Thursday Watch

Around X:

• @Business 

• Japan’s Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato voiced serious concern over China’s latest export controls on rare earths, stressing the importance of coordinated action from G7 nations. 
• The Japan Innovation Party is eyeing up a coalition with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a move that would set LDP leader Sanae Takaichi on the path to become prime minister while offering stability for a government led by her.
• Bank of America and Bank of New York were hit by proposed class-action lawsuits accusing them of aiding in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme
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• Peter Thiel and Jeff Bezos are backing a health care company that aims to change cancer treatment by targeting tumors with sound waves.
• Salesforce projected revenue growth will accelerate to double digits in the coming years, potentially easing investor concerns about the pace of business at the software company.
• Get up to speed on what's moving global markets.
• Here's what you need to know to start your day
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• @ZeroHedge

• These Are The Top Questions Goldman's Clients Are Asking.
• *APPLE’S HEAD OF CHATGPT-LIKE AI SEARCH EFFORT TO LEAVE FOR META.
• 'Shut Up!': Nancy Pelosi Snaps At Reporter Over Jan. 6 National Guard Accusation.
• A $300 Trillion Dollar Fat Finger?
• Tesla Reportedly Places Large Humanoid Parts Order As Goldman Outlines Profit Implications.
• NRA, Gun Owners of America Vow To Sue California For Passing Glock Gun Ban.
• Trump Warns If Hamas Doesn't Disarm, 'We Will Disarm Them, Maybe Violently'
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• IMF Says Japan Should Avoid Adding Debt as Budget Pressure Grows. wait, has the IMF ever met... Japan?
    
• two things... 1) we caught up to trendline. 2) US debt will hit $38 trillion in two days and $40 trillion in under a year. (graph
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• Overthrow: Trump Authorizes CIA Covert Ops Targeting Venezuela's Maduro.
• *TRUMP: MODI ASSURED ME TODAY INDIA WON'T BUY RUSSIAN OIL.
• *TRUMP: WE'RE IN A TRADE WAR WITH CHINA NOW.
• Gold Hits New Record High As Bessent/Beijing Battle Sparks Stock Swings.  

• @CNBC

• Asia-Pacific markets set to open mixed after Wall Street gains on strong bank earnings.
• Arm CEO says moving some AI workloads from the cloud will make it more sustainable.
• 'There are still software companies that can benefit from AI,' says @DADavidsonCo's @gilluria.
• 'Big AI companies are complementary to AI start-ups, not a threat,' says @join_ef CEO @Alicebentinck. 
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: J.B. Hunt, United Airlines, Zion and more.
• Stock futures are little changed as earnings season heats up: Live updates.
• HPE stock sinks 10% on weak guidance for fiscal 2026.
• Thursday's big stock stories: What’s likely to move the market in the next trading session. 
• Top Walmart exec says American manufacturing comeback is real and good for business. 

• @WSJ 

• From @WSJopinion: Republican lawmakers should ask themselves whether in time they will come to regret allowing expansions in executive power, writes William Galston.
• The U.S. military is making one of its most significant pushes yet into modern nuclear power with a program to put small reactors on Army bases.
• It’s the most popular and expensive apple in America. So why are the people who grow the Honeycrisp so desperate to replace it? 

• @MarioNawful

• WESTERN EXECUTIVES STUNNED BY CHINA’S FULLY ROBOTIC FACTORIES. Executives from major Western automakers and green energy firms are returning from China shaken. They describe “dark factories” where robots run entire production lines — no lights, no humans, just automation. Ford warned that losing this race means no future for U.S. industry. Fortescue’s Andrew Forrest said he abandoned EV plans after seeing it firsthand: “There are no people, everything is robotic.” China’s automation surge isn’t about profit margins but survival in a shrinking labor force.
• AGENCY SITS ON FINISHED REPORT SHOWING FOREVER CHEMICAL IN WATER DAMAGES HUMANS. Environmental Protection Agency scientists completed a toxicity report on PFNA (a forever chemical in 26 million Americans' drinking water) back in April. It found the stuff causes low birth weights, liver damage, and screws with male reproductive systems. The report was "completed and ready to post" in mid-April. It's now October. Still nothing. 

• @WallStreetMav

• Imagine becoming a citizen in your new country in 2018, then immediately trying to destroy the history and culture of the country that accepted you. That is Zohran Mamdani, running for mayor of NYC. He doesn't love this country. He came here to destroy it. (pic)

• @LibsOfTikTok

• Speaker Mike Johnson BLASTS Democrats' insane list of demands to the end gov shutdown, which includes: -Half a BILLION for liberal news outlets. -$24.6 million for climate resilience in Honduras. -$13.4 million for civic engagement in Zimbabwe. -$3.9 million for LGBTQI+ democracy grants in the western Balkans. -$2.9 million for desert locust risk reduction in Africa. -$2 million for organizing for feminist democratic principles in Africa. THIS is what the Democrats are holding the American people hostage over. Unreal. (video)

• @GuntherEagleman

• It is PATHETIC that our GOP leadership has yet to pass secure election laws. It’s been 10 months.

• @wideawake_media

• RFK Jr. implores you to resist digital ID and CBDCs. "They are putting in place all of these technological mechanisms for control... that will make it so none of us can run and none of us can hide." "Digital currency that will allow them to punish us from a distance and cut off our food supply." "Every right that you have is transformed into a privilege, contingent upon your obedience to arbitrary government dictates. It will make you a slave." "What do we do about this? We resist." "Nobody in the history of the planet has ever complied their way out of totalitarian control." "That's why we need to resist today." (video)

• @CatTurd2

• When Democrats forced that giant turd, Obamacare, down our throats, over 70% of US citizens were happy with their health insurance. Obamacare didn't get one Republican vote. Democrats swore up and down it would pay for itself, but now they need a half a TRILLION dollars to subsidize the giant turd. Like everything Democrats touch, they destroyed the health insurance system in our country.

• @StephenM

• Cartels are waging war against America. And the Democrats — like Newsom and Pritzker and Schumer — are relentlessly attacking the same law enforcement heroes the cartels are targeting with violence. (video)

• @WallStreetApes

• Tucker Carlson exposes there are 2 independent reports of 9/11 that have been hidden from us. They prove 2 things. - It was impossible for Building 7 to come down from the office fire. - Particles were taken from the World Trade Center collapse, testing proved they were explosives. (video)

• @BGatesIsAPsycho

• Meanwhile on the Streets of France all over The Country the French Demand an Exit from the EU as they tear up its Flag!! “FREXIT FREXIT FREXIT”. Italy & France will ultimately leave the EU - The Corrupt Undemocratic Deep State Owned EU is finished. (video)

• @WinwithWinsome

• WOW: Greg Gutfeld and his crew just nuked Abigail Spanberger. (video)

• @JackUnheard

• A shocking report reveals Mexican cartels are TEAMING UP with left-wing terror networks inside the U.S. They are offering MASSIVE cash bounties for the assassination of top border officials. This is INSANE. Declare a National Emergency. (video)

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are +.25% to +1.25% on average. 
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 68.25 -1.25 basis points.
• China Sovereign CDS 44.0 -1.5 basis points.
• China Iron Ore Spot 105.0 USD/Metric Tonne -.2%. 
• Swiss Franc/Offshore Chinese Renminbi Cross 8.97 +.27%
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 36.32 +.04%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 78.7 +.1%.
• US 10-Year Yield 4.02% unch.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 20.7 -.1%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures -.27%. 
• S&P 500 futures -.03%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.04%.

Morning Preview Links

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