Tuesday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Iran Sends Warship to Red Sea After US Sinks Houthi Boats.
• Maersk Halts Red Sea Shipping as US Navy Sinks Houthi Boats.
• South Korea Opposition Leader Stabbed in Neck, Taken to Hospital.
• China Secretly Transforms Huawei Into Most Powerful Chip War Weapon.
• China’s Patchy Recovery Keeps Asia’s Factories in a Slump.
• China Home Sales Fall Again as Policy Shifts Fail to Stem Decline.
• US Pushed Dutch Maker of Chip Equipment to Block Chinese Sales Before Deadline.
• Deadly Earthquake in Japan Sends Spot Power Rates Up 15%.
• China Stocks Drag Down Asia as New Year Begins: Markets Wrap.
• Oil Advances as Iran Warship Entering Red Sea Increases Tensions.
• Here’s (Almost) Everything Wall Street Expects in 2024.
• Charting the Global Economy: Maritime Attacks Drive Up Costs.

Zero Hedge:

• 2023 Greatest Hits: The Most Popular Articles Of The Past Year And A Look Ahead.
• Iran Dispatches Warship To Red Sea, Houthis Warn Of "Repercussions" After US Forces Kill Rebels During Maersk Ship Attack.
• South Korea Opposition Leader Stabbed In Neck, Attacker Arrested.
• Student Loan Borrowers Stage A "Massive Student Debt Strike".
• These Are The 20 Most Popular Neighborhoods For Potential US Homebuyers.
• Ex-CIA Officer Says Ukraine A 'Sinking Ship' After NYT Highlights Recruitment Crisis.
• The Year That Expertise Collapsed.
• USS Ford Aircraft Carrier Returning Home After Extended Deployment Protecting Israel.
• Dangerously bullish: No caution signs.
• Supreme Court's John Roberts Urges "Caution" On Using Artificial Intelligence.
• We Did It, Joe! Monthly Migrant Encounters Exceed 300,000 For First Time In US History.
• Corruption, Chaos, & Conflict - The Fourth Turning Erupts In 2024.
• "Massive" NYPD Mobilization At JFK Airport To Protect Travelers From Pro-Palestinian Mob.
• The Wuhan Cover-Up: RFK Jr. Has The Receipts.
• Bedlam In Berlin As Immigrants Bring In The New Year.
• Rome Was Eternal, Until It Wasn't: Imperial Analogs Of Decay.
• Hamas Fired New Year's Eve Rocket Barrage At Tel Aviv, Timed For Midnight.
• Secretary Of State That Kicked Trump From Maine Ballot Wants 'Better Leaders' In Power To Prevent 'Election Sabotage'.
• Corn, Wheat Prices Post Largest Yearly Decline In Decade As Hope For Easing Food Inflation Rises.
• California To Give Illegals Free (Taxpayer-Funded) Healthcare.
• A 2024 Wish List: Sanity At Home And Stability Abroad.
• 2024: Where Does The Pendulum Swing?
• America's Top New Year's Resolutions For 2024.
• Has Feminism And 'Hoeflation' Destroyed Dating In The West?
• DeSantis Promises 'Day One' Firing Of Special Counsel Jack Smith If Elected.
• Schwarzenegger Interview Explains California’s Decline.
• A Clue As To Why AI Is So Dumb.
• 'Incompetence Has Consequences' & Other Lessons From 2023.
• Repeat Influenza Vaccination Linked To Higher Risk Of Infection: CDC Preprint.
• Vivek Slams CNN For 'Egregious Interference' After Town Hall Answers Go Viral. 
• "We Are Going To See 'Collisions' All Over The Planet" - Pushback Against Tyranny & Control Will Accelerate In 2024.

Wall Street Journal:

• Beijing Is on a Wartime Footing. Biden needs to rebuild America’s ‘arsenal of democracy’ or risk being unprepared.
• Claudine Gay and Why Academic Honesty Matters. Politicization and lower standards jeopardize Harvard’s standing as a great research institution. 
• Israel Reshuffles Forces, Prepares for Long-Term Conflict in Gaza.
• Covid Slashed Consumer Choices. This Is Why They Aren’t Coming Back.
• A Real-Estate Juggernaut Ran Off the Rails in 2023.
• You’re Probably Still Eating Too Much Sugar.
• Xi Resurrects Mao’s ‘Continuous Revolution’ With a Twist.
• Shale Is Keeping the World Awash With Oil as Conflicts Abound.
• For Happiness in the New Year, Stop Overdoing Everything.

CNBC:

• Powerful quake rocks Japan, nearly 100,000 residents ordered to evacuate.
• China’s Xi says ‘reunification’ with Taiwan is inevitable.
• Singapore’s economy surged 2.8% in the fourth quarter, its highest quarterly growth in 2023.
• New FAFSA launches after a long delay, but with ‘issues,’ leaving millions of students in limbo.
• Iranian warship Alborz enters the Red Sea — Tasnim.

Reuters:

• More EVs lose US tax credits including Tesla, Nissan, GM vehicles.

MarketWatch.com:

• So much for ‘the January effect’: These 5 things could interrupt the U.S. stock market rally in early 2024.
• 20 midcap stocks with 2024 upside ranging up to 62%, according to analysts.

NewsMax:

• Hamas Fights Israel With Chinese Weapons.
• Illegal, Experimental: Biden Military Slammed Over COVID Vax Mandate.

Fox News:

• Israel confirms troops killed Hamas leader involved in terror group's Oct. 7 massacre.
• Elon Musk pokes fun at Green Day after anti-Trump 'American Idiot' performance.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Tucker Carlson Releases Video of Jeffery Epstein’s Brother Mark Epstein Attempting to Obtain Jeffery’s Prehospital Records, Anounces Big Interview With Mark Coming Soon (VIDEO).
• 231 Current and Former U.S. Service Members Demand Military Leaders Be Court-Martialed Over Forced COVID Vaccines: “Service Members Were Significantly Harmed by These Actions”.
• This is CNN: Anderson Cooper Does Shots of Tequila and Gets Hammered on Air Again (VIDEO).
• Ohio Governor Who Vetoed Bill Blocking Protecting Minors and Girl’s Sports Took $40K From Pro-Trans Hospitals.
• Powder Keg Europe: Dutch Army Commander Urges Preparation for War With Russia, as Netherlands Get Ready To Send F-16 Fighters to Ukraine.
• Peter Sweden: IT’S SPREADING – Massive Farmers Protest in Germany (Video).
• Harvard Honor Council Member Who Votes on Plagiarism Cases Says University President Claudine Gay Got By on ‘Lower Standard’-Calls for Her Resignation.
• ‘Friends’ Actor David Schwimmer Blasts Hypocrites for Ignoring Hamas’ Sexual Violence-‘Where is Their Outrage?’
• ‘Batman Begins,’ ‘The Full Monty,’ and ‘Rush Hour’ Actor ‘Suddenly’ Dies.
• Hundreds of Pro-Palestinian Protesters Take Over Historic Boston Common, Crash New Year’s Eve Celebration.
• Watch: Fauci’s Former NIH Boss Finally Admits COVID Lockdown Was ‘Another Mistake We Made’.

The Epoch Times:

• Xi Emphasis of Mao Shows His Determination to Take an Authoritarian Path: Analysts.
• Large Numbers of China’s Foreclosed Homes Fail Auction Despite Price Cuts.

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 997,917 Reports(+9,212 from prior week) Through November 3rd, 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 indices are -.5% to +.25% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 90.25 -.25 basis point.
  
• China Sovereign CDS 60.25 +.5 basis point.
• China Iron Ore Spot 142.6 USD/Metric Tonne +1.8%.
  
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 41.69 -.07%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 56.0 -.2%.
• Bloomberg US Financial Conditions Index n/a. 
  
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 15.2 -.4%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.53%.
• S&P 500 futures -.01%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures -.07%.

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by technology and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher.  The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the week.