Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• ‘Fangirls’ Defend China From Hong Kong Protesters and the World.

• Asia Stocks in Holding Pattern Ahead of Fed, Trade. Asian stocks saw muted trading Tuesday as investors turned cautious ahead of the week’s potential catalysts, from central bank meetings to a looming tariff deadline. Treasuries and the dollar were little changed. Equities were flat-to-lower in Tokyo and Sydney, little changed in Seoul and dropped at the open in Hong Kong, as investors awaited news on whether Washington will go ahead with a planned Dec. 15 tariff hike. Trading volumes were below average. S&P 500 futures were flat after the benchmark ended at session lows in thin trading. Oil edged down. Topix index edged down 0.1% as of 10:23 a.m. in Tokyo. S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.2%. Kospi index was flat. Hang Seng Index fell 0.4%. Shanghai Composite index was flat. S&P 500 futures were little changed. The S&P 500 Index declined 0.2%.

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

• Tariff Pause, Saudis See Brent at $65, Coming Capex Cut: Eco Day. 

• Oil Holds Steady As Investors Watch for Trade War Developments.

• Morgan Stanley Eliminates About 1,500 Jobs in Year-End Cuts.

• Don’t Look Now, But Things Are Getting Brighter for Trump.

• Toll Brothers(TOL) Posts Quarterly Home Orders Beating Estimates.

Wall Street Journal:

• McAfee Considers Making Bid for Rival NortonLifeLock.

• American Factories Demand White-Collar Education for Blue-Collar Work.

• Big Drugmakers Push Deeper Into Cancer Treatment.

• Congress Wants to Ban Chinese Buses, Railcars in Defense Bill. 

• Trump Upbeat on Trade Deal With Mexico, Canada.

Fox News:

• DOJ watchdog's Russia probe review finds 'significant' errors, omissions, as Durham objects.

CNBC:

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Stitch Fix, Agilent, Toll Brothers and more.

Zero Hedge:

• 'A Clear Abuse': Barr, Durham Object To IG FISA Probe Findings In Stunning Statements.

• DOJ Inspector General Releases Report On FBI Conduct, Finds "Clear Abuse" Of FISA Process.

• China Launches 'Competitor' Pipeline Mega-Company In Gambit To Double Oil & Gas Infrastructure.

• Apple "Deeply Concerned" That Chinese-Born Staff Who Allegedly Stole Trade Secrets Will Try To Flee.

• Morgan Stanley: Central Banks Are Injecting $100 Billion Per Month To Crush Vol And Spike Markets.

• Israel Threatens Iran With "Own Vietnam" In Syria, Hints At Major Pre-Emptive Strike.

• The Comey FBI's 17 Worst Failures, Inaccuracies, & Omissions Flagged In The FISA Report: Solomon.

• IG Report Confirms Brennan Lied Through His Teeth About Steele Dossier.

• Joe Biden's 'Temper Was Overflowing' After Ukrainian Prosecutor Seized Burisma Assets: Report.

• Stocks Slide As Bond Yields, Dollar Erase Friday Jobs Spike.

Night Trading 

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 64.0 unch.

• China Sovereign CDS 38.75 +1.0 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index  65.71 +.01%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.08%.

• S&P 500 futures +.01%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.02%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (AZO)/13.74

• (CONN)/.54

• (HDS)/1.00

After the Close:

• (PLAY)/.07

• (GME)/.17

• (OLLI)/.38

Economic Releases 
6:00 am EST

• The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for Nov. is estimated to rise to 103.0 versus 102.4 in Oct.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The German ZEW Index, $24B 10Y T-Note auction, US weekly retail sales reports, Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Industrials/Services Conference, Citi Consumer Conference, (NUAN) investor day, (THS) investor meeting, (OMCL) analyst day and the Cowen Networking/Cybersecurity Summit could also impact trading today.

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