Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:            

• China Crushed Jack Ma, and His Fintech Rivals May Be Next.  
• Chinese Banks Stockpile Record $1 Trillion of Foreign Currencies.
• Stock Rally Extends to Asia on U.S. Economic Hopes: Markets Wrap.
• Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day.  
• Oil Set for Weekly Gain as Focus Turns to Upcoming OPEC+ Meeting.
• Fed Inflation Split, China Leads U.S., One Hike in 2023: Eco Day.
• A Win for Roads, and No Tax Hikes: Infrastructure Deal Takeaways.
• Wall Street Sees Big Wish Granted in Biden’s Infrastructure Deal.
  
• Lawmakers Tap Budget Maneuvers to Make Infrastructure Plan Work.
• Fed Officials Debating Rate-Hike Timing Split on Inflation View.  
• Sporadic Gasoline Shortages Are Surfacing Across Six U.S. States.  
• Progressives Aim to Hold Biden, Pelosi to Promise on Bigger Bill.  
• U.S. Propane Prices Are Skyrocketing in a Rare Summer Rally.

Wall Street Journal:

• Disaster Looms in Afghanistan.
• New York Democrats Take a Stab at Reality.
• How I Liberated My College Classroom.
• Didi Sets Valuation Target of $62 Billion to $67 Billion in IPO.
• Environmental Investing Frenzy Stretches Meaning of ‘Green’.
  

Fox News:

• Expert explains possible reasons behind fall of Champlain Towers.
  

CNBC.com:

• Supply chain pressures are still a problem due to workforce shortages, manufacturing group says.
• Federal Reserve gives U.S. banks a thumbs-up as all 23 lenders easily pass 2021 stress test.
• Biden strikes infrastructure deal with bipartisan Senate group.
• Biden says more Americans will die as delta variant spreads: ‘You know it’s going to happen’. 
• Nike earnings and sales beat estimates as retailer books record revenue in North America.
• Reddit trading is leading to ‘massive market manipulation,’ investor warns.

 MarketWatch.com:       

• Infrastructure and the stock market — here’s what the $1 trillion deal means.
  
• Meme-based investing ‘is a totally nihilistic parody of actual investing,’ says Jeremy Grantham, who called 3 stock-market bubbles.

Zero Hedge: 

• Victor Davis Hanson: The Systemic Con Behind Wokeism.
• State Of Emergency Declared After Miami Condo Building Collapse; 99 Still Missing.
• Natgas Futures Hit 29-Month High Amid Heat Wave.
• Gun Sanctuary Movement Erupts, 61% of US Counties Now Protect Second Amendment.
• Albert Edwards: The Fed Is Trapped In An Epic Bubble, It Can Never Normalize Rates Again.
• McAfee Lawyer Saw No Sign Of Suicidal Intent, Blames Death On "Cruelty Of The System".
• Lumber Prices Extend Plunge Amid Increasing Sawmill Capacity.
• Green New Deal Illinois Style: Unions Battle Greens Over How To Screw Taxpayers.
• All 23 US Banks Easily Pass Fed's Stress Test, Setting Stage For Billions In Buybacks.
• Biden's Widely Mocked 'F-15s And Nukes' Speech Is Latest In String Of Gun Control Blunders.
• Another Day, Another Short Squeeze; Small Caps & Crypto Jump.

Newsmax:

• Sen. Rand Paul: Fire Dr. Anthony Fauci Now.
  

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: 73-Year-Old Pastor and Purple Heart Veteran Arrested For Being at Capitol, His Son Also Arrested in Front of 3-Year-Old Daughter (VIDEOS).
• China Coronavirus (COVID-19) Records Were Deleted from a US Database Per the Request of Chinese Scientists.
• Joe Biden Uses Woke Term “LatinX” Then Assumes Every Latino is an Illegal Alien (VIDEO).
• WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS? Joe Biden Whispers in the Microphone Again – THREE TIMES – and It is TRULY Creepy as Hell –Video.

The Epoch Times: 

• Biden Decries Beijing’s ‘Intensifying Suppression’ in Hong Kong After Apple Daily Closure.

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 83.5 -1.0 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 35.75 -.25 basis point.
  

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.82 +.06%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,247.0 -140.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 18.15 -.09%.
• FTSE 100 futures +.09%.

• S&P 500 futures +.05%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.1%. 

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (APOG)/.37
• (KMX)/1.64
• (JKS)/-.01
• (PAYX)/.67
  

After the Close:

• None of note
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• Personal Income for May is estimated to fall -2.5% versus a -13.1% decline in April.
• Personal Spending for May is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.5% gain in April.
• The PCE Core MoM for May is estimated to rise +.6% versus a +.7% gain in April.
  

Upcoming Splits

• (CSGP) 10-1
• (CSX) 3-1
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Japan CPI report could also impact global trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are higher, boosted by commodity and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.