Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Trump's Iran Threats Pull From Playbook He Used for North Korea.

• China Hedge Funds Trigger Investor Unease With June Implosion.

• Asia Stocks Set to Gain; U.S. Yields Eye 3% Again. Futures tipped Asian stocks to open higher, with strong Alphabet Inc. sales potentially boosting technology shares and rising yields boosting financials. Ten-year Treasuries slipped, pushing yields to the highest in more than a month. Equity index futures rose in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. Even so, gains may be kept in check as U.S. futures opened lower in Asia. The S&P 500 Index started the week higher, with financials leading the gainers amid below-average trading volume. Amazon.com pulled consumer discretionary stocks lower after President Donald Trump renewed his public campaign against Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post. Alphabet shares were 3.7 percent higher in after-market trading. Futures on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.2 percent in Singapore. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures rose 0.2 percent. S&P 500 Index futures were little changed as of 7:09 a.m. in Tokyo. 

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

• Oil Demand Outlook Clouded by Emerging Economies’ Currency Pain.

• Case for a Steeper U.S. Curve Gets a Boost From BOJ Speculation.

Wall Street Journal:

• Church Becomes Target in Nicaragua Crisis.

• Trump Escalates Exchange of Taunts With Iran.

• EU Counts on Top Official to Try to Calm U.S. Trade Fight.

• Cooperman to Turn Omega Fund Into Family Office.

• Central Bank Chatter Rattles Bond Market.

• Las Vegas Shooting Victims Speak Out Against MGM Lawsuit Against Them.

MarketWatch.com:

• This selloff in U.S. government debt will prove short-lived, Morgan Stanley says.

• Activist investor Loeb calls this the ‘single most important factor to follow’ for the stock market.

Fox News:

• Authorities say Faisal Hussain behind shooting that killed 2, injured 13 others.

• Manafort trial could reveal embarrassing details about Dem consultants.

CNBC:

• Nike is about to give 7,000 employees raises.

• Tech stocks rise to record before big earnings.

• Whirlpool falls more than 9% after earnings miss.

• After-hours buzz: GOOGL, WHR & more. 

• Google(GOOGL) is mulling a new market for Nest smart home products: seniors.

Zero Hedge:   

• We "Displaced The Political Establishment", Mexico's Leftist Leader Tells Trump.

• Trump May Revoke Security Clearance For Brennan, Clapper, Comey, McCabe, & Rice.

• Toronto Mass Shooter Identified As 29-Year-Old Faisal Hussain.

• "She Is 14 But Looks Older": Sweden Launches "Migrant Sex Courses" To Teach Newcomers How To Behave.

• Google Soars After Smashing Expectations; Nasdaq Jumps.

• Japanese Jawboning Sparks Global Bond Rout; Stocks, Dollar Unimpressed.

Business Insider:

• Furious moms unleash on Target(TGT) and Walmart(WMT) over 'hooker style' shorts for kids.

Night Trading 

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 85.75 -.75 basis point. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 12.75 -.25 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 69.61 -.02%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.22%

• S&P 500 futures +.11%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.05%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• (MMM)/2.60

• (BIIB)/5.09

• (LLY)/1.30

• (HOG)/1.43

• (JBLU)/.36

• (KMB)/1.57

• (LMT)/3.92

• (PCAR)/1.43

• (BTU)/1.07

• (DGX)/1.76

• (SHW)/5.64

• (UTX)/1.86

• (VZ)/1.15

• (WAT)/1.92

After the Close:

• (T)/.89

• (CB)/2.62

• (IEX)/1.31

• (IRBT)/.21

• (RHI)/.86

• (SYK)/1.73

• (TER)/.49

• (TXN)/1.35

Economic Releases 
9:00 am EST

• The FHFA House Price Index MoM for May is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.1% gain in April.

9:45 am EST

• Preliminary Markit US Manufacturing PMI for July is estimated to fall to 55.1 versus 55.4 in June.

• Preliminary Markit US Services PMI for July is estimated to fall to 56.3 versus 56.5 in June.

10:00 am EST

• The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for July is estimated to fall to 18.0 versus 20.0 in June.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Eurozone Manufacturing PMI report, $35B 2Y T-Note auction and the weekly US retail sales reports could also impact trading today.

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