Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:       

• U.S. Rebuffs China, Rejecting Links Between Covid and Food.  
• The Pandemic’s Worst-Case Scenario Is Unfolding in Brazil.  
• Canada Eyes Longer-Term Debt to Sustain Borrowing Binge.  
• Rupee Set to Crash Past Record Low, Former Reliance FX Head Says.  
• Asia Stocks Set to Decline as Virus Worries Grow: Markets Wrap. Asian stocks are set to drop after a tumble on Wall Street, where worries about a surge in virus cases in multiple U.S. states spurred a flight from riskier assets. Equity futures in Japan and Australia pointed lower after the S&P 500 declined 2.6% and Treasuries advanced along with the dollar. U.S. stock futures opened to a modest drop. Data showed Florida and California set daily records for new cases, while Houston said its intensive-care unit beds are at 97% capacity. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are requiring visitors from virus hot spots to self-quarantine. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell for the first session in nine. Futures on the S&P 500 dipped 0.1% as of 7:10 a.m. in Tokyo. The index fell 2.6% on Wednesday. Futures on Japan‘s Nikkei 225 declined 1%. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.5%.
• Covid’s Comeback Is Threatening Oil’s Remarkable Price Recovery.  
• IMF Downgrades, Pandemic Tightens Grip, U.S. Tariffs: Eco Day.
• Pandemic Races Through U.S., Forcing Grim Reality on States.
• Texas Governor Says ‘Massive’ Virus Outbreak Sweeping the State.
• Democrats Tell Convention Delegates to Stay Home During Pandemic.  
• Fed Is Reaching Limit on What It Can Do to Lower Mortgage Rates. 
• Chicago School Board Rejects Plan To Remove Police From Schools.

Wall Street Journal:

• Coronavirus Cases Are Accelerating Across U.S.
• Photos: Black Lives Matter Murals Painted Across America.
• Homicide in Seattle’s No-Cop Zone.
• Blocking Police Reform.
• Coronavirus Was a Punch in the Mouth.
• Companies Agonize Over Reopening Timetables.
• White House National-Security Adviser Warns of China’s Bid to ‘Damage Our Economies’.
• House Investigating Company Selling Phone Location Data to Government.
• Coronavirus Upended a Corporate Borrowing Binge.

Fox News:

• BET founder mocks 'borderline anarchists' tearing down statues, in Fox News interview.
• NASCAR star 'relieved' rope in garage wasn't noose targeted at him.

CNBC.com:

• Biden’s big lead in the polls could be partly behind market’s drop and may lead to more weakness.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: KB Home, Hertz, Ally Financial and more.
• These retailers have the most stores in states such as Florida where coronavirus cases are spiking.
• California reports more than 7,000 coronavirus cases, biggest daily jump so far.
• Amazon launches cloud service to help non-coders build apps.

Zero Hedge:    

• US Sets New Record For Largest Daily Jump In COVID-19 Cases As 39k Infected: Live Updates.
• Navy Destroyer Sails Close To Venezuela In "Message" To Maduro & Ally Iran.
• Not Quite "By The Book": Strzok Notes Reveal Biden Invoked Logan Act During Anti-Flynn Oval Office Huddle.
• "Where's The Police When You Need Them": D.C. Delegate Asks The Right Question After Bizarre Incident Near White House.
• Pentagon Produces List Of 20 Chinese Firms 'Backed By China's Military'.
• The 'Can' To Be Kicked-Down-The-Road Is Just Too Damn Big.
• The TVIX ETF Is Getting Delisted: Here Are The Three Implications For Markets.
• Bonds Laugh At Today's Idiotic Surge In Hertz Stock.
• S&P Futures Plunge 20 Points In Seconds On $3BN Sell Imbalance.
• COVID-Comeback Batters Big-Tech & Black Gold, Sparks Bond Bid.

Business Insider:

• Walt Disney World employees are petitioning for the theme park to delay its reopening date as Florida coronavirus cases spike.
• Tesla owners saw the most issues with their cars out of any other brand studied by J.D. Power. 
• Morgan Stanley sees Tesla falling 35% from current levels, says rally to $1,000 ignores a host of risks.

The Epoch Times:

• Beijing Ramps Up Influence Operations on Twitter in Bid to Shift Global Opinion.

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 -1.5% to -.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 85.25 +1.5 basis points.

• China Sovereign CDS 52.0 +3.75 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.40 -.03%.
• FTSE 100 futures n/a.

• S&P 500 futures -.33%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.32%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (ACN)/1.84
• (DRI)/-1.6
• (FDS)/2.44
• (FLR)/.25
• (MKC)/1.16
• (RAD)/-.38
• (WOR)/.26

After the Close:

• (NKE)/.05
• (PRGS)/.63

Economic Releases 
8:30 am EST

• The Advance Goods Trade Balance report for May is estimated at -$68.1B versus -$69.7B.
• Wholesale Inventories MoM for May are estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.3% gain in April.
• Retail Inventories MoM for May are estimated to fall -2.8% versus a -3.6% decline in April.
• Durable Goods Orders for May is estimated to rise +10.1% versus a -17.7% decline in April.
• Durables Ex Transports for May is estimated to rise +2.2% versus a -7.7% decline in April.
• Cap Goods Orders Non-Defense Ex Air for May is estimated to rise +1.0% versus a -6.1% decline in April.
• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 1335K versus 1508K the prior week. 
• Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 20000K versus 20544K prior.
  

11:00 am EST

• The Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity Index for June is estimated to rise to -3 versus -19 in May.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The GFK Consumer Confidence, weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory report and the $41B 7Y T-Note auction could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower, weighed down by commodity 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.