Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Virus Fallout From Singapore Conference Spreads Across Europe.

• European Spread Brings Worry; Wuhan Cases May Peak: Virus Update.

• WHO Chief: Concern Over Virus Spread From People With No China Travel.

• Death Toll Hits 904 as China Sets $10 Billion Plan: Virus Update.      

• China’s Battered Banks Brace for Worst-Case Economic Scenario.

• U.S. Drones Scouring for Rare Earths to End Reliance on China.

• El-Erian: Don’t Expect China to Rebound Quickly.

• Hong Kong Is Showing Symptoms of a Failed State.

• Powell to Confront ‘New Risk’ to U.S. Economy from China Virus.

• U.S. Stock Futures Drop as Virus Spreads; Yen Up. U.S. stock futures fell while haven assets nudged higher at the start of a week that may prove crucial in determining the trajectory of coronavirus cases, and in turn the prospects for a v-shaped economic recovery. With cases outside of China continuing to increase, investors will be monitoring whether the rate of change kicks up a gear. Futures on the S&P 500 Index declined about 0.5%, while Treasury futures climbed along with the yen and gold. Australia’s shares retreated and its bond yields fell. The yuan traded weaker than 7 per dollar offshore. Oil fell. On Friday, U.S. shares and Treasury yields fell Friday even after a strong monthly jobs report. Futures on the S&P 500 lost 0.5% as of 8:38 a.m. in Tokyo. The underlying gauge fell 0.5% on Friday. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.5%. Hang Seng Index futures retreated 1.1% on Friday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.5%.  

• Oil Extends Drop on OPEC+ Meeting Outlook, Libya Peace Talks.

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

• Sweden-Size Economy Shut, Powell Test, Measuring Impact: Eco Day.

• Perez ‘Mad as Hell’ About Iowa Caucuses: Campaign Update.

• Sanders Plans to Hammer Buttigieg on Billionaire Donors.

• Buttigieg Labels Biden a Washington Insider, Adding Fuel to Feud.

• Iowa Laggards Biden, Warren Shift Ad Spending to Stay in Race.

• Covea Is in Talks to Buy Agnellis’ PartnerRe for $9 Billion.

• The Big Dirty Secret Behind Wind Power 

• Battered Funds Blame ETFs for Overrunning Stock Market. Again.   

• Second Police Officer Shot in Bronx Hours After Ambush. 

Wall Street Journal:

• White House to Reduce Request for Border Wall Funding.

• Prada and the New Fashion Police.

• ‘I’m So Sorry’: Coronavirus Survivor’s Cross-China Travel Left Dozens Quarantined.

• U.S.-China Trade War Reshaped Global Commerce. 

• Voting Process Under Spotlight After Iowa Confusion.

• Vaping-Related Deaths Fall, But Families Still Look for Answers.

• Mattel Closes Factories, as Toy Slump Weighs on Supply Chain.

• Smallest U.S. Firms Struggle to Find Workers.

• Stocks Surge to Record Highs, but Few CEOs Cash Out.

MarketWatch.com:

• Uber(UBER) is ready to join the FANG camp, analyst says after earnings.

Fox News:

• Budget aims to slash $4.4T in spending, including foreign aid, with cash for wall.

• Sanders supporters drown out Buttigieg with ‘Wall Street Pete!’ taunts at tense NH event.

CNBC:

• Coronavirus live updates: China pledges $10 billion to fight outbreak, UK confirms fourth case

• White House to unveil Trump’s election-year budget calling for extending individual tax cuts.

• Amazon(AMZN) Flex drivers are using bots to cheat their way to getting more work.

• Coronavirus updates: Amazon pulls out of Barcelona conference, 14 Americans test positive on cruise.

Zero Hedge:  

• 'Ungrateful Bastard': Kyle Bass Unloads On CCP Mouthpiece In Coronavirus Twitter Feud.

• The Mysterious Origin Of The Wuhan Coronavirus.

• Trump Supporters Attacked After Van Plows Through GOP Voter Registration Tent In Florida; Suspect Arrested.

• Chinese Copper Buyers Cancel Orders Around The Globe As Economy Grinds To A Halt.

• "We're Totally In The Dark" - Japan Not Doing Enough To Contain Outbreak, 'Diamond Princess' Passengers Warn.

• Don't Get 'Juice Jacked' While Recharging In Public, Cybersecurity Expert Warns.

• Chinatown Restaurant And Tourism Sales Plunge Over Coronavirus Fears.

• Class 8 Heavy Duty Truck Orders Dead-Cat-Bounce 10% In January, Marking First Rise In 15 Months.

• Visualizing The 700-Year Fall Of Interest Rates.

• Coronavirus 'Super-Spreader' Infects 57 In Hospital As China Continues To Refuse CDC Help.

• Breaking Down The Last Decade Of "Terrible" Climate-Change In 7 Narrative-Busting Charts.

• Thai Army Officer Kills 17, Takes Hostages, In Another Mass Shooting Broadcast On Social Media.

• Key Witness Told Mueller Team That Russia Collusion Evidence Found In Ukraine Was Fabricated.

• Expect "Cascading Global Impact" As Coronavirus Causes Massive Manufacturing Disruptions Worldwide.

• Socialism Always Fails.

Business Insider:

• A Chinese citizen journalist who went viral for his reporting on coronavirus from Wuhan has gone missing, and his family says he's been forcibly quarantined.

• 2 cruise ships have been quarantined over the coronavirus: 1 released its passengers, the other is seeing more people get sick.

9to5Mac:

• Apple(AAPL) analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with a new investor note today. Kuo says that Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant is the most critical iPhone production site, focused on the iPhone 11 and iPhone SE 2/iPhone 9. This plant was scheduled to resume work on February 2nd, but has since been delayed by at least one week.Kuo stops short of making any actual shipment predictions in this investor note because “there are still many uncertainties.” He does warn, however, that there are risks of new product shipment delays and lower-than-expected iPhone sales due to the coronavirus outbreak.

John Hopkins University:

• Coronavirus Global Cases. (map)

Night Trading

• Asian indices are -1.25% to -.5% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 53.5 +.75 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 36.75 +2.0 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 64.98 -.03%.

• FTSE 100 futures n/a.

• S&P 500 futures -.34%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.45%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (AGN)/4.53

• (CNA)/.93

• (DO)/-.64

• (L)/.72

After the Close:

• (ELY)/-.23

• (DVA)/1.66

• (IIVI)/.36

• (JCOM)/2.37

• (MELI)/-.80

• (XPO)/1.01

Economic Releases

• None of note

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Bowman speaking, Australia Home Values report, (FDX) economic update and the BIO Investor Conference could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower, weighed down by technology and commodity shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open lower and to maintain losses into the afternoon.  The Portfolio is 25% net long heading into the week.