Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:          

• President Trump's Nafta Deal With Canada Is Close.

• Canadian Dollar Rises to Four-Month High Before Deadline.

• China’s Manufacturers Slow in September as Trade War Worsens.  

• Australia's Property Downturn Chalks Up One-Year Anniversary.

• Li Ka-shing’s Husky Goes Hostile in Chinese Battle for Canada’s Oil Sands.

• Asian Stocks See a Muted Start; Oil Ticks Higher. Stocks in Asia kicked off the final quarter in muted fashion, in a holiday-affected start to the week. Volumes are likely to be thin Monday, with Labor Day in Australia, Hong Kong’s market shut and China’s closed through Oct. 7. Japan’s two main equity benchmarks opened mixed, while holiday-hit Australian stocks started with small losses, and Korea’s benchmark was up. S&P 500 Index futures climbed after the benchmark saw the best quarter since 2013. Oil extended gains on concern of an impending supply crunch. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields ticked higher, to 3.07 percent. The Canadian dollar rose as the U.S. and Canada engaged in last-minute negotiations to update Nafta by Sunday’s deadline. Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 percent and Topix Index fell 0.3 percent. Kospi gained 0.3 percent. S&P 500 Index futures gained 0.3 percent with the benchmark closing flat on Friday.

• Oil Is One More Headache For Emerging Asia's Tightening Plans.

Wall Street Journal:   

• U.S., Canada Near a Deal on Nafta as Midnight Deadline Looms. 

• This Is No Mere ‘Job Interview’. 

• Theresa May, Facing Hard Deadline, Struggles to Navigate Treacherous Brexit Politics.

• U.S. Stocks Open Fourth Quarter Near Record Highs.

MarketWatch.com:

• Facebook(FB) may face $1.63 billion EU fine for breach.

Fox News:

• Liberal sen. doesn't answer when asked whether Dems leaked Ford's letter.

• GINGRICH: Liberal cash from California and New York flooding gov's race.

CNBC:

• California governor signs law mandating women on corporate boards of publicly-traded companies.

• The Fed could be hiking the US into a recession, investor Peter Boockvar warns.

• Trump uses Kavanaugh delay as rallying cry for midterm elections.

• China factory sector hurt in September as trade frictions bite.

Zero Hedge:        

• Canada PM Trudeau Calls 10PM Cabinet Meeting With Nafta Deal Announcement Imminent.

• Grassley Refers Potential False Kavanaugh Accuser To FBI/DOJ For Criminal Investigation.

• Still No Motive On Anniversary Of Las Vegas Massacre; Strip Goes Dark In Commemoration.

• Kanye West Booed During Pro-Trump Political Speech On SNL.

• Trump Blasts "Obstruct & Delay" Democrats As White House Denies "Micromanaging" Kavanaugh Probe.

• WSJ Can't Corroborate Kavanaugh Accuser's "Gang Bang" Account After "Dozens" Contacted.

• "Mass Burials", Looting Begins As Death Toll From Indonesia Quake And Tsunami Hits 832.

•  CNN Founder Ted Turner: Network "Sticking With Politics A Little Too Much".

Business Insider:

• Kellyanne Conway reveals that she is a victim of sexual assault in emotional CNN interview.

• Here's what legal experts are saying about the SEC's settlement with Elon Musk.

Night Trading

• Asian indices are -.25% to +.5% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 80.25 -.5 basis point.

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 9.0 -.25 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 66.89 unch.

• FTSE 100 futures -.25%

• S&P 500 futures +.37%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.47%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• (CALM)/.45

After the Close:

• (SFIX)/.04

Economic Releases

10:00 am EST

• Construction Spending MoM for August is estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.1% gain in July. 

• ISM Manufacturing for September is estimated to fall to 60.0 versus 61.3 in August.

• ISM Prices Paid for September is estimated to fall to 71.4 versus 72.1 in August.

Afternoon

• Wards Total Vehicle Sales for Sept. are estimated to rise to 16.9M versus 16.6M in August.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Rosengren speaking, Fed's Bostic speaking, Eurozone PMI report, Eurozone Unemployment Rate report, Cantor Fitzgerald Healthcare Conference and the (BABA) analyst day could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by industrial and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to maintain gains into the afternoon.  The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.