Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:       

• Two Crisis Phone Calls Unlocked the ‘Impossible’ Brexit Deal.     

• China Convertible Bond Market Shows Signs of Roaring to Life.

• Japan’s Cabinet Approves Tougher Rules on Foreigners Owning Stocks. 

• RBA Watchers Mull Aussie QE That Could Spur Property-Price Gains.

• Congress Pushes Forward On Turkey Sanctions Despite Ceasefire.

• White House, Democrats Upbeat on USMCA Despite Impeachment. 

• Asia Stocks See a Mixed Open Ahead of China Data. Asian stocks headed for their highest close since July on Friday after U.S. shares edged closer to a record. The dollar traded near its weakest since before August’s trade-war turmoil amid diminishing demand for havens. The yuan was little changed before key economic data from China on Friday, though the indicators -- including third-quarter GDP -- may have limited significance as investors look to a potential U.S.-China trade deal between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping next month. Stocks in Tokyo and Seoul rose Friday, while Australia’s benchmark dipped. Treasuries were little changed. Futures on the S&P 500 were flat as of 9:23 a.m. in Tokyo. The underlying gauge rose 0.3% on Thursday. Japan’s Topix advanced 0.5%. Hang Seng futures earlier ended flat. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped 0.2%. Kospi Index gained 0.3%.

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

Wall Street Journal:

• Turkey Agrees to Pause Military Operations in Syria.

• Fred Smith Created FedEx. Now He Has to Reinvent It.

• Why Your Next Louis Vuitton Bag May Hail From Texas.

• AT&T in Talks to Resolve Elliott Management’s Activist Campaign.

• U.K., EU Reach Draft Brexit Deal, Paving Way for Vote.

• Medicare for All Loses Support Amid Lack of Detail on Costs to Voters.

• Juul Halts Online Sales of Some Flavored E-Cigarettes.

• Saudi Aramco Delays Launch of World’s Largest IPO.

Fox News:

• EXCLUSIVE: Zuckerberg rejects Harris' call to shut down Trump's social media.

• US Marine wounded after jumping on grenade has message for Americans.

MarketWatch.com:     

• The No. 1 highest paid, most in-demand job in every U.S. state.  

• What a Brexit deal would mean for U.S. stocks and global investors.

CNBC:

• WeWork could run out of cash by mid-November — here’s what would happen next.

• GM workers will remain on strike while voting on UAW’s four-year contract proposal.

• Jim Cramer says stock market will ‘blast’ past current levels if trade questions are resolved.

• ‘These not-as-bad-as-feared quarters are good news for shareholders,’ Jim Cramer says.

• Elizabeth Warren did not win the debate and now she’s got work to do.

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: E-Trade, AT&T, Intuitive Surgical & more.

Zero Hedge:

• Visualizing Bernie Sanders' Proposed Tax Reform.

• NBA Fan Raises $43K For "Stand With Hong Kong" T-Shirts As Protesters Torch LeBron Jerseys.

• China Secretly Ordered NBA Commissioner To Fire Rockets' GM Over Hong Kong Tweet.

• The FBI Wants Your Info...And They're Getting It!

• Despite Widespread Censorship, Zuck Claims "Not Comfortable Being Arbiter Of Free Speech".

• Schwab Will Soon Allow Investors To Buy And Sell Fractions Of Stocks.

• The US Healthcare System Is Hemorrhaging Close To $1 Trillion A Year.

• "Credibility At Stake": Maduro's Venezuela Given Seat On UN Human Rights Council.

• Brexit-Bounce Fades As Short-Interest-Slump Signals Crash Concerns.

Night Trading 

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 71.5 -1.0 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 41.0 -2.0 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index  65.80 +.04%.

• FTSE 100 futures -.24%.

• S&P 500 futures -.09%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.09%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (AXP)/2.02

• (KO)/.56

• (GNTX)/.42

• (KSU)/1.79

• (MAN)/1.94

• (NVR)/51.52

• (SLB)/.40

• (STT)/1.40

After the Close:

• None of note

Economic Releases
10:00 am EST

• The Leading Index for Sept. is estimated unch. versus unch. in Aug.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The China GDP report, California Canabis Policy Summit, (SLB) investor roundtable and the (SCHW) business update could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and financial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.