Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Hong Kong Protests Cause Economy to Shrink in Fourth Quarter.   

• China's $44 Trillion Market Is Opening Up. Here's What to Watch in 2020.

• Kim May Have Reconsidered His ‘Christmas Gift,’ Trump Aide Says.

• Asian Stocks Set for Muted Open, at 18-Month High. Asian stocks are set to drift on Monday around the highest in a year and a half, with few financial market catalysts going into the year-end. Futures slipped in Tokyo and were little changed in Hong Kong. Australian equities opened flat. U.S. futures were little changed after stocks ended Friday mixed as traders assessed a rally that’s added more than $5 trillion to equities this year. The S&P 500 Index notched a fifth straight weekly advance. Treasuries rose on Friday, when the dollar logged its biggest drop since October. Nikkei 225 futures fell 0.3% in Singapore. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.1%. Hang Seng Index futures were little changed. S&P 500 futures rose about 0.1%. The S&P 500 was little changed Friday. 

• Cuomo Calls Latest Anti-Semitic Attack ‘Domestic Terrorism’.

• Trading a Dove for Two Hawks: A Look at the Fed’s 2020 Voters.

• Big Tech Is Coming for Banking: Experts Predict Fintech’s 2020.

Wall Street Journal:

• Fight for Market Share Gives Bond Issuers Pick of Ratings

• 2019: The Year of IPO Disappointment.

• Biden’s Subpoena Standard.

• This Isn’t Your Father’s Impeachment.

• Sales-Tax Ruling Strains Small Sellers.

• The Decade of the Uber-Decadent House.

• Why 2020 Is the Turning Point for Electric Cars.

• Manhattan Real Estate Didn’t Have a Good Year.

• China Is Taking No Chances With Stagflation.

• European Hedge Funds Caught Out by Bull Run in Stocks.

• Greener Roads Spell a Decade of Disruption.

Fox News:

• Congressman, civil rights leader announces stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

• Cuomo condemns rise of anti-Semitism, calls attack at NY Hanukkah party an 'act of terrorism'.

• Calif. businesswoman welcomes federal intervention on state's homeless crisis.

CNBC:

• Wave of new laws to take effect in 2020: Electric cars, data privacy, taxes & more.

• Surprise S&P 500 stocks that posted 1,000%-plus returns this decade and are not in ‘tech’.

• Disney(DIS) accounted for nearly 40% of the 2019 US box office.

Zero Hedge:              

• Wealth Of The Richest Surged By $1.2 Trillion In 2019.

• NY Gov Cuomo Calls Jewish Machete-Attack "An Act Of Domestic Terrorism".

• Experts Warn Global Outrage Levels May Reach Point Of No Return In 2020.

• Chinese President Xi Installs Finance Experts To Avoid "Lurking, Devastating Debt Bombs".

• China Launches Stealth Rate Cut By Switching Benchmark Lending Rate, Lowering Funding Costs.

• "If He'd Take It, Yes" - Biden Considers Obama For Supreme Court Nomination.

Business Insider:

• 'I was praying for my life': Witnesses of stabbing in rabbi's home say the attacker had a machete 'the size of a broomstick'.

• 10 ways North Korea uses technology to keep its citizens in the dark about the outside world.

• 12 AI startups that will boom in 2019, according to VCs.

Night Trading

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 53.0 unch.

• China Sovereign CDS 30.75 -1.25 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 66.58 +.03%.

• FTSE 100 futures n/a.

• S&P 500 futures +.09%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.15%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• None of note

After the Close:

• None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST

• Advance Goods Trade Balance for Nov. is estimated at -$69.0B versus -$66.5B in Oct.

• Retail Inventories MoM for Nov. is estimated to rise +.1% versus a +.3% gain in Oct.

• Wholesale Inventories MoM for Nov. is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.1% gain in Oct.

9:45 am EST

• The MNI Chicago PMI for Dec. is estimated to rise to 48.0 versus 46.3 in Nov.

10:00 am EST

• Pending Home Sales MoM for Nov. is estimated to rise +1.5% versus a -1.7% decline in Oct. 

• Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity for Dec. is estimated to rise to 0.0 from -1.3 in Nov.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The China Manufacturing PMI report could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by consumer and commodity 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 week.