Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:  

• Asia Stocks Set for Muted Start; Dollar Climbs: Markets Wrap. Asian stocks were poised for a muted start to Friday trading after weakness in technology shares weighed on the Wall Street session. The dollar climbed. Futures in Japan were flat, while contracts in Hong Kong and Australia edged higher. S&P 500 futures opened flat after earlier falling as Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. led losses, while Netflix Inc. slumped in after-hours trading after the streaming service reported fewer subscriber additions than forecast. Treasuries ticked up as American initial jobless claims posted their smallest weekly decline since March. Futures on the S&P 500 were little changed as of 7:01 a.m. in Tokyo. The index slipped 0.3% on Thursday. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 were little changed. Hang Seng futures earlier rose 0.7%. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.2%. 

• Oil Slips as Looming OPEC Supply Surge Adds to Demand Woes.  

• White House Says Stimulus Bill ‘Must’ Include Payroll Tax Cut.

• Texas Deaths at Record; Brazil Cases Top 2 Million: Virus Update.

• Covid-19 Infections on the Rise in Kids and Teens With School Approaching.

• A $35 Billion Bite From U.S. Bank Profits May Only Be the Start.  

• Forty-Three Days of Nasdaq Dip Buying May Crater With Netflix.

Wall Street Journal:

• The $52 Trillion Bubble: China Grapples With Epic Property Boom.

• 30-Year Mortgage Rate Reaches Lowest Level Ever: 2.98%.

• Some Students Want Me Fired for a Thought Experiment.

• Trump’s Virus Non-Message.

• ‘I Cry Every Day’: In Texas, a Doctor Fights the Virus Surge.

• Trump Administration Turns Up Pressure on China on Several Fronts.

Fox News:

• 15 female ex-Redskins employees allege sexual harassment: report.

• EXCLUSIVE: Conservative group leads campaign to divest from liberal colleges.

• Californians turn on one another as state locks down again amid the pandemic.

CNBC.com:

• Netflix earnings, Twitter’s massive hack, and everything else you missed today: CNBC After Hours.

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Netflix, Tesla, J.B. Hunt and more.

• CDC bans U.S. cruises through September, citing ‘ongoing’ coronavirus outbreaks on ships.

• AG Barr slams U.S. tech companies for becoming ‘pawns of Chinese influence’.

Zero Hedge:

• Florida, Texas Suffer Record Jump In COVID-19 Deaths: Live Updates.

• North Carolina City Unanimously Approves Reparations For Black Residents.

• Trump: No New Coronavirus Stimulus Without Payroll Tax Cut.

• Sham Bailout Statistics Shroud Shutdown Tyranny.  

• The FBI Has Launched An Official Inquiry Into Last Night's Twitter Hack.

• Foreigners Bought A Record Amount Of US Stocks In May, Sold Treasuries.

• Bonds Bid, Stocks Skid, As Banks & Big-Tech Breakdown.

The Epoch Times:

• UK to Purge Huawei From 5G by 2027, Angering China and Pleasing US.

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 -.25%  to +.5% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 79.0 +.75 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 44.25 +.25 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.69 unch.

• FTSE 100 futures +.18%.

• S&P 500 futures +.25%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.63%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (ALLY)/.26

• (ALV)/-1.12

• (BLK)/6.92

• (ERIC)/.65

• (FHN)/.21

• (KSU)/1.14

• (RF)/.07

• (STT)/1.60

After the Close:

• None of note

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• Housing Starts for June are estimated to rise to 1184K versus 974K in May.

• Building Permits for June are estimated to rise to 1289K versus 1220K in May.
  

10:00 am EST

• Univ. of Mich. Consumer Sentiment for July is estimated to rise to 79.0 versus 78.1 in June.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Eurozone Inflation report, (LOW) fireside chat and the (F) fireside chat could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

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