Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:  

• China's Investors Are Being Offered the Cheapest Money in Years.    

• China Is Asking Banks to Avoid Yuan Market ‘Herd Behavior’.

• Stocks Give Trump a $1.3 Trillion Reason to Escalate the Trade War.

• SoftBank in Talks to Invest Up to $750 Million in Zume, the Startup That Sells Robot-Made Pizza.

• Yuan Holds Gains; Asia Stocks Set for Mixed Start. China’s yuan held on to gains triggered by further moves to stabilize the currency and U.S. stocks approached a fresh all-time high. Asian equities looked set for a mixed start to Wednesday trading. Futures pointed to gains for equities in Hong Kong and China, while Japan and Australian shares faced a muted open. The S&P 500 Index closed at the highest level since its Jan. 26 peak. A rise in emerging-market equities overshadowed rising woes in Turkey, where the yield on the country’s 10-year bonds touched a record high amid a diplomatic spat with the U.S. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 were little changed in Singapore. Futures on the FTSE China A50 Index rose 0.3 percent. Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.5 percent. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index were little changed.

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

• Credit Suisse's Palfrey Says Economic Strength to Bolster Stocks in 2nd Half.  

• Investor Appetite for Hedge Funds Is Soaring—But Define ‘Hedge Fund’.

Wall Street Journal:

• Is Liberal Racism a Horse of a Different Color? 

• Jobs Go Unfilled as the Economy Expands.

• American Refiners Reap Big Profits as Production Soars.

• Trump’s Tariffs Turn Small Businesses Upside Down.

• Trump Ex-Lawyer Cohen Is Under Investigation for Alleged Tax Fraud.

• Funds Avoid Pain in Big Tech Stocks.

MarketWatch.com:

• Charting a bullish technical tilt: S&P 500, Nasdaq rise within view of record territory.

Fox News:

• These are the races to watch today as Americans head to the polls.

• Rick Gates admits extramarital affair as Manafort defense tears into double life.

CNBC:   

• Tesla shares surge 10% after Elon Musk shocks market with tweet about going private.  

• Cramer says index fund buying and buybacks are creating a 'stock shortage'.

• After-hours buzz: SNAP, PZZA & more. 

• Elon Musk’s tweet about going private costs Tesla short sellers $1.3 billion.  

• It's 'inevitable' that esports will be part of the Olympics, Logitech CEO says.

Zero Hedge:  

• Senate Democrats Are Circulating Plans For Government Takeover Of The Internet.

• Not The Driver? Feinstein's Chinese Spy May Have Been Office Director

• EU Threatens European Firms That Comply With Trump's Iran Sanctions.

• Trump To Slap $16 Billion In New Tariffs On Chinese Imports Starting August 23.

• Prince Alwaleed Buys A 2.3% SNAP Stake, As Snapchat Users Shrink For The First Time Ever.

• A Four Person NATO-Funded Team Advises Facebook(FB) On Flagging "Propaganda".

• US Credit Card Debt Shrinks For Only Second Time Since 2013 As Student, Auto Loans Hit All Time High.

• The Crackdown Continues: Twitter Suspends Libertarian Accounts, Including Ron Paul Institute Director.

• WTI Dips As Big Product Build Offsets Crude Inventory Draw.

• Cryptos Tumble As SEC Delays Another Bitcoin ETF Decision.

• Global Stocks Pop, Bonds Drop As PBOC Slows Great Fall Of China.

Night Trading 

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 79.75 -1.75 basis points. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 10.0 -.75 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 69.27 -.04%.

• FTSE 100 futures -.02%

• S&P 500 futures +.03%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.01%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• (CVS)/1.61

• (DLPH)/1.24

• (JLL)/2.22

• (LITE)/.65

• (MGA)/1.74

• (MYL)/1.22

• (SINA)/.72

• (WB)/.66

• (WWW)/.46

After the Close:

• (CVNA)/-.34

• (IAC)/1.53

• (JACK)/.88

• (MNST)/.47

• (NTES)/2.72

• (NKTR)/5.29

• (YELP)/.28

Economic Releases 
10:30 am EST

• Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -2,164,000 barrels versus a +3,803,000 barrel gain the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -1,796,920 barrels versus a -2,536,000 barrel decline the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to rise by +731,000 barrels versus a +2,983,000 barrel gain the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to fall by -.13% versus a +2.3% gain prior.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Barkin speaking, China Trade Data report, Japan Machine Orders report, $26B 10Y T-Note auction, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, Canaccord Growth Conference, (COST) monthly sales report, (ZUMZ) sales/guidance update and the (FRPT) investor day 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 day.