Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:                 

• Didi Plunges Below IPO Price as China Expands Crackdown.  
• Nike Shares Lose Out to Chinese Sneaker Rivals After Xinjiang Cotton Boycott.
• Japan Expected to Deliver at Least $180 Billion in New Stimulus.
• Asian Stocks Fall as Growth Concerns Bolster Bonds: Markets Wrap.
• Oil Slumps With Stronger Dollar Cooling OPEC-Fueled Rally.  
• U.S. Fuel Use Seen at Post-Virus High in Run-Up to Holiday.  
• Jeff Bezos Hits Wealth Record of $211 Billion on Pentagon Move.
• Aging Condos Are a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ and Need More Oversight.  
• Authentic Brands Files for IPO Taking Forever 21 Owner Public.  
• Maker of $2,000 Barbecue Grill Traeger Files for U.S. IPO.  
• Western Fires Halt Hundreds of Canada Rail Cars, Slowing Exports.   
• Oil, Gas Stock ETFs Are Attracting Most Money in a Decade.

Wall Street Journal:

• OPEC, Biden and Gas Prices.
• The DNC’s Dishonest Voting Case Against Arizona.
• The Culture War Must Go On.
• Hospitals Often Charge Uninsured People the Highest Prices, New Data Show.
• Grubhub to Use Robots to Deliver on College Campuses.

Fox News:

• Biden warns admin is coming to your door if you haven't been vaccinated yet.
  

CNBC.com:

• OPEC discord could unleash a new level of volatility in oil market.
• Pentagon cancels $10 billion JEDI cloud contract that Amazon and Microsoft were fighting over.

MarketWatch.com:       

• Here are Wall Street’s 20 favorite energy stocks as crude oil hits a 6-year high.
  
• Didi and other Chinese stocks are sinking: Bargain hunters beware.

Zero Hedge: 

• The Peak Is In For Global Manufacturing PMI.
• Eric Adams Wins New York Democratic Primary After Mail-In Ballots Tallied.
• Watch: Looters Ransack San Francisco Neiman Marcus In Broad Daylight.
• Pelosi's Husband Bought Amazon Stock Before Pentagon JEDI Shakeup Sent Shares Soaring.
• US Forces Are Under Constant Rain Of Fire In Both Syria And Iraq.
• Critical Race Theory Should Be Banned, And A Black Parent Explains Why.
• The Central Banks New Mandate: Social Justice, Race, Gender Issues, Climate Change And Inequality.
• Jan. 6 Detainees Confined 23 Hours A Day, Attorneys Say.
• Georgia On My Mind: Biden Admin Doubles-Down On New Challenge Despite Losing Arizona "Racist" Voting Case.
• Their Endgame For The Flag, The National Anthem, The Declaration Of Independence, & The Constitution.
• 'Growth' Gains, 'Value' Pains As Yields Plunge, Dollar Jumps, Crude Dumps.

Newsmax:

• Trump Calls Upon Swing States to 'Pass Real Election Reform'.  
• Rep. Harshbarger: Vital to Protect Supply Chains From China.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Identity of Ashli Babbitt Killer Confirmed — Careless Capitol Police Lieutenant Is Being Protected by Democrats, Pelosi and Deep State FBI.
• Here We Go: Scientists Claim “Lambda” Variant May Be Resistant to Covid-19 Vaccines.

The Epoch Times: 

• Columbia Professor Who Thanked Fauci for Dismissing Lab Leak Theory Has History of Collaboration With China.

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 -.5% to +.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 85.5 +1.75 basis points.

• China Sovereign CDS 37.5 +1.5 basis points.
  

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.05 -.02%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,131.0 -41.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 19.8 -.2%.
• FTSE 100 futures +.16%.

• S&P 500 futures -.09%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.05%. 

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (MSM)/1.39
  

After the Close:

• (WDFC)/1.15
  

Economic Releases

10:00 am EST

• JOLTS Job Openings for May is estimated to rise to 9325K versus 9286K in April.
  

2:00 pm EST

• June 16 FOMC Meeting Minutes.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Russia rate decision, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report and weekly US retail sales reports could also impact global trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, weighed down by commodity and financial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.