Thursday Watch

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.5% to unch. on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 59.5 unch.

• China Sovereign CDS 31.75 +.75 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 61.45 -.06%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 2,515.0 -32.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 27.75 -.54%.
• FTSE 100 futures -.41%.

• S&P 500 futures -.29%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.47%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (BJ)/.67
• (CCL)/-1.71
• (CIEN)/.45
• (JW/A)/.56
• (KR)/.68
• (MIK)/1.46
• (FIZZ)/.38
• (WB)/.71
  

After the Close:

• (AVGO)/6.56
• (COO)/2.79
• (COST)/2.31
• (GPS)/.18
• (PLYA)/-.47
• (NX)/.06
• (WORK)/-.03
• (SWBI)/.81
  

Economic Releases

 7:30 am EST

• Challenger Job Cuts YoY for Feb.
  

8:30 am EST

• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to rise to 755K versus 730K the prior week.
• Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 4300K versus 4419K the prior week.
  

10:00 am EST

• Factory Orders for Jan. is estimated to rise +2.1% versus a +1.1% gain in Dec.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Powell speaking, Eurozone Retail Sales report and the weekly EIA natural gas inventory report 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 technology and consumer shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly mixed. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.