Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:    

• China Detains Australian TV Anchor With Government-Run Station.
• Melbourne Drives Australian House Prices Lower.   
• Facebook Threatens to Cut Off Australians From Sharing News.
• South Korea Plans Record 2021 Bond Sales to Fund Stimulus. 
• India Is Becoming the World’s New Virus Epicenter.
• Asia Stocks Set to Retreat; U.S. Tech Shares Gain: Markets Wrap. Asian stocks looked set to pull back at the start of a new month after most U.S. equities retreated even though technology shares extended gains.Futures pointed to modest losses in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. S&P 500 futures dipped. The U.S. benchmark notched a fifth consecutive monthly advance in August despite edging lower Monday. The dollar declined for a fifth month in a row. Treasuries advanced, with 10-year yields slipping to just above 0.70%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average led losses after its components were revamped, with Microsoft Corp. and Walmart Inc. slumping on concern China could block a possible sale of the video app TikTok. Apple Inc.’s surge as the stock split 4-for-1 lifted the Nasdaq 100 past 12,000 for the first time. S&P 500 futures ticked down 0.2% as of 8:26 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 Index fell 0.2%. Nikkei 225 futures fell 0.3% in Singapore Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index futures dropped 1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures fell 0.4%.  
• Oil Edges Higher With U.S. Crude Stockpiles Seen Falling Further.
• New Yorkers Flee for Florida and Texas as Mobility Surges.
• U.S. Cases Top 6 Million; AstraZeneca Trial Begins: Virus Update.
  
• Ford to Cut 1,000 North America Salaried Jobs Amid Overhaul.
  
• Amid Spike in Opioid Overdoses, Momentum for Reform Wavers.  
• Stocks in ‘Euphoric Land’ With Nasdaq 100 Surging Past 12,000.

Wall Street Journal:

• Portland’s Half-Century of Ruinous Leadership.
• Individual Investors Reshape the Market.
• Amazon Gets U.S. Approval for Drone Fleet for Deliveries.
• The Democratic State Budget Scare.
• Covid-19 Vaccines: What’s Coming and When?
• Portland Shooting Suspect Identified as Antifa Supporter.
• M.B.A. Job Offers Dry Up.
  

Fox News:

• Trump defends teen charged in shootings; decries Biden, ‘political violence’ before Kenosha visit.
• McEnany calls out Lemon, Cuomo for 'downplaying' earlier violence.
• Texas AG alleges election laws are being broken in lawsuit.  
  
• Slain Portland man's friend says he lost life for having wrong views.
  

CNBC.com:

• Zoom shares soar after revenue more than quadruples from last year.
• The next four weeks could give investors a scare, strategist Lindsey Bell warns.
• Coronavirus cases rising again across more than half of the U.S.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Zoom Video, Eastman Kodak, Tesla & more.
• Delta, American drop domestic change fees, following move by United.

MarketWatch.com:            

• Here are the big winners among U.S. stocks during a sizzling August.
  
• An ‘extreme’ August on the stock market might be telling us something about the November election.
  
• Trump re-election momentum could shock stock-market investors betting on Biden win, says star analyst.

Zero Hedge: 

• Kolanovic Says Trump Re-Election Odds Are Soaring, Prompting Nate Silver To Melt Down On Twitter.
• MIT Debunks Musk's Neuralink As "Neuroscience Theater" In Scathing Critique.
• California's Radical Brainwashing Curriculum Soon To Be Mandatory.
• "Quartet" Of Tropical Disturbances Brewing In The Atlantic.
• New Jersey Is Becoming The Most Hated State As Households Flee In Record Numbers.
• Watch As Democrats Spend Four Years Fantasizing About Riots, Assassination And Violent Chaos.
• As US Warship Again Transits Taiwan Strait, Taipei & Beijing Warn Each Other: 'Risk Of Accidental Conflict Likely'.
• "This Is Real... There's Going To Be A F**king War In November" - Dem Operative Admits Voter Fraud.
• J.C. Penney On Verge Of Liquidation After Mall Talks Collapse.
• Polling Firm Rasmussen Warns About "National Poll Suppression" As Biden Lead Slumps To Just 2Pts.
• New Jersey Governor "Very Seriously" Considering Tax On High-Frequency Trades.
• White House Plans To Target More Chinese Tech Firms After TikTok, WeChat, Navarro Warns.
• Stocks & Silver Soar For 5th Straight Month, Bonds & Dollar Dumped.

Business Insider:  

• Robinhood, TDAmeritrade, and other online stock-trading platforms all experienced issues on Monday.

The Epoch Times:

• US Firms Move Supply Chains Out of China, Explore Options Closer to Home.
• CCP Scrubs State Media Report Raising Concerns Over COVID-19 Vaccine From Internet.
  

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 -1.0%  to -.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 61.0 -1.0 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 33.75 -1.5 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.68 +.03%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 412.0 +21.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 33.20 -.08%
• FTSE 100 futures -.53%.

• S&P 500 futures -.03%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.18%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• None of note
  

After the Close:

• (HOME)/1.31
• (HRB)/.33
• (SCVL)/.62
  

Economic Releases

10:00 am EST

• ISM Manufacturing for August is estimated to rise to 54.6 versus 54.2 in July.
• ISM Prices Paid for August is estimated to rise to 54.3 versus 53.2 in July.
• Construction Spending MoM for July is estimated to rise 1.0% versus a -.7% decline in July.
  

Afternoon:

• Wards Total Vehicle Sales for August is estimated to fall to 14.9M versus 14.5M in July.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Brainard speaking, Treasury's Mnuchin testifying on COVID-19 response, Eurozone PMI report, German Unemployment report,  weekly US retail sales reports, Jefferies Semi/IT Hardware/Communications Summit and the (NVDA) special event could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by financial and commodity 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.