Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:        

• China Lawmakers Wrap Whirlwind Session Focused on Managing Risks.  
• ECB Confronts Rising Yields, Delayed Recovery: Decision Guide.  
• ECB Draft Forecasts Assume Any Inflation Pickup Will Be Fleeting.
  
• Asia Stocks Open Mixed; Treasuries, Dollar Steady: Markets Wrap.
  
• Oil Climbs as U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles Drain Amid Rising Demand.  
• Copper Wobbles Mask Ongoing Demand Strength, Top Supplier Says.
• Biden Boosts J&J Order; Brazil Deaths at Record: Virus Update.
  
• One in Five U.S. Adults Say They May Not Take Covid-19 Vaccine .
  
• J&J Vaccine Rollout Slowed by Shifting State Strategies.
• SoftBank-Backed Coupang Prices U.S. IPO Above Target.  
• What’s an NFT? It’s What Makes GIFs Worth Big Bucks.  
• U.S. Reports Surge of Children at Southwest Border.  
• The Winners and Losers From Surging Oil and Commodity Prices.

Wall Street Journal:

• The Progressive Democratic Steamroller.
• Booming Electric-Vehicle Demand Supercharges Lithium Prices.
• Businesses That Thrived in Lockdown Face New Hurdles.
• Arrests of Unaccompanied Children at Southern Border Continue to Climb.
• AMC Reopening More Theaters Closed by Covid-19.
  

Fox News:

• Toomey calls out COVID relief bill's ‘litany of outrageous items’ on 'America's Newsroom'.
• DAVID DITCH: COVID relief stimulus -- 7 things you need to know about deeply flawed package.
• Stimulus checks headed for stock market.

CNBC.com:

• Oracle drops after CEO delivers low earnings guidance on call.
• Bumble tops revenue estimates in its first quarterly report as a public company; shares rise.
• China’s low GDP target gives Beijing room to address market risks.

MarketWatch.com:          

• 16 small-cap stocks that could get a boost from ETF buying.  
• Roblox stock surges on first day of trading to close up more than 50%.  
• Dow ends at a record high while Nasdaq remains in correction — That hasn’t happened in 20 years.

Zero Hedge:

• Here Come Trillions More: Biden Will Unveil "Next Phase" Of COVID Response On Thursday.
• Buchanan: The Emerging Existential Crisis At The Border.
• "Mega Squeeze" Revealed As Culprit Of Tuesday's Historic Meltup, As Expected.
• Livid Trump Blasts "Our Country Is Being Destroyed At The Southern Border".
• Wind Power Is A Disaster In Texas, No Matter What Paul Krugman Says.
• Brazil Surpasses US In Daily COVID Cases & Deaths.
• China Censors "Stock Market" From Popular Social Media Platform Amid Selloff.
• House Passes $1.9 Trillion Stimulus; Next Stop, Biden's Desk.
• Who Is The President? Kamala Harris Takes Yet Another Call With A Foreign Leader.
• Stanford Medical Professor Insists COVID Lockdowns "Worst Public Health Mistake In Last 100 Years".
• Stimmy Vote Sinks Dollar, Bids Bitcoin & Big-Caps To Record Highs.

Newsmax:    

• Texas AG Paxton to Newsmax TV: Biden Admin Dodging Q's on Border Figures Because They Created a Problem.
  

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Piers Morgan Fires Back At Critics After Comments On Meghan-Harry Interview: ‘Freedom Of Speech Is A Hill I’m Happy To Die On’.
• California’s Proposed “Ethnic Studies” Curriculum Urges Students to Chant to Aztec Deity of Human Sacrifice and Cannibalism – Calls For “Counter-Genocide” Against White Christians.
• America’s Frontline Doctors Call on the Government and the Commercial Airline Industry to Abandon Requiring COVID-19 Vaccines.
• “This is the Most Radical Legislation, Socially, in the Past Four Decades” – Steve Bannon Weighs in on Bloated COVID Bill that has Nothing to Do with COVID.
• Psaki Laughs When Asked Why Border Facilities for Migrant Children Are Fully Open But US Schools Aren’t (VIDEO). 

The Epoch Times:

• Blinken Says ‘No Concessions Whatsoever’ to Beijing Ahead of Meeting With Top Chinese Officials.

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 63.0 -.5 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 33.75 -.5 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 61.24 +.01%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 2,770.0 +43.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 26.45 -.04%.
• FTSE 100 futures +.01%.

• S&P 500 futures +.09%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.03%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (CCL)/-1.69
• (GCO)/1.96
• (JD)/1.19
• (FIZZ)/.39

After the Close:

• (DOCU)/.13
• (LOCO)/.165
• (ULTA)/2.37
• (ZUMZ)/1.63
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 725K versus 745K the prior week.
• Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 4200K versus 4295K prior.
  

10:00 am EST

• JOLTS Job Openings for Jan. is estimated to rise to 6650 versus 6646 in Dec.

12:00 pm EST

• Household Change in Net Worth.

Upcoming Splits

• (VRNS) 3-for-1
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The ECB meeting, 30Y T-Bond auction, Langer Consumer Comfort, weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory report, DA Davidson Consumer Growth Conference, Loop Capital Consumer/Industrials/TMT Investor Conference and the (DGX) investor day could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

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