Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:      

• Singapore Becomes Asia’s Most Infected Nation After China, India.

• Bank of China Clients Said to Have $1 Billion Losses on Oil Bet.    

• Kim Jong Un Mystery Grows on Reports of Train, Medical Team.

• Airbus CEO Warns Workers It’s Bleeding Cash and Cuts Are Needed.   

• U.K. Market-Rigging Reports Rise as Virus Poses Another Threat.

• Saudi Arabia Cuts $265 Million Deal With China to Fight Virus.  

• World Is Running Out of Russian Wheat When Some Want it Most.  

• Deutsche Bank Says Results Will Beat Market Expectations. 

• U.S. Stock Futures Dip; Yen Steady Before BOJ: Markets Wrap. U.S. stock futures dipped early Monday as investors weighed further signs of positive developments in the global fight against the coronavirus. The yen was steady as traders awaited a key Bank of Japan policy meeting. Asian equity futures rose, following a move higher for U.S. stocks on Friday. The Australian dollar erased early modest losses to trade higher, while moves were muted elsewhere across foreign-exchange markets. Coronavirus deaths slowed the most in more than a month in Spain, Italy and France while fatalities reported in the U.K. and New York were the lowest since the end of March. Oil dipped. Futures on the S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 7:11 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge added 1.4% on Friday. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures added 0.6%on Friday, when futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1.6%.

• Middle Eastern Stocks Climb as States Start to Ease Virus Curbs.

• The Next Chapter of the Oil Crisis: The Industry Shuts Down.

• Cuomo Announces Phased Plan to Reopen New York; Deaths Drop

• How Coronavirus Will Forever Change Airlines and the Way We Fly.

• Bond Investors Start to Debate Whether U.S. Is Heading Into Deflationary Spiral.

• Wisconsin Beef Plant Shuts Down for Virus Adding to Meat Squeeze.

• Diamond Offshore Files for Bankruptcy Amid Historic Crude Crash.

Wall Street Journal: 

• U.S. Debates How Soon It Can Reopen.

• Farmers Forced to Destroy Their Crops.

• More Countries Take Measures to Reopen Parts of Daily Life.

• Schiff’s Secret Transcripts.

• Mnuchin Sees Third-Quarter Rebound for U.S. Economy.

• Virus Disrupted Supply Chains That Companies Are Still Fixing.

• Markets Diverge in Assessing the Economic Freeze.

• Private-Equity-Owned Hospital Faced Closure As Cases Mounted.

• America Needs to Win the Coronavirus Vaccine Race.

• The Era of Big Government Is…Back.

• People Were Leaving New York City Before. Now What?

• How Fed Intervention Saved Carnival.

• Virus Accelerates J.C. Penney’s Long March Toward Bankruptcy.

Fox News:

• Sunday hosts fail to ask Dem's potential running mates about bombshell sex-assault claim.

• EXCLUSIVE: Biden accuser blasts CNN’s Cooper, others for not asking ex-VP about her claims.

• CNN video linked to claim against Biden vanishes from Google Play.

• With Kim’s health uncertain, focus shifts to powerful sister.

• Top House Republican says 'WHO' should really stand for this.

CNBC: 

• Sports arenas could require ‘necessary renovations’ for social distancing, architect firm says.

• White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett says unemployment rate will approach Great Depression.

• Coronavirus live updates: US cases top 900,000, Birx says social distancing will last through summer.

• Coronavirus live updates: Dr. Birx says US needs a ‘breakthrough’ on testing to aid re-opening.

• Economic damage from the coronavirus is hitting the lowest level of wage earners hardest.

• Public companies took far more federal small business loans than first thought.

• Why oil prices went negative and why they can go negative again.

Zero Hedge:        

• Whisteblowing ER Docs Urge "Open Up Society Now" Because "Lockdowns Are Weakening Our Immune Systems".

• Coronavirus Deaths Likely 60% Higher Than Official Numbers Reflect, FT Finds.

• TED's Not Dead Because Jay Don't Pay, Just Like Ben Couldn't Then.

• Global Coronavirus Deaths Slow For 4th Straight Day: Live Updates.

• "China Did A Lot Of Things Right": Bill Gates Defends CCP, Slams America Over Handling Of Coronavirus.

• Does Elon Musk Risk Becoming A Chinese Government Asset?

• National Guard Deployed At Nation's Food Banks To Ensure Stability During Unprecedented Times .

• Wave Of Repos Imminent As Subprime Auto-Buyers Miss Payments.

• Goldman Sees Imminent "Momentum" Crash As All S&P Gains Come From Just 5 Stocks.

• Scientists Find More Evidence Novel Coronavirus Can Travel On Air Pollution Particles.

• Small Businesses In Catch-22 Begin Revolt: 'Defy State's Stay-At-Home Order Or Face Collections'.

• Chinese Company Suspected Of Spying On US Citizens Donates Police Drones To 22 States.

• China Continues To Flood The World With Defective Medical Supplies.

• The COVID-19 Crisis Is Driving The EU To The Brink.

• Panic Hoarding, Trains Halted & Low-Flying Helicopters In Pyongyang Amid Conflicting Kim Death Rumors.

• North Korea's Kim Jong Un Reported By Japanese Media To Be In Vegetative State.

• After Decades Of Brainwashing, MSM & Governments Are Losing Control Of The People.

• American Farms Cull Millions Of Chickens Amid Virus-Related Staff Shortages At Processing Plants.

• Will China Use Economic Insecurity To Buy Up Stakes In US & Europe?

• Pandemic Exposes Liberalism's Free Trade, Open Borders Road To National Suicide.

• Unprecedented Pace Of Corporate Debt Issuance Has Crippled Corporate Fundamentals.

• Visualizing How COVID-19 Has Impacted Media Consumption, By Generation.

• Twitter CEO Unveils Feature To "Editorialize" Trump's Tweets As Election Looms.

• Goldman Was Furiously Buying Mortgage Bonds In The Days Before The Fed's Massive Bailout.

Business Insider:

• The $600 federal boost to unemployment checks that was meant to aid struggling families is triggering confusion: some people are now earning more in unemployment than they were while working.

• US and South Korean spies do not believe that Kim Jong Un is dead, after satellites pictured his train at an elite coastal resort.

John Hopkins University:

• Coronavirus Global Cases. (map)

BNO News:

• Tracking coronavirus: Map, data and timeline.

Google Docs:

• Coronavirus Testing by State.

Night Trading

• Asian indices are unch. to +.5% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 123.75 -.5 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 51.25 -.5 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 57.70 -.02%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.4%.

• S&P 500 futures -.44%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.27%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (AMG)/3.09

• (CHKP)/1.38

• (SOHU)/-.70

After the Close:

• (BRO)/.46

• (CGNX)/.08

• (CR)/1.26

• (FFIV)/1.99

• (KDP)/.27

• (NXPI)/1.40

• (PPG)/1.17

Economic Releases
10:30 am EST

• The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Index for April is estimated at -75.0 versus -70.0 in March.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Japan Jobless Rate could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are modestly higher, boosted by technology and consumer staple shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed.  The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the week.