Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:                 

• Biden’s Sharp-Elbows China Policy Hints at More Trump-Style Pain.
• Obscure Cyber Agency Becomes Nemesis of China's Tech Giants.  
• China GDP to Be Scrutinized for Signs of Post-Pandemic Slowdown.  
• Korea Adds More Jobs Before New Outbreaks Force Seoul Curbs.  
• Iranian Official Charged in Plot to Kidnap U.S. Citizen.  
• Canadian Retail Foot Traffic Jumps in Sign of Pent-Up Demand.  
• British Companies Accelerate Hiring as Economy Unlocks.
• Asian Stocks Eye Mixed Start, Yields Up After CPI: Markets Wrap.
• U.S. Inflation Spurt, China GDP Scrutiny, Hunger Crisis: Eco Day.  
• U.S. Oil Consumption Surging With Industry Firing at Full Blast.
• Meme Euphoria Fades as Losses Mount With 23% Drop From June Peak.  
• Small-Caps Lose Year’s Edge Over Tech With Bearish Bets Rising.
• LA County Passes Record $527 Million for Soaring Homeless Crisis.

Wall Street Journal:

• Joe Biden, Jim Crow and Texas Voting.
• Critical Race Theory Is a Hustle.
• Airbus Soars Past Boeing by Showing Little Mercy to Struggling Customers.
• Customers Are Back at Bars, but Workers Have Moved On.

Fox News:

• Biden ripped for injecting race in to election law speech as battle lines are drawn in Texas.
• Chick-fil-A could be banned from rest stops and guess who you can thank.
  

CNBC.com:

• Investors buy tech stocks to hedge inflation, Fed rate hike, Jim Cramer says.
• Surging prices for used cars, gasoline and food are driving jump in inflation.

 MarketWatch.com:    

• Apple reportedly planning buy-now, pay-later option; Affirm and Afterpay shares drop.

Zero Hedge:

• Democrat Groups Plan To "Fact Check" Private Text Messages.
• Fed President Blames Neverending QE On High Incarceration Rates Of Blacks And Latinos.
• Border Situation "Worst I've Ever Seen": Rep. Williams.
• Judicial Watch Asks Court To Order USPS To Disclose Social Media Snooping Documents.
• US Coast Guard To Cubans In Crisis: "Please Don't Take To The Sea".
• Yellen Urges Development Banks To Stop Fossil Fuel Funding.
• Cuba Accused Of Using Chinese Tech Systems To Block Internet Access Amid Protests.
• Goldman Says Economic Impact From Delta Will Likely Be "Modest".
• Trump Releases Letter From Ex-US Attorney Alleging Barr Pressured Him Not To Probe Voter Fraud Claims.
• "It Needs To Be Hard For People To Remain Unvaccinated": Making The Case For COVID Challenges.
• WTI Slides From 33-Month Highs After Inventory Data.
• Raging Inflation Sparks Bond Bloodbath, Slams Stocks As Dollar Spikes.

TheGatewayPundit.com: 

• Feds Arrest 5 Members of Same Texas Family For Walking Through Capitol on Jan. 6 – Leaving Behind One Minor Child Alone and Parentless.
• WTH? Jill Biden Appears on Sesame Street to Promote “Race Literacy” to Little Children.
• Joe Biden Says Trump Supporters Are Worse Than Slave-Owning Confederates in Divisive PA Speech (VIDEO).
  
• China Forces US Warship Out of Disputed Seas — As US Navy Continues to Focus on Diversity and Promote Drag Shows.

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 +.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 88.0 unch.

• China Sovereign CDS 38.0 +.25 basis point.
  

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 59.83 -.03%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,084.0 -8.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 20.0 -.08%.
• FTSE 100 futures +.07%.

• S&P 500 futures -.02%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.04%. 

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (BAC)/.76
• (BLK)/9.38
• (C)/1.91
• (DAL)/-1.40
• (PNC)/2.38
• (WFC)/.92
  

After the Close:

• None of note
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• PPI Final Demand MoM for June is estimated to rise +.6% versus a +.8% gain in May.
• PPI Ex Food & Energy MoM for June is estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.7% gain in May.
  

10:30 am EST

• Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -4,357,000 barrels versus a -6,866,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -2,092,360 barrels versus a -6,075,000 barrel decline the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to rise by +864,550 barrels versus a +1,616,000 barrel gain the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to rise by +.28% versus a -.7% decline prior.

2:00 pm EST

• US Fed Beige Book release.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Powell testifying to House and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report could also impact global trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are slightly lower, weighed down by financial and transportation 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.