Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:               

• China Considers Dropping Numerical GDP Growth Target for 2020.

• Australia Turns to Economic Reboot as Winter Raises Virus Fears.

• Asia Stocks to Follow U.S. Lower; Dollar Rises: Markets Wrap. Asian stocks opened lower after a drop in U.S. equities, with investors digesting mixed corporate earnings and worsening economic data. Japanese shares slid as Tokyo traders returned from Golden Week holidays, and Korean equities dipped. Treasuries edged up, taking back some of their recent declines amid a surge in U.S. debt issuance. Futures on the S&P 500 were flat after the index declined overnight. The dollar held gains, while the yen continued to trade near the highest since mid-March. Futures on the S&P 500 Index was little changed as of 9:10 a.m. in Tokyo. The index fell 0.7% on Wednesday. The Topix Index dropped 0.8%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.4%. Kospi Index fell 0.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index contracts fell 0.8% earlier.

• Oil Snaps 5-Day Rally With Supply Glut Eclipsing Demand Recovery

• Oil Tankers Drag Out Sailing Time With Ports Clogged and Glutted.  

• China Target, Australia Reboot, Inflationary Depression: Eco Day. 

• U.S. Debt Sales to Hit Record With Deficit Headed to $4 Trillion.

• Hundreds of Earnings Calls Show Companies Are More Scared Than 2008.  

• U.S. Infections Rise 1.9%, Budweiser Posts Loss: Virus Update.

• Gloom Grips U.S. Small Businesses, With 52% Predicting Failure.  

• Senators Call for Investigation Into Carnival Over Virus.  

• Auto-Parts Makers Seek U.S. Loans to Fuel Industry Restart.

• Perdue Says U.S. Meatpacking Plants Should Reopen Within 10 Days.

Wall Street Journal:

• Coronavirus Casts Deep Chill Over U.S.-China Relations.

• Stay Shut Down or We’ll Sue.

• Deficit Fears Put Senate Republicans and Trump on Collision Course.

• U.S. Virus Cases Top 1.2 Million, as Trump Refocuses Task Force.

• Costco’s Sales Fall for First Time in Over a Decade.

• Hit by Coronavirus, New York City Rushes Contracts to Untested Vendors.

CNBC.com:

• Peloton sales surge 66%, as more people buy bikes during coronavirus pandemic; shares jump.

• Jim Cramer on Wall Street trading trends: ‘This action makes little sense’.

• As coronavirus kills another Amazon worker, the company’s response is adding to employees’ fears.

• Coronavirus updates: Trump contradicts nurse over PPE, Costco sees drop off as customers stay at home.

• California’s recovery from the coronavirus will take ‘longer than people think,’ Gov. Gavin Newsom says.

• Carvana shares tumble double digits on first-quarter losses.

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Spirit Airlines, Etsy, Paypal and more.

• ‘Very unusual’: Arctic air set to hit Eastern US with record-low temperatures for May.

• Twilio skyrockets as quarterly results fly past estimates.

Fox News:

• Senator: How ordinary Americans can punish China for COVID-19.

MarketWatch.com:          

• Majority of new COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York are people who stayed at home.

• Airline stocks suffer broad selloff as American, Delta fall to new COVID-19 lows.

Zero Hedge:   

• Belgium Accuses China Of Bio-Espionage; Biological Warfare Program And Vaccine Experts Targeted.

• The Problem Is Not Deflation, It's Attempts to Prevent It.W

• What Will Schools Look Like After COVID?

• Larry Fink Says Fed Must "Provide More Support" To Markets, Expects Higher Corporate Taxes.

• "Biblical" Wave Of Bankruptcies Is About To Flood The US.

• Lyft Soars After Smashing Expectations, But An Ugly Future Awaits.

• While Pandemic Destroys Lives, The Surveillance State Celebrates.

• Trump Says Coronavirus 'Worst Attack On US Since Pearl Harbor': Live Updates.

• "Stocks Have Never Been More Expensive": Disconnect Between Markets And Reality Hits Idiotic Levels.

• Nasdaq Continues Record Run Despite Biggest Job Loss Ever.

The Epoch Times:

• Pandemic Coverup Shines a Light on Beijing’s Pattern of Deception: Report.

John Hopkins University:

• Coronavirus Global Cases. (map)

BNO News:

• Tracking Coronavirus: Map, data and timeline.

Google Docs:

• Coronavirus Testing by State.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.75% to unch. on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 121.5 +2.0 basis points.

• China Sovereign CDS 52.25 +4.0 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 57.79 -.04%.

• FTSE 100 futures -.27%.

• S&P 500 futures +.25%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.43%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (AGN)/3.90

• (ABC)/2.27

• (BUD)/-.33

• (MT)/-1.86

• (AAWW)/.06

• (BDX)/2.29

• (BMY)/1.49

• (CBRE)/.71

• (DHR)/1.05

• (DISH)/.57

• (ELAN)/.24

• (HAIN)/.24

• (HES)/-.61

• (JBLU)/-.46

• (NCLH)/-.27

• (RTX)/1.05

• (TEVA)/.59 

• (THS)/.33

• (VIAC)/.95

• (YETI)/.05

After the Close:

• (BIDU)/3.92

• (BKNG)/4.94

• (CTSH)/.93

• (ED)/1.41

• (FSLR)/.31

• (LYV)/-.70

• (MCHP)/1.36

• (MNST)/.48

• (NWSA)/.00

• (POST)/.89

• (RDFN)/-.75 

• (SKYW)/.91

• (TTD)/.43

• (TRIP)/.16

• (UBER)/-.70

• (OLED)/.65

• (YELP)/.24

• (ZG)/-.33

Economic Releases
7:30 am EST

• Challenger Job Cuts YoY for April.
  

8:30 am EST:

• Preliminary 1Q Non-Farm Productivity is estimated to fall -5.5% versus a +1.2% gain in 4Q.

• Preliminary 1Q Unit Labor Costs are estimated to rise +4.5% versus a +.9% gain in 4Q.

• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 3000K versus 3839K the prior week.

• Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 19800K versus 17992K prior.
  

3:00 pm EST

• Consumer Credit for March is estimated to fall to $15.0B versus $22.331B in Feb.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The BofE rate decision, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index and the weekly EIA natural gas inventory 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 tech and financial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.