Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:   

• China Still Ready to Talk Trade With Trump, Xi's No. 2 Says.

• Lego Wins Intellectual Property Lawsuit in China.

• Asia Stocks Edge Higher at Open; Treasuries Slip. Asian stocks eked out modest gains at the open after a mixed U.S. session ahead of midterm elections. Treasury yields ticked higher and the dollar was steady. Equities climbed in Japan, Australia and South Korea, while Hong Kong and China futures also tipped gains. Earlier, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. underpinned an advance in the S&P 500 Index after the billionaire stock-picker revealed he’d been buying back his firm’s own shares. Apple Inc. suppliers may come under pressure on a report the iPhone maker wouldn’t boost some production -- the stock slumped and Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. also sank, weighing on the Nasdaq indexes. Japan’s Topix index rose 0.5 percent as of 9:09 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 percent. FTSE China A50 futures rose 0.3 percent. Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures added 0.2 percent. S&P 500 Index futures were little changed.  

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

• Oil Declines to 7-Month Low as Worldwide Supply Anxieties Ease.

• LIVE: News and Analysis From the New Economy Forum.

Wall St. Journal:

• Trophy Infrastructure, Troublesome Debt: China Makes Inroads in Europe. 

• Predicting the Next Bear Market in Six Charts.  
  

• Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities.

• Under Armour’s #MeToo Moment: No More Strip Clubs on Company Dime.

• Lowe’s(LOW) to Close Nearly 50 Stores.

• Hedge Fund D1 Capital Partners Stumbles.

Fox News:   

• Grassley report reveals details behind mistaken identity claims, more.

• President Trump gives closing argument on eve of Election Day.

CNBC:         

• Midterm election outcome could be 'glowing good news' or 'disaster' for markets.

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: ELF Beauty, Booking Holdings, Avis, Marriott and more.

• Raymond James: Buy stocks in these four sectors no matter what happens in Tuesday's midterms  

• Confident shoppers could actually hurt Amazon this holiday season: Retail veteran Jan Kniffen. 

Zero Hedge:

• Your Complete Midterm Elections Guide.

• Illinois Private Sector Jobs Growth Among Worst In Nation Since 2017 Tax-Hike.

• Doug Casey Shines A Light On "The Sociopaths In Politics".

• The Abject Failure Of Abenomics In Two Extremely Sad Charts.

• For The First Time In 19 Months, More Companies Are Cutting Than Raising Revenue Guidance.

• America's Largest Bridal-Chain Prepares For Bankruptcy After Skipped Debt Payment.

• Johnstone: Midterms Would Be A Walkover If Dems Had Not Wasted 2 Years On 'Russiagate'.

• Midterm-Mania Sparks Chaos In Quiet Markets.

Business Insider:

• The Obamas are worth $40 million — here's how they make and spend their money.

• Germany's military is about to get a big spending boost.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are +.25% to +.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 87.75 +.25 basis point. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 10.0 -.25 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 67.18 +.02%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.06%.

• S&P 500 futures +.12%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.11%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• (APD)/1.99

• (ABC)/1.46

• (ADM)/.83

• (BDX)/2.93

• (CVS)/1.71

• (LLY)/1.35

• (EMR)/.90

• (FSS)/.32

• (JLL)/2.32

• (MLM)/2.80

• (RL)/2.16

• (COL)/2.03

• (SAGE)/-2.40

• (STE)/1.09

After the Close:

• (COHR)/2.96

• (PZZA)/.21

• (RRGB)/.11

• (TWLO)/.02

• (WEN)/.15

• (ZG)/.16

Economic Releases

10:00 pm EST

• JOLTS Job Openings for September are estimated to fall to 7085 versus 7136 in August.
  

Upcoming Splits

• (TJX) 2-for-1

Other Potential Market Movers

• The US mid-term elections, Eurozone PMI report, US weekly retail sales report, $27B 10Y T-Note auction, Goldman Sachs China conference, Stephens Investment Conference and the Baird Industrial Conference could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are mostly 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 75% net long heading into the day.