Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:   

• Microsoft’s Long History in China Complicates Potential TikTok Deal.
• South Korean Consumer Prices Rise for First Time Since April.
• Hedge Fund Boosts Cash on Growing Risk of U.S.-China Armed Clash.
• Asian Stocks to Open Higher; Dollar Holds Gain: Markets Wrap. Asian stocks looked poised for gains Tuesday after a technology-fueled rally in the U.S. amid positive economic data and the potential for further stimulus. The dollar held gains. Futures pointed higher in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. S&P 500 contracts were little changed. Earlier, the Nasdaq 100 reached a record as traders sought out companies poised to do best in a stay-at-home economy. Apple Inc. set an all-time high and Microsoft Corp. gained as it tried to salvage a deal for the U.S. operations of TikTok. The dollar rebounded following its worst July in a decade and Treasuries fell across the curve as data showed U.S. manufacturing expanded in July at the fastest pace since March 2019. S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 8:18 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 Index advanced 0.7%. Nikkei 225 futures climbed 1%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index futures rose 1.4%. Hang Seng Index futures rose 0.7% earlier.
• Oil Rally Pauses as More OPEC Supply Offsets Economic Cheer.
• Fed Officials Talk Up Urgency of Fiscal Aid as Lawmakers Bicker.
• Bankruptcies Rip Through U.S. Mall Tenants With No End in Sight.
• Twitter Investigated by FTC for Alleged Misuse of User Data.
• The Pandemic Workday Is 48 Minutes Longer and Has More Meetings.
• Shale Driller Unloading Gas Fields for Pennies on the Dollar.
• Boeing Given Long List of Proposed Fixes for 737 Max Return.
• Hyatt’s Results Show Deep Pain from Collapse of Global Travel.
• Take-Two Jumps on Blockbuster Quarter for Grand Theft, NBA Games.

Wall Street Journal:

• School-Opening Extortion.
• Fear and Loathing in Covid America.
• Covid-19 Hastens the Work-at-Home Revolution.
• Democrats, White House Upbeat After New Talks on Coronavirus Aid Bill.
• Why the Teenage Brain Pushes Young People to Ignore Virus Restrictions.
• Covid Supercharges Federal Reserve as Backup Lender to the World.
• Hedge-Fund Launches Pick Up Despite Pandemic.
• Refiners Retrench as Demand for Gasoline, Jet Fuel Shrivels.

Fox News:

• Trump calls for re-run of 'total disaster' NY congressional race amid mail-in ballot problems.
• Lawmakers call on class to be replaced with ‘less racist’ curriculum.

CNBC.com:

• Here’s how the new SEC proposals could change the way US equity markets function.
• Trump says nationwide lockdown would ‘ultimately inflict more harm than it would prevent’.
• Trump says Microsoft should pay ‘key money’ to Treasury for facilitating TikTok deal.
• Trump wants broader role for telehealth services in Medicare.
• ‘Ominous’ market pattern may spark a summer slump.

MarketWatch.com:    

• Trump Could Use an Executive Order to Suspend Evictions and Payroll Tax Collection.
• A 10% selloff in the stock market is most likely, says expert who called March lows: ‘something has to give’
• Odds are ‘as high as 35%’ that next coronavirus aid package won’t become reality until September, analyst says.
• Take-Two Stock Jumps After the Company Posts Blowout Earnings.

Zero Hedge:

• Democratic Socialists Of America Teams Up With Teachers Unions To Reform Schools.
• BLM Uses 'Mafia Tactics' To Threaten Cuban Restaurant Owner With Diversity Demands.
• Twitter Shares Slide As Company Faces $250 Million FTC Fine.
• US Treasury Set To Spend Trillions In The Next Few Months.
• NJ Tightens Restrictions On Crowd Sizes, Houston Orders Police To Enforce Mandatory Mask Rules: Live Updates.
• This Time Is Different: The Death of Valuation - The Intellectual Calamity Of "Big Data".
• This Is "Unsustainable": Why Even Bullish Morgan Stanley Sees An Imminent Market Correction.
• Nasdaq Surges To Another Record High Despite Dollar Surge.

The Epoch Times:

• Millions Worth of PPP Loans Went to Chinese-Owned Companies, Report Finds.

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 +.75%  to +1.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 72.0 -1.5 basis points.

• China Sovereign CDS 42.5 -1.25 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.88 -.05%.
• FTSE 100 futures -.35%.

• S&P 500 futures -.08%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.11%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (ATI)/-.10
• (BP)/-.30
• (EMR)/.59
• (EXC)/.43
• (EXPD)/.72
• (IGT)/-.61
• (LEA)/-4.54
• (LPX)/.17
• (RL)/-1.71
• (VSH)/.08
• (VMC)/1.39
• (ZBH)/-.69
  

After the Close:

• (ATVI)/.42
• (ALL)/1.62
• (ANET)/1.95
• (BYND)/-.02
• (BOOT)/-.15
• (DVN)/-.26
• (ETH)/-.37
• (FOXA)/.57
• (LOPE)/.89
• (JAZZ)/3.11
• (MCHP)/1.44
• (MNST)/.49
• (PRU)/1.72
• (QGEN)/.55
• (TRUP)/.02
• (TWLO)/-.08
• (DIS)/-.64
• (WYNN)/-4.91
  

Economic Releases

10:00 am EST

• Factory Orders for June is estimated to rise +5.0% versus a +8.0% gain in May.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The China Manufacturing PMI report, weekly US retail sales reports and the William Blair Biotech Focus Conference could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are modestly higher, boosted by industrial and technology 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.