Wednesday Watch

Around X:

• @ElonMusk

• After democrats started arresting Trump's lawyers, the gloves were off. They burned the constitution in order to steal power and lost. Trump must crush the deep state betrayers or the US is lost. Yes.
• “Dr. Anthony Fauci’s fortune doubled — hitting about $15 million — between early 2019 and the end of 2023 over the course of the pandemic, including ‘during the worst of the draconian COVID lockdowns,’’ according to records obtained by a watchdog group. Fauci’s net worth was about $7.6 million in January 2019 before COVID-19 hit and surged to about $15 million by the end of 2023, 141 pages of financial-disclosure forms obtained by watchdog group Open The Books revealed.”
  

• @ZeroHedge

• US Propane Tanker Diverts Chinese Port Call In Latest Warning Sign For China's Plastic Factories.
• How Junk Food Took Hold In The US And What RFK Jr. Is Doing About It.
• Harvard Law School Professors Politicize The Rule Of Law.
• Tesla Misses On Sales, EPS , Slams "Uncertainty" In Automotive Market, But Affirms Affordable Model "Remains On Track" For H1 2025
• Stocks & Bitcoin Pop, Gold Drops As Trump Says "Had No Intention Of Firing" Powell.

• @MarioNawful

• TRUMP: THIS IS THE GOLDEN AGE... CHINA WANTS TO BE A PART OF THAT TOO. “Long time, we've had a very good relationship, and I think we'll make a deal with China. If we don't make a deal, we'll set it. We'll just set the number and, you know, think they'll wanna be a part of The United States. We're talking about the golden age. It will never be a time like this, in my opinion and China wants to be a part of that too.” (video)
• ELON: NO ONE CAN COMPETE WITH TESLA’S AI — WE BUILT IT FROM SCRATCH. "Worth noting that Tesla has both an incredible AI software team and an AI hardware chip design team—from scratch. We didn’t acquire anyone. We just built it. So yeah, it’s really… I mean, I don’t see anyone being able to compete with Tesla at present.”
• SEC. KENNEDY WE ARE SPENDING $1.8T ON CHRONIC DISEASE AND IT’S BANKRUPTING OUR NATION. “They weren’t part of the dialogue. There was zero spent in this country treating chronic disease when my uncle was president. Today, it’s about $1.8 trillion annually—it’s bankrupting our nation. Seventy-four percent of American kids cannot qualify for military service. How are we going to maintain our global leadership with such a sick population?” (video)
• TRUMP: EGG PRICES ARE DOWN 94%— THE FED SHOULD CUT RATES NEXT. "The cost of eggs has come down like 93, 94% since we took office. They’re pretty much normally priced now. A great job—our Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, did a very good job. But groceries have come down. It’s all coming down. The only thing that hasn’t come down—but it hasn’t gone up much—are interest rates, and we think the Fed should lower the rate.” (video)
• ELON COMMITS FULL FOCUS BACK TO TESLA AMID CHALLENGING QUARTER. Elon announced plans to significantly reduce his government efficiency duties and recommit his innovation skills to the electric vehicle pioneer facing temporary headwinds. Elon on the earnings call: "My time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly".
• AUTO INDUSTRY TO TRUMP: "PUMP THE BRAKES ON PARTS TARIFFS". 6 major auto industry groups—yep, the folks behind your favorite car brands—just hit Trump’s inbox with a panic letter. 
• TRUMP: WE’LL SET THE DEAL IF COUNTRIES DON’T COME TO THE TABLE. "And other countries have to make a deal. And if they don’t make a deal, we’ll set the deal—because we’re the ones that set the deal. Scott, Howard, myself, and others—we’re going to be setting the deal. And it’ll be a fair deal for everybody. I think it’s a process that’s going to go pretty quickly.”

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are +.75% to +1.75% on average. 
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 99.25 -6.5 basis points. 
• China Sovereign CDS 65.75 -4.0 basis points.
• China Iron Ore Spot 99.7 USD/Metric Tonne +1.0%
• Swiss Franc/Offshore Chinese Renminbi Cross 8.87 -.67%.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 36.9 -.06%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 53.9 +.3%.
• US 10-Year Yield 4.36% -4.0 basis points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 25.7 -3.4%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +1.53%. 
• S&P 500 futures +1.54%. 
• NASDAQ 100 futures +1.72%.

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are higher, boosted by technology and consumer discretionary shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open higher and to maintain gains into the afternoon.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.