Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:      

• Trump Accuses China, EU of Currency Manipulation.   

• Trump Vows No Concessions to Erdogan for U.S. Pastor's Release.

• BHP Lifts Dividend to Record as Profit Hits Four-Year High.

• Asia Futures Mixed; Dollar Falls on Trump Remarks. Asian stocks are set for a mixed start amid a muted rise in U.S. equities and a weaker dollar on comments from U.S. President Donald Trump. Futures ticked lower in Japan and Hong Kong, were little changed in Australia and rose in China. The Shanghai Composite Index will be closely watched after its rebound Monday, as state-backed funds were seen buying stocks to stabilize the market. U.S. equities pared gains in the 15 minutes of trading after Reuters reported that Trump said China and Europe manipulate their currencies. Even with the pull back, the S&P 500 Index advanced for a third day to close within 15 points of a record. Trump also hit the dollar with separate comments lamenting the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increases, while Treasuries advanced ahead of a meeting of central bankers later this week. Futures on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.1 percent in Singapore. S&P/ASX 200 Index futures were little changed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures were down 0.2 percent. CSI 300 Index futures rose 1 percent. Futures on the S&P 500 Index ticked less than 0.1 percent lower as of 7:02 a.m in Tokyo.  

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

• Trump Pans Powell, China Data Doubts, Venezuela's Chaos: Eco Day.

• Apple(AAPL) Is Planning a New Low-Cost MacBook, Pro-Focused Mac Mini.

Wall Street Journal:

• U.S. Moves Toward New Tariffs on China Despite Trade Talks.

• The Exercise That Helps Mental Health Most.

• China’s Museums Rewrite History to Boost Xi. 

• Videogame Developers Are Making It Harder to Stop Playing.

MarketWatch.com:

• Stocks may be finally about to break out of this trading range.

Fox News:

• California pushes bill forcing restaurants to serve kids water or unflavored milk.

• Media's 'hit' pieces against Supreme Court pick Kavanaugh trigger mockery.

CNBC:  

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: FN, HTZ and more.

• Nvidia(NVDA) spikes after CEO introduces new processors for gaming.

• Trump says he will keep criticizing Fed if it continues to raise interest rates.

• Trump says it's 'very dangerous' when Twitter, Facebook self-regulate content. 

• Apple(AAPL) and these other stocks have contributed the most to this historic bull market.  

• As semi stocks get wrecked, long-time tech investor sees two to buy on the dip.

• Negative bets against gold surge, could be tipping point.

• I’m ‘financially ruined’: Cryptocurrency investors are crushed by losses of 70% or more. 

• Oppenheimer's John Stoltzfus on why he believes the stock market will climb higher  

Zero Hedge: 

• "We Are Not Going Bankrupt" Musk Vows As Tesla Suppliers Panic Over Stopped Payments.

• Desperate China Unveils Plan To Tax Childless Couples To Avoid "Demographic Time Bomb".

• New Study: Robots Can Brainwash Children Into "Mindless Conformity".

• Sweden In Crisis: Leading PM Candidate Vows Migration Reforms As Nationalism Surges.

• Venezuela Slashes 5 Zeros From Currency In "One Of Greatest Devaluations Ever".

• Watch Out California! 53 Major Earthquakes Just Hit The Ring Of Fire In A 24 Hour Period.

• Brazil Deploys Troops To Venezuela Border After Migrant Chaos - "This Is Going To Turn Into War!".

• Trump Warns Turkey "No Concessions", Doubts China-Talks' Progress, Demands "Help" From Fed.

• Bond Bears Bruised As Yields Hit 3-Mo Lows; Brazil, Mexico, & Turkey Tumble.

Night Trading 

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 81.75 -.5 basis point. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 11.0 unch.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 66.58 unch.

• FTSE 100 futures -.46%

• S&P 500 futures -.15%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.23%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• (SJM)/1.78

• (KSS)/1.64

• (MDT)/1.11

• (TJX)/1.05

• (TOL)/1.03

After the Close:

• (LZB)/.25

• (MYGN)/.33

• (RRGB)/.46

• (URBN)/.77

Economic Releases 

• None of note

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Japan Machine Orders report, weekly US retail sales reports and the Raymond James SMid-Cap Growth Conference could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by healthcare and consumer shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed.  The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.