Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:       

• Japan’s Economy Rebounds as Business Spending Beats Expectations.  

• Asia's $184 Billion Debt Wall to Spark Buybacks, Bond Swaps.

• Hedge Funds Are Shorting Australian Retailers as Home Prices Fall

• Trump Pushes Medicare Doctors to Rein In Costs or Face Penalties.  

• Markets in U.S. Are Defying the Tumult Convulsing Rest of World. 

• Asian Stocks Edge Lower; Dollar Holds Advance: Markets Wrap. Stocks slipped in Asia after the dollar climbed and Treasuries rose, with investors assessing the impact of the latest tit-for-tat in the trade war as well as sanctions on Russia that hit the ruble. Equities declined in Japan and South Korea, while Australian shares were little changed. Futures signaled modest gains for stocks when trading begins in China and Hong Kong. The dollar kept its advance against its G-10 counterparts and Treasury yields held losses as investors sought safe haven assets following American economic data that were generally on the soft side. Japan’s Topix index fell 0.4 percent as of 9:10 a.m. in Tokyo. Futures on the FTSE China A50 Index rose 0.3 percent. Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 0.1 percent.    

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

• Deutsche Quants Go Long U.S. Banks on ETF Misprice, Higher Rates.   

• One Chart on Crisis Anniversary Shows How Market Bulls Won Big.

Wall Street Journal:

• The Democrats’ New Litmus Test: Gun Control.

• Tribune Terminates $3.9 Billion Merger With Rival Sinclair.

• Economists See Growth Hitting 3% in 2018.

• Valuations Are Slipping Even as Stocks Hover Near Records.

• Meet the Chatbots Providing Mental Health Care.

• U.S. Sanctions Put Russia on Edge.

• Hedge Fund Backed by Industry Leaders Closes Its Doors.

Fox News:

• Philly's dancing mayor slammed by DOJ, citing freed illegal immigrants' crimes.

• Home prices rise at the fastest pace in more than four years, defying expectations of a pullback.

CNBC:  

• After-hours buzz: TSLA, OSTK & more.

• Trump's pressure on trade may force China to act faster on reforms, analysts say.

• Moody's says Musk's plan to take Tesla private could hurt its credit rating.

• US-China trade war doesn't change the bull case for oil, Goldman's commodity chief says.
  

• Growth stocks rebound after big sell-off, could signal more gains for broader market. 

• Top auto supplier Magna takes $60 million hit from tariffs, but CEO still sees 'huge' opportunity.

Zero Hedge:  

• Dianne Feinstein Was An "Easy Mark" For China's Spy: Sperry.

• Tesla Board Confirms It Never Saw LBO "Financing Plan" From Musk.

• Tesla Tumbles As Broader SEC Inquiry Revealed.

• "Revolutionary" Professors Allow Students To Pick Their Own Grades.

• Watch Antifa Storm Portland City Hall, Smash Security Guard In Head.

• New Report Says Philadelphia Leads US In Wage Growth.

• The Swiss National Bank Now Owns $87.5 Billion In US Stocks After Q2 Tech Buying Spree.

• Bonds & Bitcoin Bid As Musk Massacred, Russia Routed, & Turkey Trampled.

Business Insider:

• Support for a People's Vote on Brexit surges as no deal risk grows.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.75% to unch. on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 80.0 +.75 basis point. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 10.25 unch.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 68.21 -.07%.

• FTSE 100 futures -.09%

• S&P 500 futures -.17%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.22%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• (AIT)/1.00

• (MDP)/.73

• (RUTH)/.30

After the Close:

• None of note

Economic Releases 
8:30 am EST

• The CPI MoM for July is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.1% gain in June.

• The CPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for July is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.2% gain in June.

• Real Avg Hourly Earnings YoY for July.

2:00 pm EST

• The Monthly Budget Statement for July is estimated at -$76.0B versus -$42.9B in June.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The UK Industrial Production report and the WasDe Crop report could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by technology and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.