Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:          

• Wuhan Beat the Virus. Now It’s Moving on by Shutting Out the World.   
• Losses from China Overseas Takeover Binge Are Piling Up Fast.   
• Three-Decade Economic Boom Comes to a Sudden Halt in Vietnam.
• Seoul Doctors Strike; FDA Chief Addresses Mistake: Virus Update.  
• Asian Stocks See Muted Start; Dollar Holds Retreat: Markets Wrap.  Asian stocks began Wednesday in mixed fashion, despite another record high on Wall Street, as investors mulled the pace of the recent equity rally and expectations for loose monetary policy. The dollar retained losses. Shares fluctuated in Japan and South Korea, and dipped in Australia. S&P 500 futures were steady after both the benchmark and the Nasdaq Composite notched fresh highs, helped by gains in Facebook Inc. Crude oil traded near the highest in five months as Hurricane Laura bore down on key refining facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The yen dipped and gold was little changed. Treasuries edged lower. S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge gained 0.4% on Tuesday. Japan’s Topix index slipped 0.3%. South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 0.2%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.2%.
• Oil, Gasoline Climb to Five-Month Highs With Hurricane Nearing.  
• U.S.-China Cooperate, Vietnam Stall, German Job Support: Eco Day.
• Wisconsin Governor Declares State of Emergency After Jacob Blake Protests.
  
• Bed Bath & Beyond to Eliminate 2,800 Jobs in Restructuring Plan.  
• Carnival’s Princess Cancels Some World Cruises in Early 2021.
• Hurricane Laura Threatens the U.S. With an $18 Billion Disaster.  
• Toll Brothers Orders Jump 26% in U.S. Rebound for Home Sales.  
• Commercial Mortgage Debt in Distress Surges 320%, Moody’s Says.

Wall Street Journal:

• Wisconsin’s Governor Declares State of Emergency Amid Protests.
• Chinese Diplomats Helped Military Scholars Visiting the U.S. Evade FBI Scrutiny, U.S. Says.
• Exxon’s Departure From Dow Highlights Market’s Retreat From Energy Bets.
• Remember the Trump Economy?
• Some Mortgage Firms Ask Borrowers to Pledge They Won’t Skip Payments.
  

Fox News:

• Melania Trump seeks positive message as she and Pompeo take spotlight at RNC night 2.
• Clinton says Biden should not concede on election night.
  

CNBC.com:

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Salesforce, Nordstorm, HP Enterprise and more.
• Etsy CEO says Amazon is trying to squash competitors by backing California bill.
• Palantir files to go public, lost about $580 million last year.
• New cases of the coronavirus are falling in most of the U.S., but epidemiologists urge caution.
• Nordstrom’s sales fall 53% as department store chain suffers store closures amid pandemic.

MarketWatch.com:       

• The stock market’s record rally is on the cusp of ‘euphoria’ — here’s what’s driving it.  
• These ‘Dividend Aristocrat’ stocks have been raising their dividends for decades, and there have been no dividend cuts during the pandemic.

Zero Hedge: 

• Gov Evers Declares 'State Of Emergency' As Wisconsin Braces For 3rd Night Of Violence.
• Russia Declassifies Footage Of Biggest Nuke Ever Tested: "Mushroom Cloud 7 Times Higher Than Everest".
• New Jersey Governor Proposes Hiking Millionaire Taxes To Plug $1 Billion Spending Hole.
• "Stand Down!" - How One Navy Seal Killed A Multi-Billion Hedge Fund.
• Snyder: We Should Mourn For What Is Happening To America.
• Sun Belt's Summer Outbreak Continues To Ease; Spain Rejects Another National COVID-19 Lockdown: Live Updates.
• Police Requests To Access Your Smart Speaker Are Up 72% Since 2016.
• Trump Reportedly Considers Accusing China Of "Genocide" Over Treatment Of Uighurs.
• "There's Too Much Product": Miami Has 30 Months' Of Unsold Condos After Covid Ravages Its Economy.
• Schiff: Government Is Trying To Replace The Economy With A Printing Press.
• WTI Holds Near 6-Month Highs Amid Gulf Shut-Ins, Inventory Draws.
• Nasdaq Hits New Record High As Confidence Crashes To 6 Year Lows.
  

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 unch. on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 62.0 -.75 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 36.0 -1.25 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.19 +.01%.
• FTSE 100 futures +.19%.

• S&P 500 futures +.07%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.2%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (PLAN)/-.12
• (CHS)/-.26
• (DKS)/1.22
• (EV)/.78
  

After the Close:

• (BOX)/.05
• (NTAP)/.41
• (SMTC)/.42
• (SPLK)/-.34
• (WSM)/.98
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• Durable Goods Orders for July is estimated to rise +4.5% versus a +7.6% gain in June.
• Durables Ex Transports for July is estimated to rise +1.9% versus a +3.6% gain in June.
• Cap Goods Orders Non-Defense Ex-Air for July is estimated to rise +1.8% versus a 3.3% gain in June.
  

10:30 am EST

• Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -2,530,400 barrels versus a -1,632,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -1,746,400 barrels versus a -3,322,000 barrel decline the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to fall by -166,600 barrels versus a +152,000 barrel gain the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to fall by -.36% versus a -.1% decline prior.
  

Upcoming Splits

• (AAPL)/4-for-1
• (TSLA)/5-for-1
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Mexico GDP report, $51B 5Y 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 financial and industrial 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.