Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:       

• Job Loss Fears Keep U.K. Consumer Confidence Subdued in August.
• Asia Stocks to Follow U.S. Higher; Treasuries Gain. Asian stocks looked set for gains Friday after a rise in U.S. technology shares drove the Nasdaq 100 to a record, tempering concern over a bumpy economic recovery. Treasuries climbed. Futures pointed higher in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. S&P 500 contracts edged up after the index posted modest gains Thursday when a rally in technology heavyweights offset a slide for energy producers and banks amid light trading volume. The benchmark shrugged off earlier weakness from disappointing jobs data. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 0.65% and the dollar weakened. Crude oil retreated, while gold rose. S&P 500 futures gained 0.2% as of 7:18 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge rose 0.3%. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.5%. Hang Seng futures earlier gained 0.7%. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2%.
• Oil Holds Weekly Gain as Gloomy Economic Signals Damp Rebound.
• Trump Says Biden Would Destroy U.S. in Rebuttal of Nomination. 
  
• Pelosi Pressured by Moderate Democrats, GOP on Stimulus Talks. 
  
• CDC Says Sun-Belt Cases Ease; Europe Fights Spike: Virus Update.   
• Money Managers Bracing for Upheaval With Stocks Near Record.   
• Urban Exiles Are Fueling a Suburban Housing Boom Across the U.S. 
• Tech Reclaims Market Leadership With Recovery Showing Cracks.

Wall Street Journal:

• Covid-19 Data Will Once Again Be Collected by CDC, in Policy Reversal.
• The Joe Biden We Know.
• The Obama-Biden Virus Response.
• What Kamala Harris Isn’t Saying About Her Mother’s Background.
• Putin Rival Alexei Navalny in Critical Condition After Suspected Poisoning.
  

Fox News:

• Biden to formally accept nomination at DNC after president rips him from hometown.
  

CNBC.com:

• Jim Cramer recommends Nvidia on the next dip: ‘You need to buy’.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Ross Stores, Keysight Technologies & more.
• There are a lot more losing than winning stocks in the S&P 500, Jim Cramer says.
• Economist David Rosenberg questions need for more virus aid, cites ‘tremendous’ household cash.

MarketWatch.com:       

• Uber and Lyft granted emergency stay, shutdown averted in California.
  
• Investor who scored big in coronavirus rout and now says stock-market ‘environment presents…largest set of tail risks we’ve seen’ in 15years.
• Mortgage rates are going back up — just as home prices begin to skyrocket.

Zero Hedge:  

• Steve Bannon Pleads Not Guilty To Fraud Charges, Freed On $5 Million Bail.
• Pompeo Blasts European Allies As "Siding With Ayatollahs" After Rejecting Iran 'Snapback Sanctions'.
• Virtue Reversal: Goodyear Bends The Knee After Trump Sparks Boycott.
• San Francisco Bay Area Has The Worst Air Quality In The World As Wildfires Rage.
• 750 Million Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes To Be Released In Florida Keys Despite Objections Over 'Jurassic Park Experiment'.
• Big-Tech, Bonds, Bitcoin, & Bullion Bid As Dollar Dive Continues.

The Epoch Times:

• US Should Sanction Chinese Drone Maker DJI for Sending Data to China, Report Says.
  

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 +1.0% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 65.0 +.5 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 39.5 +1.0 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.31 +.02%.
• FTSE 100 futures +.43%.

• S&P 500 futures +.35%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.31%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (BZUN)/1.72
• (BKE)/.06
• (DE)/1.23
• (FL)/.69
  

After the Close:

• (UI)/1.37

Economic Releases

9:45 am EST

• Markit US Manufacturing PMI for August is estimated to rise to 52.0 versus 50.9 in July.
• Markit US Services PMI for August is estimated to rise to 51.0 versus 50.0 in July.
  

10:00 am EST

• Existing Home Sales for July is estimated to rise to 5.4M versus 4.72M in June.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Eurozone PMI report could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

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