Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:                  

• Korea’s Jobless Rate Unexpectedly Rises as Virus Persists.
• EU Funds Biometric Tech Used for Returning African Migrants.  
• Asia Stocks Extend Advance; U.S. Tech Retreats: Markets Wrap.   
• Oil Extends Gains After Report Points to Easing U.S. Stockpiles.  
• Kaplan on Quarters Ahead, Singles Day Boom, RBNZ Delay: Eco Day.
• For FX Contrarians, Much of Dollar Weakness Has Been Priced In.
• Covid Roars Back in U.S. Cities After Months as a Rural Problem.  
• Lilly CEO Sees Supply Squeeze for New Antibody Drug as Covid-19 Cases Surge.  
• New York’s Daily Covid Count Nears 4,000, Worst Since May.
• GOP Has Eyes on Georgia as Party Backs Trump on Election Fight.  
• Record Low Mortgage Rates Widen Historic U.S. Economic Divides.

Wall Street Journal:

• Pfizer Vaccine Faces Distribution Challenge.
• Election Observers at Crux of Trump Lawsuits in Pennsylvania.
• The Supreme Court’s Pennsylvania Cleanup.
• Good Grief, the Pollsters Got It Wrong.
• M.B.A. Applications Are Up Because Job Market Is Down.
• Job Openings Are Rising Closer to Prepandemic Levels.
• Boeing Faces Possible FAA Enforcement Action.

Fox News: 

• Biden's COVID adviser would distribute vaccine globally before US.
  

CNBC.com:

• Remote work is ‘here to stay’ — even with a vaccine, says former IBM CEO.
• Supreme Court appears willing to leave Obamacare in place.

MarketWatch.com:          

• Beyond Meat and McDonald’s haven’t confirmed their work on the McPlant, which one analyst finds ‘extremely strange’.  
• Aurora Cannabis plans to sell more stock, and shares are plunging in late trading.

Zero Hedge:

• Ex-CIA Chief Under Obama Urges Palace Coup Against Trump So He Doesn't "Declassify Everything".
• "Shredding The Fabric Of Our Democracy": Biden Aide Signals Push For Greater Internet Censorship.
• Ten Attorneys General Join Supreme Court Case Against Pennsylvania Mail-In Ballot Deadline.
• Illinois, Utah & Montana Break COVID-19 Records As US Death Toll Nears 240k: Live Updates.
• Communist Party Expands Crackdown On China's Tech Billionaires After Spoiling Ant Financial IPO.
• Jeff Bezos No Longer Interested In Buying CNN As AT&T Reportedly Looks To Dump Network.
• With Illinois COVID-19 Cases Soaring, Officially Reported Information Is Increasingly Useless.
• Here Are All The Things That Could Still Go Wrong With A COVID-19 Vaccine.
• Elite Schools Are The Most Problematic On Speech.
• Woman Who Voted For Trump In Texas Shocked To Find She Also 'Voted' Via Mail-In-Ballot In California.
• WTI Extends Gains On Bigger Than Expected Crude Draw.
• The Collectivist Nature Of Social Media Platforms And Big Tech.
• Momentum Massacre Trounces Tech Stocks; Bonds Drop, Bullion Pops.

OANN:

• Data: Over 10k dead people voted in Mich., fraud probe underway.

The Epoch Times:

• Chinese State Media Touts a Biden Win, Indicates Hope for Pro-Beijing US Administration: Analyst.
• LIVE: Chinese Communist Party’s Crimes Against US and the World.
  

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 -.25% to -.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 58.25 -.5 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 28.75 +.5 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.50 +.01%
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 1,115.0 +4.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 25.61 +.73%
• FTSE 100 futures -.43%.

• S&P 500 futures -.10%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.07%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (APD)/2.21
• (LM)/.85
• (LMND)/-.58
  

After the Close:

• (HI)/.56

Economic Releases

10:30 am EST

• Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -788,090 barrels versus a -7,998,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to rise by +338,640 barrels versus a +1,541,000 barrel gain the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to fall by -1,500,270 barrels versus a -1,584,000 barrel decline the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to rise by +.54% versus a +.7% gain prior.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Japan inflation data, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, Roth Tech Conference, Stifel Growth Conference and the (VZ) analyst meeting could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by commodity 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.