Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• US Bill Aims to Counter China Control of Congo Critical Minerals.
• McDonald’s China Owners Carlyle, Trustar Plan $4 Billion Exit.
• Investors Slash China Local Government Bond Tenors to Shortest On Record.
• Biggest Foreign Stock Fund in Taiwan Shows Shift Away From China.
• NATO Is Papering Over the Cracks After Zelenskiy Loses His Cool.
• Asian Equities Advance as Fed Rate Peak Nears: Markets Wrap. 
• Oil Steadies Ahead of US Inflation Data as Russian Flows Drop.
• Inflation at 3% Flags End of Emergency, Turning Point for Fed.
• Dollar’s Epic Drop Sends Franc and Yen Surging as Traders Weigh Fed Path.
• Pensions With $500 Billion of Assets Are Going Bargain Hunting.
• Second Frank Executive Charged in JPMorgan Fraud.
• Epstein-Staley Emails Reveal Friendship Forged at JPMorgan.
• Remote Work to Wipe Out $800 Billion From Office Values, McKinsey Says.

Zero Hedge: 

• Joe Biden’s Climate Policies Weaken The U.S. And Strengthen China.
• "War Effort In Shambles As Hawks Turn On Each Other" At NATO Summit.
• Waiting For 'Buyers To Come': Unsold Electric Vehicles Piling Up In Car Dealerships, Says Report.
• Data Brokers To Be Barred From Selling Your Location Data Under Proposed Massachusetts Law.
• CCP Poised to Expand Security Footprint In Latin America With New Port In Argentina.
• Biden Administration Helping CCP By Restricting Domestic Mining: Minnesota Senator.
• Samsung Fights Back Against Beijing's Tech Theft, Sues Chinese Firm BOE Over Patent Infringement.
• China Warns NATO Must Not Ever Expand Into Asia-Pacific.
• Fear smoked.
• MbS To Blinken: 'No' To Israeli Normalization, 'Yes' To Syrian Reconciliation.
• Disney's Feminist Indiana Jones Sequel Bombs Hard – Media Pretends They Don't Know Why.
• 'Crucified': Black Georgia State Rep Switches To Republican Party.
• Trump Blasts Cluster Bombs For Ukraine: 'Biden Dragging US Into WW3!'.
• Not Just Bud Light: Anheuser-Busch’s Other Beers Are Also Suffering.
• US stocks gained, while the dollar and yields dropped after softer US inflation - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open.
• National Poll Shows RFK Jr. Tops All Other Politicians In Net Approval-Rating.
• Dollar hits YTD trough after CPI-induced rip in stocks and bonds - Newsquawk US Market Wrap.
• Soft CPI Sparks Bond-Buying Bonanza, Meme Stock Meltup, Gold Gains As Dollar Pukes.

Wall Street Journal:  

• Tampa: Why Gen Z and Millennial Tourists Are Flocking to This Retirement Mecca.
• SEC Moves to Shore Up One of America's Most Popular Investments.
• Disney Extends CEO Robert Iger’s Contract Through 2026.
• Lina Khan Is Losing Her Fight Against Big Tech.
• Inflation Isn’t Conquered Yet. Real wages have only begun to increase, and the Fed isn’t done.
• A Hiker Died With a Bullet in His Chest. Why Did Police Say He Was Stabbed by a Stick?
• What AT&T and Verizon Knew About Toxic Lead Cables.
• They Had Great Credit Scores. Then They Retired.
• Chinese Hackers Spied on State and Commerce Departments.

CNBC.com:

• Elon Musk launches his new company, xAI.
• China’s metal export curbs could drive countries to diversify their supply chains.
• FTC says it will appeal to block Microsoft-Activision deal.
• How China, U.S., Russia and Ukraine tension threatens global economic growth: Jeffrey Sachs.
• From ‘Barbie’ to Formula 1, TAG Heuer is making its mark on the luxury watch market.
• Viasat stock plunges after company discloses malfunction in new satellite.
• Apple just released a preview of its next big iPhone update. Here’s what’s new.

MarketWatch:

• Tesla is looking at its best sales quarter ever.
• As food prices rise in June, analysts warn of a ‘tipping point’ for Americans.
• S&P 500 could top the 4,500 mark, but not for long, says Oxford Economics.
• Nvidia could follow ‘blowout’ outlook with more massive upside, analyst says.

Newsmax:

• Rep. Comer to Newsmax: Key Biden Whistleblowers Set to Testify Next Week
• DOJ Wants Longer Sentences for Rhodes and Other Oath Keepers.
• FBI Whistleblower: FBI Incentivizes Higher Crime Stats

Fox News:

• Acclaimed surgeon shot to death by irate patient in targeted attack.
• Republicans erupt over email exposing ‘ultimate purpose’ of Hunter’s Burisma involvement.
• Harris severely mocked for latest word salad — this time trying to explain AI.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Wray Refuses to Say Whether Joe Biden Took Money From Burisma or Any Other Foreign Companies (VIDEO).
• Cratering Bud Light Reportedly Receives the Painful “Star of Death” from Major Retailer (PHOTOS).
• “SHAME ON YOU!” – Rep. Troy Nehls DESTROYS Chris Wray Over Jan 6 – Catches Him in Lies on Child Pornography Cases – BATTERS HIM ON RAY EPPS!
• OUCH! Matt Gaetz ABSOLUTELY DESTROYS Crooked FBI Chief Chris Wray with UNFORGETTABLE FINAL WORD! (VIDEO).
• Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine: “Inducing Lactation May Present More of a Challenge for Transgender Individuals.” — CDC Highlights Stunning Scientific Discoveries From Clown World in Official Handout.
• Biden Whisked Away From Helsinki Airport in 40-Vehicle Motorcade Hours After Claiming Climate Change “The Single Greatest Threat to Humanity” (VIDEO).
• FBI Asks Americans to Report Crime to Them in Recent Tweet – Then Are Overwhelmed with Reports on Their Own Criminal Activity.

The Epoch Times:

• China Passing Laws, Building Infrastructure for Wartime, Expert Says.
• The CCP’s Role in the Globalist Agenda: Trevor Loudon.
• US Companies Aiding China’s Human Rights Violations Under Spotlight at Congressional Hearing.

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 966,895 Reports(+1,278 from prior week) Through June 16th, 2023.

SKirsch.com:

• Using the MGH numbers with our own VAERS queries, we have 247 cases per million doses from the MGH study divided by 5.97 cases per million doses from VAERS. 247/5.97 = 41. This suggests that the VAERS under-reporting factor (URF) is 41X.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.5% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 112.0 -2.75 basis points. 

• China Sovereign CDS 60.75 -1.25 basis points.
  
• China Iron Ore Spot 109.8 USD/Metric Tonne +.8%.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 43.7 +.06%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 65.8 +.06%. 
• Bloomberg US Financial Conditions Index .33 unch.
  
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 15.7 -.30%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.07%.

• S&P 500 futures +.17%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.26%.  

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by tech 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 75% net long heading into the day.