Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:                 

• Vast Numbers of Unemployed Will Undermine China’s Recovery.

• Chinese Malls, Dependent on Restaurants, Face a Bleak Future.  

• Chinese-Made Drone Use by Police Spurs Lawmaker Questions.  

• Farmers’ Hopes Are Dashed in Australia on Souring of China Ties.  

• Hong Kong’s Economic Crisis Just Keeps Getting Worse.

• Asian Stocks Set for Declines After U.S. Retreat. Asian stocks looked set to follow U.S. shares lower, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned about economic risks and tensions with China flared. Treasuries ticked higher and the dollar advanced. Futures dropped in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Contracts on the S&P 500 edged up after the gauge briefly fell in the Wednesday session below 2,800, a level that has provided support in the past month. Powell said the threat of a lasting downturn could deepen without additional government spending. A federal savings plan delayed moving funds into an index with Chinese stocks, adding to tensions stoked by President Donald Trump. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 7:07 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge decreased about 1.7% on Wednesday. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.5%. Hang Seng futures retreated 0.9%. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 1.1%.

• Oil Falls With Doubts Over a Demand Recovery Looming Over Market.  

• Powell’s Warning, China Rate Cut, Australia’s Addiction: Eco Day.

• Trump Splits With Fauci; H.K. Ends No-Cases Streak: Virus Update.  

• Cowboys Owner Jones’ Shale Driller Selling Shares; Stock Tumbles.

• Goldman Sachs Now Sees U.S. Jobless Rate Peaking at 25%, Not 15%.   

• Regional Banks Take a Beating With Investors Expecting More Pain.

• New Jersey Moves Toward Reopening After 60% Drop in Revenue.  

• Mastercard Sees Progress on Spending as U.S. Eases Crisis Rules.

• False Negatives Raise More Questions About Virus Test Accuracy.

• Wall Street Heavyweights Are Sounding Alarm About Stock Prices.

• Connecticut Governor Says Days of Commuting to NYC May End.

• Virus Guts U.S. Clean-Energy Jobs Gained Since ‘17, Report Says.   

• Jack in the Box Suspends Dividend to Preserve Cash Amid Outbreak.

Wall Street Journal:

• Soaring Prices, Rotting Crops: Coronavirus Triggers Global Food Crisis.

• Stocks Fall as Fed’s Powell Says Outlook ‘Highly Uncertain’.

• Companies Start Reaping Billions in Tax Breaks to Help in Slump.

• The Flynn Unmaskers Unmasked.

• The Michael Flynn Debauchery.

• Can You Get Covid-19 Twice?

• U.S.: Chinese, Iranian Hackers Seek to Steal Virus Research.

• New York and New Jersey Start to Reopen Their Economies.

 Fox News:

• Slew of top Obama-era officials sought to 'unmask' Flynn: chief of staff, Biden, Comey and more.

• Network downplays Flynn bombshell after years of incessant Russia coverage.

CNBC.com:

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Jack in the Box, Cisco, SmileDirectClub and more.

• Dow falls for a third-straight day, losing 500 points after Powell’s warning.

• Trump says Fauci’s warnings about reopening amid coronavirus crisis are not ‘acceptable’.

• Fed’s Mester: A recovery or ‘much more dire’ scenario are equally possible.

• Some Tesla factory employees say they’re being pressured to return to work.

• Gasoline demand improves as states reopen and drivers hit the road, but it’s still down 30%.

• Coronavirus is making grocery delivery services like Instacart popular, and they might stick around.

• Shoppers begin to shift from stockpiling to penny pinching at the grocery store.

• Home Depot could rally into earnings, and trader has a way to play it.

MarketWatch.com:         

• Investors should prepare for a U.S. ‘economic depression,’ warns Kyle Bass, but China’s fate could be even worse.  

• Cisco stock heads higher as profit continues to flow amid pandemic despite revenue slowdown.

• Oil prices could go negative again, so be prepared, CFTC warns futures industry.

Zero Hedge:

• Biden Spox Melts Down; Insults Journo Who Revealed Unmasking Role As 'Partisan, Rightwing Hack'.

• In Stunning Move, Flynn Judge Appoints Gotti Prosecutor To Argue Against DOJ Dismissal.

• Oil Price War Puts Entire Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia At Risk.

• Was Professor Panic's Flawed Computer Model Virtue-Signaling To His Radical Climate Activist Lover?

• A Third Of Americans Will Remain In Quarantine Even If Instructed To Get Back To Normal Life And Work.

• FBI 'Mistakenly' Releases 9/11 Bombshell In Court: Key Saudi Diplomat Who "Tasked" Hijackers Named.

• Republicans Win First Democrat-Held California House Seat Since 1998.

• LA County Issues New "Indefinite" Stay-At-Home Order As NJ Moves Up Timeline For Reopening: Live Updates.

• Georgia COVID Hospitalizations Drop After State Reopens.

• "Worse Than 2008" - American Pension Funds Report Record Losses In Q1.

• Stocks Tumble As Tepper Says Market "Most Overvalued Since The Bubble Of 1999".

• Stocks & Bond Yields Tumble On Beijing Blowback, A Fearful Fed, & Billionaire Alarm Bells.

The Epoch Times:

• New Senate Bill Aims to Reduce US Rare Earths Dependence on China.

• China’s Jilin City Announces Lockdown After Virus Outbreak.

John Hopkins University:

• Coronavirus Global Cases. (map)

BNO News:

• Tracking Coronavirus: Map, data and timeline.

KFF:

• State Data(Tests/Hospitalizations).

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -1.25% to -.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 119.25 +1.25 basis points.

• China Sovereign CDS 53.25 +3.0 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 58.09 unch.

• FTSE 100 futures -.76%.

• S&P 500 futures -.03%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.01%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (AGN)/3.90

• (CCL)/-1.66

• (FLR)/.25

• (FOSL)/-1.51

• (NCLH)/-.49

• (SSYS)/-.06

After the Close:

• (AMAT)/.89

• (BOOT)/.28

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST

• The Import Price Index MoM for April is estimated to fall -3.2% versus a -2.3% decline in March. 

• The Import Price Index Ex Petrol for April is estimated to fall -.5% versus a -.1% decline in March.

• The Export Price Index MoM for April is estimated to fall -2.3% versus a -1.6% decline in March.

• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 2500K versus 3169K the prior week.

• Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 25120K versus 22647K prior.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Kashkari speaking, Fed's Kaplan speaking, German Inflation Data report, Bloomberg weekly Consumer Comfort Index, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, Credit Suisse Utilities/Power/Clean Tech Conference, Citi Virtual Chemical Conference and the UBS Virtual Insurance 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 energy 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 25% net long heading into the day.