Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• U.K. Plans Business Tax Hike to Pay for Covid, Sunday Times Says.  
• Taiwan Sounds Warning on Currency as Exports Soar on Chip Demand.    
• Alibaba, Pinduoduo Join Fight Against Looming China Food Crisis.
  
• Bond Yields Rise; Stocks Up Amid Vaccine Optimism: Markets Wrap.
• Mideast Stocks Gain as Inoculations Calm Yield Fears: Inside EM. 
• Oil Advances as Markets Assess Texas Return Before OPEC+ Meet.
• Inflation Angst Is About to Rewrite the Stock Market Playbook.  
• U.S. Deaths Near 500,000; Australia Starts Shots: Virus Update.
• Surging U.S. Yields Loom Over Emerging Markets Beholden to Fed.
• Powell May Be Dovish in Congress Debut of Biden Era: Eco Week.  
• Biden’s Economic Legacy at Stake With Next Package Taking Shape.  
• Bill Gates Says Social-Media Bans Aren’t Answer to Divisiveness.  
• Chip Crisis Flummoxes Congress in a World Where U.S. Output Lags.  
• Teen Use, Mental Health Spur Talk of Pot Curbs.  
• Bubble Warnings Go Unheeded as Everyone Is a Buyer in Stocks.

Wall Street Journal:

• Bond Selloff Prompts Rethink by Stock Investors.
• Blue-Collar Jobs Boom in Pandemic.
• GameStop Craze Puts Holders of Retail ETF on Wild Ride.
• Biden’s Art of the Iran Concession.
• Big Labor May Save New York From AOC’s Socialism.
• U.S. Report Allows Russian Pipeline Project to Proceed, for Now.
• Activist Investors Seek Kohl’s Board Takeover.
• A Stock-Trading Dupe Is Born Every Minute.
• The Non-Covid Spending Blowout.
• The Money Boom Is Already Here.

Fox News:

• Dems' $2T coronavirus bailout bill a job killer, GOP House budget panel leader says.
• Pence declines CPAC invitation amid reports of 'bitterness' toward Trump.
• Gina Carano speaks out about her firing from 'The Mandalorian'.

CNBC:

• South Africa Covid variant detected for the first time in NY patient: Cuomo.
• Clorox making 1.5 million canisters of wipes per day to meet Covid demand, CEO says.
• ‘Explosion of economic activity’ may put inflation fears in check. Here’s why.

Zero Hedge: 

• Michael Burry Warns Weimar Hyperinflation Is Coming.
• Remember When Fauci Called Ebola Quarantines "Draconian", Warned Of "Unintended Consequences". 
• 'Watch Your Back': Cuomo Accused Of "Gangster" Threats Against "Flood" Of People.
• Stunning Levels Of Air Toxins Found In New York's Subway System.
• FAA Orders Emergency Inspections Of Boeing 777s After United Engine Failure; Japan Grounds 777 Fleet.
• California Nurses Sponsor Bill Mandating Free Healthcare For Everyone.
• "There Will Be Fear" - ARK Invest's Cathie Wood Warns Of Stock Market Correction.
• Dem Rep. Ro Khanna: 'We Don't Want' Small Businesses That Can't Pay $15 Minimum Wage.
• White House Says HFT Tax "Worth Studying" After GameStop Debacle.
• Are Yields About To Blast-Off: Here Are The 3 Things To Watch.
• "Morally Grotesque" - Whistleblower At Smith College Resigns Over 'Reverse-Racism'.
• Just As COVID Vaccine Found To Be 99% Effective In Preventing Death, Japan Discovers New, More Contagious Strain.
• The Next Commodity Supercycle.
• "Two Weeks That Changed The World": A Goldman Post-Mortem On "The Squeeze".
• Supermarket Calls Cops On Disabled Man For Not Wearing Mask, Tries to Make Him Wear Yellow Sticker.
• Somalia Is Headed Towards Another Tragic Collapse Despite Billions In US Funding.
• NATO Chief Says 'Rise Of China A Defining Issue' For The Alliance.
• Greenwald: Congress Escalates Pressure On Tech Giants To Censor More, Threatening The First Amendment.
• Meet The Columbia Professor Who Says He Does Heroin For "Work-Life Balance".
• The Trustees Have Failed.
• The High Cost Of Using The Minimum Wage As A Form Of Welfare.
• 92% Of NYC Restaurants Unable To Pay Rent In December, Study Finds.

MarketWatch.com:         

• Opinion: Inflation is rising and so are investors’ fears about stocks.
  

NewsMax:

• Newt Gingrich: 'Nobody' Can Challenge Trump's Hold on GOP.
• Allen West: Biden's Racial Justice Vaccine Remark 'Racist'.
• Gordon Chang: Chinese 'Don't Respect' President Biden.  
• Stephen Moore: Biden Energy 'Pipe Dream' Will 'Bankrupt' Us.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Biden Ends President Trump’s ‘America First’ Policies in a Speech to the G7 From an Unknown Location Filmed at an Unknown Time.
• INSANE: Louisiana Secretary of State About to Hand Over $100 Million in Voting Machine Purchase – Dominion Is Reportedly In the Running.
• Psaki Repeatedly Refuses to Condemn Cuomo’s Actions That Led to the Deaths of Thousands of Elderly New York Nursing Home Residents (VIDEO).
• Colorado’s 2020 Election Results Make No Sense – No Way Biden Received Half a Million More Votes than Obama, Hillary or Trump. No Way!
• Joe Biden Ends Trump Program that Targeted Sex Offenders in the US Illegally (Video).
• Despite Reports by Dishonest ‘Fact Checkers’ – January 6th Was NOT an ‘Armed Insurrection’ – Just More Lies.
• Mitch McConnell Thinks You’re Stupid – Is Fundraising Off of Trump’s Name.
• Electric Customers in North Texas Stuck with Electric Bills as High as $17,000 Following Cold Snap.
• Democrats Push Bill that Forces All States to Count Ballots Received 10 Days After an Election.

The Epoch Times:

• Lockdowns Continue in China Despite Beijing’s Claims of No New COVID-19 Cases.
• CCP Withheld Pandemic-Relevant Data From WHO, Leaked Documents Reveal.

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 indices are -.25% to +.75% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 57.0 -.25 basis point.
• China Sovereign CDS 28.75 -.5 basis point.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 62.91 +.01%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 2,932.0 +57.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 24.75 -.20%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures unch.
• S&P 500 futures +.15%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.25%

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (CTB)/.92
• (DISCA)/.72
• (DISH)/.89
• (KFY)/.51
• (RCL)/-5.19
  

After the Close:

• (BCC)/1.08
• (IR)/.45
• (MRO)/-.20
• (OXY)/-.58
• (PANW)/1.43
• (TREX)/.36
• (WMB)/.28
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for Jan.

10:00 am EST

• The Leading Index for Jan. is estimated to rise +.3% versus a +.3% gain in Dec. 

10:30 am EST

• The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Index for Feb.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Bowman speaking, German IFO Index and the SVB Leerink Healthcare Conference 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 rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.