Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:                   

• Didi Joins China’s Worst U.S. IPOs After New Regulatory Pressure.
• Hedge Funds Rush to Profit Off China’s Commodity Price Battle.
• China Crypto Miners Plot Their Next Moves to Evade Crackdown.
• Italy Requires Vaccine Pass for Dining and Leisure as Cases Rise.  
• South America’s Left Turn Is Bullish Copper, Top Miner Says.
  
• Asia Stocks Steady After U.S. Shares Neared Record: Markets Wrap.  
• Oil Holds Three-Day Advance on Outlook for Tighter Global Market.
• Senate Infrastructure Deal in Sight After Medicare Agreement.  
• JPMorgan to Double Advisers as Wall Street Vies for Wealthy.  
• Hard Seltzer Craze Starting to Fade, Says Sam Adams Maker.  
• Biden on CNN Gets Smaller Audience Than Normal Night at Fox News.  
• Carlyle Pushes for Industry’s Largest Buyout Fund at $27 Billion.

Wall Street Journal:

• How Much More Will Your Oreos Cost? Companies Test Price Increases.
• Intel CEO Says Chip Shortage Could Stretch Into 2023. 
• Thousands of Afghan Interpreters Bound for U.S. Bases in Kuwait, Qatar.
• A Tale of Two Recoveries.
• U.S. Median Home Price Hits New High.
• Federal Reserve Ramps Up Debate on Taper Timing, Pace.
• U.S. Vaccine Panel Signals Support for Covid-19 Booster Shots.
• Amazon-Backed Rivian Automotive Plans Second U.S. Electric-Vehicle Factory.
• Startup Claims Breakthrough in Long-Duration Batteries.
• Bitcoin Is Failing Its First Inflation Test.

Fox News:

• Ex-education secretary reveals why Biden admin's 'error' excuse for pushing CRT group is 'falsehood'.
  

CNBC.com:

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Twitter, Snap, Intel and more.
• Here’s what’s next for the bipartisan infrastructure plan after setback in the Senate.
• Jim Cramer says near-term Covid delta variant concerns won’t threaten long-term stock market gains.
  

MarketWatch.com:          

• Another 2.2 million stimulus checks just went out — and it’s a great reminder to file your taxes.
  
• Snap crushes earnings expectations as revenue more than doubles.
  
• Why coffee futures scored their biggest 1-day gain in over 7 years.

Zero Hedge:

• Why Are Thieves Stealing So Many Catalytic Converters?
• Have We Reached "Peak Self-Glorifying Billionaire"?
• Global Home Prices Are Rising At The Fastest Pace On Record. 
• Montana Attorney General Provides Legal Basis For Rejecting Critical Race Theory: Activists.
• UK's Sending 2 Warships To Japan Infuriates China - Warns Against "Flexing Muscles".
• Secessionist, Border Realignment Movements Gaining Traction In US.
• Albert Edwards Notices "Something Shocking" In The "Transitory vs Persistent Inflation" Debate.
• NFL Teams With Unvax'd Players To Forfeit Games, Incur Financial Liability During Outbreaks.
• Twitter Shares Soar AFter Hours After Top-Line Beat & Raise.
• Small Caps Slammed As 'Short Squeeze' Ammo Dries Up, Bonds & Bitcoin Bid.

Newsmax:

• Trump: Arizona 'RINO' Is Holding Up Forensic Audit of 2020 Ballots.  
• Rep. Hice: Pelosi 'Comfortable' With Republicans Off Committee.
  

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• ‘It May Be You Have to Pay More Wages’ – Psaki Tells Small Business Owners Struggling to Find Workers to Compete with the Government (VIDEO).
• CNN’s Dumpster Fire Town Hall with Joe Biden Finishes Dead Last with Viewers… But He Totally Got 81 Million VotesChina Refuses To Work With W.H.O. On Second Phase Investigation Of Lab Leak Theory.
• CDC Quietly Deletes 6,000 COVID Vaccine Deaths From Its CDC Website Total in One Day — Caught by Internet Sleuths (VIDEO).
• As Crime Skyrocketed Across the Nation, George Soros Gave $1 Million to an Organization Working to Defund the Police.
• Why Did Georgia Mail Out 7 Million Absentee Ballots in 2020 Election When that Was the Number of Registered Voters in the State?

The Epoch Times:

• 81 Percent of Americans Are Concerned About Chinese Influence in US: Poll.

Covid-19(Data, Maps, Graphs):

• Our World in Data:  New Global Covid-19 Cases(7-day rolling average graphs). New Covid Hospital Admissions/ICU Admissions/Deaths
  
• FT.com:  Fully Vaccinated by Country(graph). Global Lockdown Stringency Index(map).
  
• NYTimes.com:  County Trends and Clusters.
  
• Brown School of Public Health:  Covid Severity by State/County(map).  US Hospital Capacity.
  
• CovidActNow:  Covid Severity/Infection Rate by Metro Area.
  
• KFF:  US Vaccinations by Race/Ethnicity.
  
• Carnegie Mellon: Covid-Like Symptoms in Community. Covid Symptom Searches on Google. Covid-Related Dr.Visits.  Restaurant Visits. Wearing Masks. (graphs)
  
• Safegraph.com:  Commerce Patterns(graphs).

Night Trading 

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 85.75 +.25 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 38.25 unch.
  

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 59.84 +.01%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 2,827.0 +2.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 20.20 -1.8%.
• FTSE 100 futures +.39%.

• S&P 500 futures +.31%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.42%. 

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (AXP)/1.62
• (GNTX)/.44
• (HON)/1.95
• (KMB)/1.71
• (RF)/.53
• (SLB)/.26
  

After the Close:

• None of note
  

Economic Releases

9:45 am EST

• Markit US Manufacturing PMI for July is estimated to fall to 62.0 versus 62.1 in June.
• Markit US Services PMI for July is estimated to fall to 64.5 versus 64.6 in June.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Eurozone PMI report could also impact global trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

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