Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• China’s Poor Squeezed by Surging Food Prices and Stagnant Wages.
• Asian Stocks Drift After U.S. Losses; Gold Steady. Asian stocks drifted Wednesday after their U.S. peers retreated on doubts over the timing of a spending package from Washington. Gold steadied after tumbling the most in seven years. Shares ticked higher in Japan and fluctuated in South Korea and Australia. S&P 500 futures edged higher after the benchmark fell for the first time in eight trading sessions as investors sold some of the rally’s biggest winners. Some traders cited comments from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying stimulus talks are at a stalemate as a catalyst for the declines. Treasury yields held their overnight rise. New Zealand’s main stock gauge fell about 2% after evidence of new coronavirus cases in the country forced fresh restrictions. Crude oil was little changed. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 9:06 a.m. in Tokyo. The index fell 0.8% on Tuesday. Japan’s Topix Index rose 0.6%. Korea’s Kospi Index rose 0.1%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 0.1%. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 fell 1.8%.
• Oil Dips Lower After Facing Resistance at Key Technical Level.  
• Central Bank Reprieve, Youth Hit Hard, Australia Splits: Eco Day.
• Hedge Funds Warn Crowded Dollar Shorts in Danger of Backfiring.
• Stimulus Impasse Risks Dragging to September, Imperiling Economy.
• Kamala Harris Brings Prosecutor’s Legacy to Biden Ticket, for Better or Worse.
  
• U.S. Cases Up 0.9%; Texas Tops 500,000 Infections: Virus Update.  
• New York, Miami Leading America in Mortgage Delinquencies.  
• Small Businesses Are Dying by the Thousands — And No One Is Tracking the Carnage. 
• Gundlach Says Trump Will Win, Calls Harris Too Charismatic.

Wall Street Journal:

• Harris Named as Biden’s Running Mate in Historic Vice Presidential Choice.
• Kamala Harris Won’t Satisfy Progressives.
• TikTok Tracked User Data Using Tactic Banned by Google.
• Airbnb Plans to File for IPO in August.
• Fox News Launches International Streaming Service.
• After Chicago Looting and Coronavirus, Businesses Consider Closing Shop.
  

Fox News:

• President reveals why he was surprised Biden chose 'nasty' Harris as running mate.
  

CNBC.com:

• McConnell urges White House, Democrats to restart coronavirus relief negotiations.
• Trump says U.S. has reached deal with Moderna for 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine.
• After-hours buzz: Tesla, Eastman Kodak, Shutterstock and more.

MarketWatch.com:     

• Lemonade stock declines following first public quarterly results.
  
• Opinion: As Big Ten cancels its football season because of COVID-19, college sports programs are facing a financial apocalypse.
  
• U.S. will eventually experience ‘the normal effects of recession,’ says J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon.

Zero Hedge:

• Facebook Cracks Down On 'Fake' Local News Networks Run By Political Operatives.
• Biden Picks Kamala Harris As Running Mate.
• Central Bank Balance Sheets To Hit $28 Trillion Next Year.
• Exposing COVID-19's "Orgy Of Incoherence".
• Commercial Real Estate Bankruptcy Legislation Introduced.
• Pennsylvania Is Playing Politics With Drug Rationing.
• Peak Insanity: Tesla Adds $16 Billion In Market Cap After Announcing 5-For-1 Stock Split.
• CNN Is Hosed If Trump Loses: Former Exec.
• Texas Becomes Third State To Pass Half A Million Confirmed COVID-19 Cases: Live Updates.
• "The Greatest Pull-Forward In History": Why This Recession Is Different, Similar, & Worse.
• Shares Of Jimmy Lai's Newspaper Soar As Hong Kong Vows To "Fight On" Against CCP Crackdown.
• Apple Shares Slump After Evercore Warns Of "Surprisingly Negative" Chinese Smartphone Data.
• Big 10 Becomes First 'Power Five' Conference To Delay Football Season.
• Silver Crashes Most Since Lehman Bankruptcy.
• Far-Left Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal Brags About Manipulating Joe Biden.
• Economic Prosperity Is No Longer The Priority. Guess What Happens Next...
• Majority Of Americans Think Biden Unlikely To Finish 4 Year Term In White House.
• Surging Gun Sales Triggers Second Ammo Shortage Of This Year.
• WTI 'Off The Lows' After Bigger Than Expected Crude Draw.
• Liquidation: Stocks, Bonds, Bullion, & Bitcoin All Puked.

The Epoch Times:

• China’s Xinjiang Region Pushes More Lockdown Measures In Response to Virus, Drawing Residents’ Ire.
  

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 -1.25%  to -.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 66.0 -1.25 basis points.

• China Sovereign CDS 40.75 +.25 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.07 -.%.
• FTSE 100 futures +.11%.

• S&P 500 futures +.17%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.36%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (EAT)/-1.37
• (VIPS)/1.92
  

After the Close:

• (CACI)/3.47
• (CSCO)/.74
• (LYFT)/-.97
• (SPTN)/.34
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• The CPI MoM for July is estimated to rise +.3% versus a +.6% gain in June.
• The CPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for July is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.2% gain in June. 
• Real Avg. Weekly Earnings.
  

10:30 am EST

• Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -2,523,000 barrels versus a -7,373,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -424,110 barrels versus a +419,000 barrel gain the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to rise by +552,440 barrels versus a +1,591,000 barrel gain the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to fall by -.02% versus a +.1% gain prior.
  

2:00 pm EST

• The Monthly Budget Statement for July is estimated at -$137.5B versus -$119.7B in June.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The UK GDP report, China Loan Data report, $38B 10Y T-Note auction and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are modestly lower, weighed down by technology and metals/mining 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.