Solving the Riddle of the Eurozone’s Missing Inflation—in 11 Charts.

• Labor Strikes and Worker Protests Erupt Across Iran: ‘This is Slavery’.

• Why Fund Managers, Accountants May Rest Easier This Weekend.

• Chinese Telecom Seeks Reprieve From U.S. Ban on Parts Sales.

• Scientists in China Race to Edit Crop Genes, Sowing Unease in U.S.

• Saudis Move to Push Oil Prices Higher, in Break From Past Policy.

Fox News:

• Ailing senator asks Obama, Bush to speak at his funeral, wants Pence to attend but not Trump.

• Devin Nunes: AG Jeff Sessions should be held in contempt of Congress.

CNBC:

• Tech's momentum could continue as Buffett buy helps give Apple its best week since 2011.

• How to block the annoying robocalls that you keep getting.

• US-China trade talks end with strong demands, but few signs of a deal.

• Wall Street's first analyst to cover bitcoin is now urging caution on the cryptocurrency.

• ‘I'm not a real positive guy, but I’m starting to turn more positive’ on stocks: Wells Fargo’s Chris Harvey. (video)

Zero Hedge:

• Happy Birthday Karl: Top 10 Goals Of Marx' Manifesto Accomplished In America.

• Social Media, Not Religion, Is The Opium Of The People.

• FBI Refuses To Pursue Personal Strzok-Page Texts; Grassley Goes Nuclear.

• "That Link Has Been Broken": Morgan Stanley Makes A Stunning Claim About China's Credit Impulse.

• 2018: When Orwell's '1984' Stopped Being Fiction.

• Watch Drone Taxi "SureFly" Lift Off In Its First Manned Flight.

• "Real Socialism" Has Indeed Been Tried... And It's Been A Disaster.

• Iran Warns Trump Of "Historic Regret" If US Withdraws From Nuclear Deal, Has "Plan To Counter Any Decision".

Business Insider:

• Giuliani: Trump could plead the 5th in the Russia investigation.

• Psychedelic drugs appear to fundamentally reorganize the brain — and they're starting to turn into approved treatments.

• The smallest oil producer in the Gulf needs a ridiculously high oil price to break even.

• A hidden gauge of the jobs market is approaching historic lows — and it reveals the most underrated story of the US economy.

Night Trading

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 75.25 -1.5 basis points.

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 12.5 +.25 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 72.62 +.03%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.84%.

• S&P 500 futures +.13%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.34%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

• (CTSH)/1.06

• (GCI)/.03

• (LPX)/.69

• (PETS)/.47

• (SYY)/.63

• (TSN)/1.31

• (CENT)/.84

• (HTZ)/-1.27

• (MOS)/.27

• (MYGN)/.27

• (ZG)/.06

Economic Releases
3:00 pm EST

• Consumer Credit for March is estimated to rise to $16.0B versus $10.601B in February.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Evans speaking, Fed's Barkin speaking, Fed's Kaplan speaking, NAFTA talks in Washington, China Foreign Reserves report, German Retail Sales report, Morgan Stanley Energy Conference and the (PSMT) monthly sales report could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and commodity 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.