Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:              

• China Says Lending Targets Shouldn't Override Due Diligence.

• Wall Street's $45 Trillion China Dream Inches Toward Reality.

• Asian Stocks Mixed as Investors Pause; Pound Slips. Stocks were mixed in Asia and futures pointed to higher starts for equity markets in London and New York as investors assessed whether the recent rallies can endure. The pound slipped as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May fought to keep her Brexit divorce plan alive. Shares barely budged in Japan, Hong Kong and China, while they dipped in Australia. Asian equities shrugged off leads from a weak U.S. session on Friday when large-cap tech stocks dragged the Nasdaq 100 Index to a loss of more than 1.5 percent. Oil prices snapped a 10-day sell-off after the bear market for crude spurred OPEC and its allies to start laying the groundworkto cut supply in 2019. Yields on 10-year Treasuries, which don’t trade Monday thanks to a U.S. holiday, ended just below 3.2 percent on Friday. Japan’s Topix index was flat as of 11:27 a.m. in Tokyo. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed. Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4 percent. S&P 500 Index futures rose 0.3 percent. The S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent. FTSE 100 index futures gained 0.7 percent.  

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

• OPEC, Allies Move Closer to Oil Cuts as Bear Market Adds Urgency.  

• Even Dollar Bears Are Wary of Betting Against Greenback Just Yet.

• Bullish Path for Stocks Paved on Midterms, Janus Henderson Says.

Wall Street Journal:

• Veterans Day: Stories of Those Who Served.

• Why Did Facebook Fire a Top Executive? Hint: It Had Something to Do With Trump.

• P&G, McDonald’s Power Dow Rebound as Investors Play Defense.

• With Retail Earnings on Tap, Investors Expect a Tale of Two Worlds.

• Congress Gears for Fight Over Border Wall, Mueller Probe. 

• Vista Nears Deal to Buy Software Firm Apptio for $1.9 Billion.

• SAP to Buy Enterprise-Software Company Qualtrics.

Fox News:

• Trump faces subpoena on Amazon, two media rivals, House Intel chairman says.

CNBC: 

• Veritas Capital, Elliott clinch $5.5 billion acquisition of Athenahealth: Reuters. 

• Mayflower's $3 billion money manager says don't rule out Dow 30,000 next year.

Zero Hedge:       

• Death Toll In CA Wildfires At 25; New "Devil Winds" Expected; Choking Air Quality; 250,000 Evacuated.

• Massive Florida Recount Begins Despite Questions Over Mystery Ballots.

• Scott Files Lawsuits Asking Police To Seize Ballots In Broward, Palm Beach Counties.

• San Francisco Forces Large Corporations To Pay "Homeless Tax".

• WSJ Calls It: Hillary Will Run Again In 2020.

• Avenatti To Sue Tucker Carlson After Man Claims Assault; Tucker Says Daughter Called "Whore, C*nt".

• Foreign Capital Has Been Propping Up China’s Currency. Here’s What Happens When It Leaves.

• All The Democrats' Investigations: House Ready To "Let The Subpoenas Fly" Early Next Year.

• Macron Blasts Nationalism As "Betrayal Of Patriotism" While Trump Speaks With Putin.

• OPEC+ Floats 1 Million Barrel Production Cut After Oil Price Tumbles Into Bear Market.

• Democratic Lawyers Object To 'Non-Citizen' Florida Ballot Being Thrown Out.

Night Trading

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 86.25 +2.25 basis points.

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 9.5 unch.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 66.72 +.01%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.70%.

• S&P 500 futures +.35%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.55%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• None of note

After the Close:

• (TDW)/-.32

• (YY)/1.63

• (EQH)/.91

Economic Releases

• None of note

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Japan Machine Orders report, UBS Global Tech Conference and the CSFB Healthcare Conference could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by consumer and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to maintain gains into the afternoon.  The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the week.