Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:     

• China’s ‘Too Fast, Too Sudden’ Bond Rout at Mercy of Stock Rally.

• World’s Leading Economies Remain Fragile After Rebound.

• Asia Stocks to Track U.S. Drop: Treasuries Jump: Markets Wrap. Asian stocks were on course to follow their U.S. peers with modest declines amid concern that a resurgence in coronavirus cases could slow the global economic recovery. Treasuries jumped. Equity futures pointed lower in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index were flat after the gauge fell 0.6% on Thursday, with financial firms among the worst performers as Wells Fargo & Co. prepared to cut thousands of jobs because of the pandemic. Still, the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced to a fresh record high. Longer-dated Treasuries rose following an auction for 30-year securities that showed strong demand. The start of Chinese trading will be in focus Friday as the Shanghai Composite makes a bid for a ninth day of gains amid signals of official support and strong demand from retail traders. Futures on the S&P 500 Index added 0.1% as of 7:14 a.m. in Tokyo. The index fell 0.6% on Thursday. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.5%. Hang Seng futures slipped 0.8%. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.4%.

• Oil Tumbles With Corporate Layoffs, Virus Clouding Recovery.

• U.S. Daily Cases Top 60,000; Record Texas Deaths: Virus Update. Bleak Message of Economic Pain Underlies Tech’s Market Dominance.

• Covid-19 Is Bankrupting American Companies at a Relentless Pace.  

• Wells Fargo Readying Thousands of Job Cuts to Start in 2020.  

• Manager Who Timed March Bottom Cuts Risk With ‘Alarm’ Sounding.  

• Citadel Securities Says Retail Is 25% of the Market During Peaks.

• China-Connected Researcher Charged With Grant Fraud in U.S.

Wall Street Journal:

• Supreme Court Paves Way for Prosecutor to View Trump Taxes.

• A Bad Day for the Presidency.

• Supreme Loser: Pelosi’s House.

• Tyson Turns to Robot Butchers, Spurred by Coronavirus.

• Behind New Covid-19 Outbreaks: America’s Patchwork of Policies.

• Companies Raised Record Amounts Selling Stock During Crisis.

• Arrests at U.S. Border With Mexico Jumped 40% in June.

Fox News:

• Pelosi faces questions after failing to condemn statue vandals, saying 'People will do what they do'.

• Police confirm death of Black man found hanging from tree was suicide.

• Ex-secy. of state rips media coverage of alleged Russian bounties on US troops.

CNBC.com:

• Biden says investors ‘don’t need me,’ calls for end of ‘era of shareholder capitalism’.

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Virgin Galactic, Redfin, Carnival and more.

• Airborne transmission of coronavirus in restaurants, gyms can’t be ruled out, WHO says.

• Pentagon leaders say they’re evaluating whether to remove Confederate symbols from military bases.

• Revolving credit debt drops to $996 billion—the lowest since the great recession.

MarketWatch.com:    

• Soaring demand for federal jobless benefits points to fresh fissures in the U.S. economy.

Zero Hedge:     

• Stocks Slide As Biden Vows To "End Shareholder Capitalism", Raise Corporate Tax Rate To 28%.

• Chinese Banks Preparing For "Worst Case" Scenario: Being Cut Off From SWIFT, Hong Kong Bank Runs.

• US Reports Another Record Single-Day Jump In COVID-19 Infections: Live Updates.

• The Fragility Of The Woke.

• Supreme Court: Nearly Half Of Oklahoma Is Indian Reservation.

• University Of Delaware Sued Over Biden's Hidden Senate Records.

• Federal Reserve Unhinged.

• "There's No Way I Can Lose": Invincible Chinese Daytraders Going All-In.

• "Political Prosecution!": Trump Rages After Supreme Court Tax Ruling.

• Another Hate Crime Hoax: Oregon Politician Admits To Mailing Himself Racist Letter.

• The Strangest Recession In History.

• Dip-Buyers Rescue Big-Tech From Dreaded Down-Day As Bond Yields Plunge.

The Epoch Times:

• Miles of Unsold New Cars Seen at Wuhan’s Dongfeng Motor Group.

• Beijing Authorities Covered Up New Virus Cases in Local Neighborhood: Resident.

Digital Blackboard:

• Daily New Cases by Region.

Worldometer:

• New Cases/Deaths by state.

Rt Covid-19:

• How fast virus is growing by state.

KFF:

• State Data(Tests/Hospitalizations).

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.5%  to +.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 79.25 -.5 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 47.25 +2.25 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.71 -.03%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.68%.

• S&P 500 futures +.29%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.26%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (CCL)/-1.76

• (GBX)/.14

After the Close:

• (SJR)/.30

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST

• PPI Final Demand MoM for June is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.4% gain in May.

• PPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for June is estimated to rise +.1% versus a -.1% decline in May. 
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Canadian Unemployment report, Bloomberg July US Economic Survey and the (CCL) business update could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and consumer 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.