Thursday Watch

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.50% to +.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 100.0 +4.75 basis points. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 11.75 unch.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 66.74 +.69%.

• FTSE 100 futures -.27%.

• S&P 500 futures -1.31%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -2.15%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• None of note

After the Close:

• (RECN)/.23

Economic Releases
7:30 am EST

• The Challenger Job Cuts YoY report for December.

8:15 am EST

• The ADP Employment report for December is estimated to rise to 180K versus 179K in November.

8:30 am EST

• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to rise to 220K versus 216K the prior week.

10:00 am EST

• Construction Spending MoM for November is estimated to rise +.2% versus a -.1% decline in October.
• ISM Manufacturing for December is estimated to fall to 57.5 versus 59.3 in November.
• ISM Prices Paid for December is estimated to fall to 57.8 versus 60.7 in November.
  

Afternoon:

• Total Vehicle Sales for December are estimated to fall to 17.22M versus 17.4M in November.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Eurozone Money Supply report, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report and the (F) Dec. US sales call could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by technology and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open lower and to maintain losses into the afternoon.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.