Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• China’s Days as World’s Factory Are Over, IPhone Maker Says.   
• Estate Agents Warn of Boom to Bust for U.K. Housing Market.  
• U.S. Says Iranian Forces Boarded Ship in International Waters.
• Asia Stocks to Track U.S. Higher; Dollar Declines. Asian stocks looked set for gains Thursday after U.S. peers briefly surpassed their all-time closing high, led by surging technology shares. The dollar weakened and Treasury yields rose to five-week highs. Futures pointed higher in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. S&P 500 contracts were little changed after the benchmark momentarily topped its February high, capping the more than 50% rally since the market lows in March. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed as Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Tesla Inc. jumped. Treasury yields dropped from the session highs after the government’s sale of $38 billion in 10-year notes attracted stronger-than-forecast demand. Gold steadied. S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 7:19 a.m. in Tokyo. The index rose 1.4% on Wednesday. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.4%. Hang Seng futures climbed 0.4%. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.7%.
• Oil Rises With Shrinking U.S. Stockpiles Signaling Demand Pickup.
• U.S. Cases Climb 1.1%; Trump Pressures Schools: Virus Update.
• Wall Street Democrats Rejoice at Biden’s Pick of Kamala Harris.
  
• Vaccine Nationalism Makes a Deadly Disease Even Worse.  
• Video-Game Stocks and ETFs Ride Covid Rally to Gains Topping 50%.

Wall Street Journal:

• U.S. Deficit Totaled $2.8 Trillion From October Through July.
• Getting to Know Kamala Harris.
• Cities Weigh Cutting Police Budgets and Discover How Hard That Is.
• Goldman Sachs Vies for GM’s Credit Card, Betting on Connected Cars.
• Why Is It Hard to Get a Rapid Covid-19 Test? Machines Are Scarce.
• China’s Xi Speeds Up Inward Economic Shift.
• Coronavirus-Hit State Budgets Create a Drag on U.S. Recovery.
  

Fox News:

• Biden says Harris is ready to be VP as they make debut as running mates, vow to unseat Trump-Pence.
  

CNBC.com:

• Accuracy of U.S. coronavirus data thrown into question as decline in testing skews drop in new cases.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Lyft, Cisco, Vroom & more.
• Cisco falls on disappointing quarterly guidance as revenue continues to drop.
• No sign of a stimulus deal in sight as Mnuchin, Pelosi phone call yields no progress.

MarketWatch.com:       

• Vaping makes teens up to 7 times more likely to catch COVID-19: study.
• Warren Buffett said this metric signaled the 2001 crash — now it’s sounding the alarm on global markets .
• ‘Bond King’ warns of a return to March lows in the stock market, says smart money is on Trump to win in November.
  
• The recovery is faltering, top forecasters say.

Zero Hedge:

• Brace For The Worst Election In US History.
• Peak Idiocy: Wisconsin Government Agency Mandates Facemask Use For Virtual Zoom Meetings.
• Real Estate Collapse: In Q2, A Record 44 NYC Neighborhoods Closed Fewer Than Five Deals.
• Prof: "The Constitution Is Racist".
• S&P Surges Above Record Closing High.
• Andrew Kimbrell On The Origins of COVID-19.
• Lyft Reports Lowest EBITDA In History As Revenue Craters 60%.
• Trump Insists Most School Districts Can Reopen Safely.
• CNN: Joe Biden Could 'Step Aside' For Kamala Harris.
• S&P Jumps Above Record High After $9 Trillion Global Liquidity Tsunami.

Business Insider:

• Uber and Lyft threaten to temporarily shut down in California over labor disputes.
• Miami and New York top the US in mortgage delinquencies as rates rise in all 50 states.
• Air circulation can fight coronavirus transmission — or help it spread. Here's how to spot a faulty system.

The Epoch Times:

• TikTok, WeChat Bans Aimed at Protecting Americans’ Data From Beijing, US Assistant AG Says.
• CCP Uses ‘Friendship Groups’ to Infiltrate and Divide Europe.
  

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 +.256%  to +.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 66.0 unch.

• China Sovereign CDS 40.0 -.75 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.31 +.05%.
• FTSE 100 futures -.41%.

• S&P 500 futures -.01%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.03%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (FLR)/.25
• (IIVI)/.78
• (JKS)/.75
• (NTES)/32.05
• (TPR)/-.61
• (TNK)/2.58
  

After the Close:

• (AMAT)/.95
• (BIDU)/9.80
• (DDS)/4.34
• (MYGN)/-.49
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• The Import Price Index MoM for July is estimated to rise +.6% versus a +1.4% gain in June.
• The Export Prices Index MoM for July is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +1.4% gain in June.
• Initial Jobless Claims are estimated to fall to 1100K versus 1186K the prior week. 
• Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 15800K versus 16107K prior.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Brainard speaking, German Inflation Data reports, China New Home Sales report, $26B 30Y T-Bond auction, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, (CMC) investor day and the (IDXX) investor day 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 industrial 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.