Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• China-U.S. Feud Fuels Haven Demand as Traders Rewrite Playbook.  

• Trade War Tops Emerging-Market Worries Again as Skepticism Grows.

• Kudlow Sees Impact to ‘Both Sides’ From U.S.-China Trade War.

• Stocks Drop, Yuan Slides as Trade War Escalates. Stocks in Asia fell with U.S. equity futures, while the yen and Treasuries climbed, after trade talks ended without a resolution and China said the U.S. must remove all extra tariffs. The yuan retreated. The heightened tensions over the weekend unwound gains in risk assets from late Friday as optimism over progress between the two sides faded. Shares in Japan and South Korea opened lower and S&P 500 Index futures dropped 1.1%. Moves in currencies extended early Monday and Treasury yields retreated as trading began. Hong Kong is closed Monday for a holiday. Japan’s Topix index dropped 0.7% as of 9:05 a.m. in Tokyo. South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.9%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 0.4%. Futures on the S&P 500 Index fell 1.1%.  

• Trump's Tariff Tweets, Fed Cuts Ahead, 7% Growth Club: Eco Day.

• All Eyes on Uber's Second Day of Trading After Debut Flop.    

• Yen Strengthens Amid U.S.-China Uncertainty.

• Most Mideast Stocks Fall With Trade Tension Spreading: Inside EM.  

• Fed's Kashkari Adds Inequality to Argument for Keeping Rates Low.

Wall Street Journal:

• How the U.S.-China Talks Hit a Wall.

• Small Businesses Are Squeezed by Tight Labor Market.

• Uber and Lyft Confront High Driver Turnover.

• Citigroup Bets Big on Digital Banking.

• Rattled by Cyberattacks, Hospitals Push Device Makers to Improve Security.

MarketWatch.com:

• Trump says China is making a losing bet that he’ll be beaten in the 2020 presidential election.

Fox News:

• EXCLUSIVE: Graham looks to unseal doc that shows Steele dossier lacked proof for FBI probe.

CNBC:

• How Trump’s trade war threatens China’s ambition to lead the world in technology.

• Kudlow says Trump and Xi are likely to meet at G-20 summit despite trade dispute.

• YouTube and its users face an existential threat from the EU’s new copyright directive.

Zero Hedge:   

• S&P Futures Tumble As Trade War Shows No Sign Of De-escalation.

• "Odds Point To A Worst-Case Scenario": Shocked Traders Respond To Latest Trade War Twist.

• FBI Uncovers Terror Training Camp in Alabama.

• Why Hasn't A Single Democrat Looked At The 99.9% Unredacted Mueller Report Provided To Congress?

• Schiff: Biden Ukraine Scandal Should Be Off Limits.

• Chinese Media Accuses "Fierce, Irrational US Offensive" For Trade Talk Collapse.

• Top Lawyer For Obama-Era FBI 'Nervous' About DOJ Inspector General Investigation.

• Bezos Reveals His Ugly Vision For The World He's Trying To Rule.

• The Only Way Is Brexit: Farage Surges Again!

• As Cryptos Soar, ECB's Draghi Warns: Not Currencies, They're Very Risky Assets.

Business Insider:

• Kamala Harris says 'we need to seriously take a look' at breaking up Facebook.

Telegraph:

• Gen Z is paying the price for quick and cheap debt.

Night Trading

• Asian indices are -.75% to -.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 70.25 -.5 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 44.5 -2.25 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 66.31 -.08%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.13%.

• S&P 500 futures -.97%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -1.14%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• None of note

After the Close:

• (LM)/.54

• (STE)/1.43

• (TTWO)/.74

• (VIPS)/1.08

Economic Releases

• None of note

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Clarida speaking, Australia Home Price report and the Japan Trade Balance report could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are 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 50% net long heading into the week.