Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• Trump Says U.S. Now Has the Upper Hand on China in Tariff Battle.  

• Why China Stepped in to Support the Yuan.  

• Saudi Arabia Suspends Diplomatic, Trade Ties With Canada.

• Venezuelan President Maduro Is Unharmed After Apparent Attack. 

• U.K.’s Fox Says Brexit No-Deal Outcome Is More Likely Than Not. 

• Musk Tweets Video Parody of Hitler `Shorting Tesla(TSLA) Stock'. Yuan Steadies After PBOC, Asia Stocks Set to Gain. The yuan held on to its gains after a surprise move by the central bank to make it more expensive to bet against the currency triggered a rally in China’s currency. Asian stocks pointed to a small advance as earnings seasons rolls on. The offshore yuan maintained Friday’s gains when the People’s Bank of China announced a rule tweak in a bid to ease pressure on the yuan. Equity futures signaled a higher open for markets in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia ahead of results from regional heavyweights HSBC Holdings Plc and Softbank Group Corp. U.S. shares rose Friday, when the yield on 10-year Treasuries slipped to 2.95 percent. The Canadian dollar declined after Saudi Arabia froze all trade and investments with Canada. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 were up 0.3 percent in Singapore. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.3 percent. Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.7 percent. FTSE China A50 futures climbed 0.8 percent.  

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

Wall Street Journal:   

• Traders Are Talking Up Cryptocurrencies, Then Dumping Them, Costing Others Millions.

• U.S. Officials Push New Penalties for Hackers of Grid.

• Making America Work Again.

• Profits Surge at Big U.S. Firms.

• Unions’ Fees Take a Hit After Decision From Supreme Court.

• Goldman Sachs to Name New Trading Co-Head Amid Reboot.

• Cryptocurrency Schemes Generate Big Coin.

• Iranians Hoard Gold Ahead of U.S. Sanctions.

• Venezuela Attack Raises Crackdown Fears.

MarketWatch.com:

• Apple stock’s next milestone is $250 as the company makes a crucial transition.

Fox News:

• Hammer, rocks among ‘weapons’ seized as protests trigger at least 17 arrests.

CNBC:

• The White House's 'worst nightmare': Midterm win would unleash Democrats eager to investigate Trump. 

• Wall Street angst is overdone but keep your 'seat belt fastened', a top market watcher says.

• Here are 10 fast-growing jobs for would-be entrepreneurs.

• White House is not ruling out slapping auto tariffs on Canada, an official says.

• US space companies are crossing the Atlantic, bringing rocket launches to the UK for the first time. 

• Airports find a new source of revenue: Attaching hotels to terminals.

• UK trade minister says ‘no deal’ Brexit more likely than not.

Zero Hedge:              

• China Is Now Left With Just Three Options, And They Are All Equally Bad.

• Black Chicagoans Blast "Con Man" Mayor Emanuel Amid Record Shooting Spree, Ask Trump For Help.

• Iranian Navy Holds Drills In Persian Gulf After Threats To Block Strait Of Hormuz.

• Safe-Havens Are For Suckers: Specs Have Never Been More Short Bonds & Gold.

• Twitter Suspends Black Conservative For Changing NYT Bigot's Tweets From "White" To "Jewish" And "Black".

• Venezuela's Maduro Targeted In Assassination Attempt Using Explosive Drones.

• In Angry Tweetstorm Trump Escalates Attack On Media: "They Can Also Cause War", Claims US Winning Trade War With China.

• "Civil Disturbance" Declared After Portland Riot Cops Use Flash Grenades On Antifa.

• Facebook's Attention Machine, Explained.

• Streaming TV Doubles During Second Quarter, Report Says.
  

Night Trading

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 83.0 +.75 basis point.

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 10.75 -.25 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 69.47 unch.

• FTSE 100 futures +.12%

• S&P 500 futures +.04%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.07%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• (CAH)/.93

• (JEC)/1.21

• (NWL)/.78

• (BID)/1.55

• (TSN)/1.36

After the Close:

• (BRKS)/.43

• (HTZ)/-.25

• (LGND)/2.38

• (MTW)/.24

• (MAR)/1.38

• (MOS)/.38

• (OSTK)/-.82

• (THC)/.23

• (WTW)/.88

• (ZG)/.10

Economic Releases

• None of note

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The German Factory Orders report, Iran sanctions taking hold and (FAST) June sales report could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are modestly 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.