Stocks Reversing Lower into Final Hour on Rising Global Growth Fears, Fiscal Cliff Worries, Technical Selling, Cyclical Stock Weakness

Today's Market Take:

Broad Market Tone:

• Advance/Decline Line: Lower
  
• Sector Performance: Most Sectors Declining
  
• Volume: Below Average
• Market Leading Stocks: Underperforming

Equity Investor Angst:

• VIX 16.69 +5.17%
• ISE Sentiment Index 95.0 +9.2%
• Total Put/Call .78 -33.33%
• NYSE Arms 1.12 +26.92%

Credit Investor Angst:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 99.50 +.89%
• European Financial Sector CDS Index 160.19 -3.36%
• Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 106.38 bps -1.85%
• Emerging Market CDS Index 233.0 bps -1.87%
• 2-Year Swap Spread 12.0 -.75 basis point
• TED Spread 23.0 -.5 basis point
• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -23.75 +1 bp

Economic Gauges:

• 3-Month T-Bill Yield .08% unch.
• Yield Curve 137.0 unch.
• China Import Iron Ore Spot $115.30/Metric Tonne -.26%
• Citi US Economic Surprise Index 35.10 -8.0 points
• 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.44 +2 basis points
  

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei Futures: Indicating -13 open in Japan
• DAX Futures: Indicating -9 open in Germany

Portfolio:

• Slightly Higher: On gains in my index hedges and emerging markets shorts
• Disclosed Trades: None
• Market Exposure: 25% Net Long

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• Euro-Area Manufacturing Contracts for 16th Straight Month. Euro-area manufacturing output contracted for a 16th month in November, adding to signs a recession in the currency bloc may extend into next year as leaders struggle to tackle the sovereign-debt crisis. A gauge of manufacturing in the 17-nation euro area rose to 46.2 from 45.4 in October, London-based Markit Economics said today. That’s in line with an initial estimate on Nov. 22. A reading below 50 indicates contraction. The euro-area economy has shrunk for two successive quarters and economists foresee a further decline in gross domestic product in the final three months of the year. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development last week forecast contractions of 0.4 percent and 0.1 percent this year and next. “The ongoing steep pace of manufacturing decline suggests that the region’s recession will have deepened in the final quarter of the year, extending into a third successive quarter,” Chris Williamson, Chief Economist at Markit, said in the report. “The rate of GDP decline is likely to have gathered pace markedly on the surprisingly modest 0.1 percent decline seen in the third quarter. With euro-area unemployment at a record, economists project the region’s GDP will decrease 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the median of 25 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.
• Greece Offers 10 Billion-Euro Debt Buyback to Unlock Aid. Greece offered 10 billion euros ($13 billion) to buy back bonds issued earlier this year as the bailed-out nation attempts to cut a debt load that may threaten future international aid. Greek bonds rallied after the so-called modified Dutch auction was announced today by the Athens-based Public Debt Management Agency. The prices offered for bonds maturing from 2023 to 2042 averaged 33.1 percent of face value, based on information in a statement from the debt agency today, higher than euro-area finance ministers indicated would be paid. The offer runs until 5 p.m. London time on Dec. 7. 
• ECB Can’t Deliver Spain Spread Rajoy Wants, Wellink Says. Former European Central Bank policy maker Nout Wellink said Spain can’t realistically expect officials to narrow the bond spread with Germany to as little as 200 basis points, as he predicted “execution problems” with the ECB’s bond program. If Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy envisages “that the maximum difference with the Germans is 200 basis points, then he makes a mistake,” Wellink, the former Netherlands central bank governor who retired from the post in 2011, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Nov. 30. “Two hundred basis points seems to me too much” to hope for, he said.
• Berlusconi Mulls Comeback as Italian Bonds Rally: Euro Credit. The four-month rally in Italian bonds risks stalling as former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ponders a comeback that will further shake up the political landscape before next year’s election. Berlusconi’s possible return, a month after he said he wouldn’t run, comes as the extra yield investors demand to hold Italian 30-year bonds instead of similar-maturity German bonds fell to the lowest since August 2011. The market signals investor confidence is returning after the European Central Bank offered a bond-buying backstop to defend the euro and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti implemented an economic overhaul to contain the region’s second-biggest debt.
• China Stocks Drop to Lowest Since 2009 on Consumer Staples Rout. Chinese stocks fell, dragging the benchmark index to its lowest level in almost four years, as liquor makers and coal producers plunged. A gauge tracking consumer-staple companies sank the most in three years. Kweichow Moutai Co. (600519), the world’s second-largest distiller by market value, tumbled the most since 2008 on concern demand for high-end liquor is decreasing. Datong Coal Industry Co. dropped 4.1 percent after the benchmark price for thermal coal decreased. “The macroeconomic data may indicate that the economy is improving but people don’t feel that on the ground,” Li Guangming, an analyst at Dongxing Securities Co., said in a telephone interview from Beijing today. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) dropped 1 percent to 1,959.77 at the 3 p.m. local-time close, with about seven stocks declining for each that gained.
• IMF Officially Endorses Capital Controls in Reversal. The International Monetary Fund endorsed nations’ use of capital control measures in certain circumstances, making official a shift in the works for almost three years that will guide the fund’s advice to member countries. In a reversal of its historic support for unrestricted flows of money across borders, the Washington-based IMF said controls can be useful when countries have little room for economic policies such as lowering interest rates or when surging capital inflows threaten financial stability. Still, it said the measures should be targeted, temporary and not discriminate between residents and non-residents. 
• Obama's New Fiscal Cliff Ally: Your Local News Station. What I mean is that Obama’s greatest point of leverage over Republicans is public fear and anger that, if successfully directed against his opponents, will force them to accept a deal he likes. The media love stoking public fear and anger. Especially local television news.

Wall Street Journal:

• Danger Lies in Fiscal Cliff Game of Chicken.
• Fiscal Cliff: Live Stream.

MarketWatch.com:

• How foreclosure backlogs could hurt home buyers. Slow processing could keep prices down and mortgage rates up.

CNBC:

• One-Time Hedge Fund Wiz Faces Second Abysmal Year. One of the hedge funds run by John Paulson, whose prescient bets against housing where chronicled in the book "The Greatest Trade Ever," is on track to be the second worst performer of 2012 among the universe of funds tracked by HSBC. Last year, it was the worst. Paulson's Advantage Plus fund, which uses additional leverage than his other funds, is down 19 percent through the end of October, following a 53 percent loss last year. The fund bests just the Conquest Macro Fund, which is down 27 percent through the end of November. The firm's other flagship fund, the Paulson Advantage Fund, is down 13 percent this year, putting it among the top 10 losing funds in the HSBC universe this year as well.
• Four Reasons Why Companies Are Still Reluctant to Hire. 
• General Motors(GM) November Auto Sales Below Estimates Up 3.4%. General Motors sales fell short of estimates, rising up 3.4 percent in November. Ford Motor sales rose more than expected, up 6.5% in November. Chrysler Group and Hyundai Motor on Monday both reported strong U.S. new-vehicle sales in November, as the industry rebounded from a storm-ravaged October while also benefiting from pent-up demand.
• Morici: Soaking the Rich Won’t Solve Much.

Zero Hedge:

• How A Hard Landing For China Became A Helicopter Eject Seat For Brazil. (graph)
• Manufacturing ISM Plummets To Lowest Print Since July 2009. (graphs)
• GM(GM) Channel Stuffing.
• JPM(JPM) Cuts Q4 GDP Forecast to 1.5%, Now Sees iPhone Sales Contribute 33% Of Growth Upside. 
• Storm Front Approaching the Home Builders. 
• India Sets Off For Naval Showdown With China.

Business Insider:

• Newspapers Are Losing $13 Of Print Revenue For Every $1 Of Digital Revenue. 
• The Ugly Truth Behind The New Social Security Data. 
• How A Legal Technicality Could Unravel Obamacare. 
• Strikers Have Shut Down Two Of The Most Important Economic Gateways In The World—And It's Costing The US Billions. Strikes in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that began last Tuesday are delivering a blow to the U.S. economy.
• The SEC Is Going After The China Branches Of Big 4 Accounting Firms For Failing To Turn Over Documents.

Reuters:

• Singapore concerned over China's South China Sea rule. Singapore expressed concern on Monday over China's plan to board and search ships sailing in what it considers its territory in the South China Sea, as tension grows over Beijing's sovereignty claims in busy Southeast Asian waters. "Singapore is concerned about this recent turn of events," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response to a recent Chinese media report on new rules that will allow police in the southern Chinese province of Hainan to board and seize control of foreign ships which "illegally enter" its waters from January 1.
• US says climate plan on track, EU wants more. The United States said on Monday it was on track to meet its own target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, a plan many scientists say is still too weak to avert damaging global warming. 
• That fiscal cliff? Dow Chemical(DOW) says China's a bigger worry.

Telegraph:

• Autumn Statement: Britain's prized AAA credit rating hangs in the balance. George Osborne is expected to announce in his Autumn Statement what will effectively amount to a manifesto breach, that debt as a proportion of GDP will not be falling by 2015-2016 and it could see Britain lose its top investment rating. 
• George Papandreou's mother 'linked to €550 million Swiss bank account'. The 89-year-old mother of a former Greek prime minister has been reportedly linked to a Swiss bank account containing more €550 million (£446 million).
• Spain requests €39.5bn bank bail-out, but no state rescue. Spain formally requested €39.5bn of European funds to recapitalise its struggling banks, while its prime minister held back from ruling out a bail-out for the state also.

Handelsblatt:

• Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told euro-area finance ministers including Germany's Wolfgang Schaeuble that he plans to retire from the post early next year, citing EU diplomats.

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

• Large-Cap Value -.45%

Sector Underperformers:

• 1) Defense -1.25% 2) Road & Rail -1.06% 3) Retail -.91%
  

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:

• PBH, EXC, REXX, CEL, IRE, BKU, DISH, TPCG, CONN, SXC, SPLK, MYGN, GMED, HWD, HCI, DWA, VNTV, DDD, ALOG, MGAM, RATE, MLNX, THRX,  EXC, APL, HI, WRLD, TSCO, RGR, TRLG and RGC

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

• 1) PBI 2) LYV 3) XLK 4) UAL 5) DECK
  

Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:

• 1) ETN 2) MYGN 3) PPG 4) NVDA 5) VLO
  

Charts:

• ETFs Falling on Unusual Volume
• Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

• Large-Cap Growth +.08%

Sector Outperformers:

• 1) Gaming +1.27% 2) Computer Hardware +.73% 3) Disk Drives +.65%
  

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

• CYCC, DELL, CLR, QIHU, DECK, EFX, VRSN and GMCR

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:

• 1) MDRX 2) AMD 3) DISH 4) SWN 5) XRX
  

Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:

• 1) DISH 2) CATO 3) WYNN 4) LMT 5) DELL

Charts:

• ETFs Rising on Unusual Volume 
• Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume

Monday Watch

Weekend Headlines 
Bloomberg: 

• Geithner Joins Boehner to Trade Blame on Fiscal Cliff Talks. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and House Speaker John Boehner hardened their positions over the fiscal cliff, each blaming the other for a standoff that could lead to more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts in January. “There’s not going to be an agreement without rates going up,” Geithner said in a taped interview that aired today on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Republican Boehner said the White House is wasting time. “I would say we’re nowhere, period,” Boehner said on the “Fox News Sunday” program. “We’ve put a serious offer on the table by putting revenues up there to try to get this question resolved. But the White House has responded with virtually nothing.”
• U.S. Credit-Default  Swaps Advance Versus Bunds on Fiscal Cliff. The cost to insure Treasuries rose to a 16-month high relative to German bunds on concern U.S. officials are putting their nation's debt rating at risk as they struggle to avoid the fiscal cliff. Credit-default swaps covering Treasuries changed hands at 36.57 basis points, or about six basis points more than swaps on German government securities. The difference was 8 bps on Nov. 28, the most since July 2011, according to data provider CMA. "The rating companies, as well as investors, are focused on whether the U.S. can resolve its budget issues," said Hiroki Shimazu, an economist in Tokyo at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., a unit of Japan's third-largest publicly traded bank by assets. "Investors fear there will be a downgrade." 
• Obama Plans for Climate Deal as Fiscal Cliff Negotiations Rage. As leaders in Washington obsess about the fiscal cliff, President Barack Obama is putting in place the building blocks for a climate treaty requiring the first fossil- fuel emissions cuts from both the U.S. and China. State Department envoy Todd Stern is in Doha this week working to clear the path for an international agreement by 2015. While Obama failed to deliver on his promise to start a cap-and-trade program in his first term, he’s working on policies that may help cut greenhouse gases 17 percent in 2020 in the U.S., historically the world’s biggest polluter. Obama has moved forward with greenhouse-gas rules for vehicles and new power plants, appliance standards and investment in low-emitting energy sources. He’s also called for 80 percent of U.S. electricity to come from clean energy sources, including nuclear and natural gas, by 2035. “The president is laying the foundations for real action on climate change,” Jake Schmidt, who follows international climate policy for the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an interview in Doha. “Whether or not he decides to jump feet first into the international arena, we’ll see.”
• Climate Gridlock Frustrating Envoys at UN Talks in Doha. International efforts to curb global warming are moving so slowly that that delegates from both rich nations and poorer ones are expressing frustration with the process. “I don’t see as much public interest for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions,” Christiana Figueres, the diplomat organizing two weeks of United Nations climate-change talks in Doha, said at a briefing yesterday. “Each one of us needs to assume responsibility. It’s not just about national governments. It’s about individuals. It’s about civil society.” 
• EFSF, European Stability Mechanism Ratings Cut by Moody’s. The European Stability Mechanism and European Financial Stability Facility were downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited a high correlation in credit risk present among the entities’ largest financial supporters. The ESM was cut to Aa1 from Aaa, while the EFSF provisional rating was lowered to (P)Aa1 from (P)Aaa. Moody’s said in a statement that it would maintain a negative outlook on each. The EFSF has about 161.8 billion euros ($210.1 billion) of bonds outstanding according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The move follows downgrades of the EFSF’s second-biggest contributor after France lost its top grade at Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s this year. Investors often ignore such ratings actions, evidenced by the drop in France’s 10-year bond yields since last week’s Moody’s downgrade and a rally in Treasuries after the U.S. lost its AAA at S&P in 2011. The EFSF’s “rating is at the mercy of the creditworthiness of its biggest backers,” Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in London, said before the actions. “Another downgrade of the EFSF would show how the creditworthiness of the euro zone’s rescue fund itself is being affected by the worsening economic conditions in the core.”
• French Socialists Defend Mittal ‘Arm Twist’ With Nationalization. French Socialists defended Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg’s threat to nationalize an ArcelorMittal (MT) steel plant, saying the tactic spurred the company to maintain jobs and invest. “Without the action of Montebourg, the issue wouldn’t have attained such a high profile,” Claude Bartolone, the Socialist president of the National Assembly said late today on France Inter radio. Montebourg helped “twist Mittal’s arm.” Environment Minister Delphine Batho on Europe 1 radio said Montebourg played a “decisive” role in preserving jobs and showed that the government will hold Mittal to his promises.
• Fed’s Stein Sees Diminishing Returns From Treasury Buying. Federal Reserve Governor Jeremy Stein said there may be “diminishing returns” from additional purchases of Treasury securities because companies may respond to lower borrowing costs by refinancing debt or returning money to shareholders instead of making business investments. If “corporate investment reacts only weakly to further changes in term premiums, there may be more ‘kick’ to be had by focusing efforts on a sector that is more responsive,” Stein said today in a speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. “Mortgage purchases may confer more macroeconomic stimulus dollar-for-dollar than Treasury purchases.” 
• Egypt Opposition to Take Constitution Fight to Mursi. Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi’s opponents vowed to take their fight over a new constitution to his doorstep. The highest court suspended operations before it could hear a challenge to the panel that drafted the charter. Egypt’s judges won’t supervise a Dec. 15 constitutional referendum and will boycott the vote, according to Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency, which cited Judge Ahmed El Zind, head of the nation’s judge’s association.
• Senate Votes to Add Iran Sanctions as White House Objects. The U.S. Senate approved new economic sanctions on Iran, overriding objections from the White House that the legislation could undercut existing efforts to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The Senate voted 94-0 yesterday to impose additional U.S. financial penalties on foreign businesses and banks involved in Iran’s energy, ports, shipping and shipbuilding sectors, and impose sanctions on metals trade with Iran.
• Hedge Funds Increase Bullish Bets Most Since August: Commodities. Hedge funds increased bullish bets on commodities by the most since August as evidence that China is accelerating outweighed concern that U.S. lawmakers have yet to resolve an impasse over automatic spending cuts and tax rises. Speculators and money manager increased net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options by 9.8 percent to 929,588 contracts in the week ended Nov. 27, the biggest gain since Aug. 21, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Gold holdings reached a six-week high, and wagers on a wheat rally jumped the most since June. Cattle bets more than doubled.
• North Korea Defies Sanctions, Plans Rocket Launch This Month. North Korea said it will test a long- range rocket this month in defiance of international sanctions and as South Koreans hold an election for a new president. The launch will take place between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said on Dec. 1. South Korea “sternly” warned its neighbor against the plan, saying the firing would bring a “forceful response” from the world. North Korea is trying to interfere in South Korea’s Dec. 19 election, President Lee Myung Bak told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency yesterday.

Wall Street Journal: 

• Fiscal Cliff Talks at Stalemate. Both Sides Offer Compromises but Are Still Far From Inking a Deal by Year-End.
• Fiscal Cliff: Live Stream.
• Delta(DAL) in Talks to Buy 49% Stake in Virgin Airways.
• Ad-Spending Outlook Dims. Three Agencies Ratchet Down Growth Forecasts, Mainly Because of Europe.
• Clock Ticks for SAC Investors. Many Said They Would Reserve Judgment on the Embattled Hedge-Fund Firm. SAC Capital Advisors LP, the giant hedge-fund firm allegedly involved in what the government has described as the biggest insider-trading case it has ever made, has less than three months to convince investors to stick with the money manager. Seventy-five days remain until Feb. 15, the date by which investors must tell SAC whether they want to pull money from the firm during the next redemption period. 
• Rain May Spoil Spain's Parade. 
• Keith Hennessey: Time to Call the President's Budget Bluff. Republicans have more leverage than they imagine, if they play their cards carefully.
• An Entitlement Reform Guide. A list of changes worth the effort, if Obama is really serious.

Marketwatch.com:

• Asia stocks mostly higher, China stuggles. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HK:HSI +0.07% traded flat after rising 0.6% in early moves to near its highest level for the year, while the Shanghai Composite Index CN:000001 -0.33% saw brief post-data gains evaporate to trade 0.3% lower.
• Shanghai’s disturbing stock slump. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended last week near four-year lows, having lost a total of 67% since its October 2007 record high.

Zero Hedge:  

• European Rescue Mechanism Loses AAA Rating.
• China PMI Rises But Misses Expectations For Fifth Month In A Row As Uncertainty Prevails. (graph)
• Next Up For A "Recovering" Europe: A 30-50% Collapse In Wages In Spain, Italy And... France.
• From Cautious Optimist To Skeptical Pessimist.
• Yanis Varoufakis On Greece's Destruction And Europe's Bogus Growth Pact.
• Personal Income And Spending Weigh On Economic Recovery Hopes. (graphs)

Business Insider: 

• BOEHNER: I Looked At Geithner And I Said, 'You Can't Be Serious?'
• LINDSEY GRAHAM: 'We're Going Over The Cliff'. "I think we’re going over the cliff. It’s pretty clear to me they made a political calculation,” Graham said of President Barack Obama's opening offer, which includes $1.6 trillion in tax hikes and $400 billion in entitlement cuts. "The president's plan does nothing but damn us to becoming Greece," Graham said, who called the entitlement cuts "a joke."
  
• Q4 GDP Is Tracking Very Weak...
• The Only Analysis You Need To Read On The Latest Deal To Save Greece. 
• Protestors Call For The Ouster Of Morsi For His Installation Of 'Shariah' Constitution. 
• There's Been A Staggering Collapse In Small Business Optimism Since The Election. (graph)
• Analyst Makes Bombshell Prediction Of $50 Oil, And More Production Than We Could Possibly Know What To Do With. 
• IT'S OVER: Why Everyone Is Losing Hope For Green Energy.
• LIVE: Thousands Of Companies Are Telling Us The State Of The Global Economy. 
• 9 Tech Trends That Will Make Someone Billions Of Dollars Next Year. 
• GARTMAN: The Federal Housing Administration Is Turning Homeowners Into Squatters. 
• China's Labor Problem In 2 Charts. 
• The Hedge Fund World Is Furious With The Head Of The SEC Right Now.

Reuters:

• Greece set to unveil terms of crucial bond buy-back. Greece will unveil details of a bond buy-back crucial to efforts by foreign lenders to trim the country's ballooning debt, hoping the terms will draw enough investors and unblock vital aid. Since plans for the buy-back were announced on Tuesday, questions have swirled about whether it will tempt enough bondholders to cut Greek debt by a net 20 billion euros.
• Syrian forces pound Damascus suburbs, flights to resume. Syrian forces pounded rebel-held suburbs around Damascus with fighter jets and rockets on Sunday, opposition activists said, killing and wounding dozens in an offensive to push rebels away from the airport and stop them closing in on the capital. 
• UK lawmakers call for tax crackdown on multinationals.
• RPT-Toyota China sales tumble again in Nov, though pace eases - exec. The pace of the last month's decline - roughly 25 percent from a year earlier - eased from the previous two months but was still "far off from our more normalised and targeted sales pace," said the Toyota executive who declined to be named because the information had not yet been made public. Toyota's numbers indicate that sales in China by other Japanese carmakers are also likely to be down.

Financial Times: 

• Quant fund launches at record high. Trend-following quantitative “black-box” hedge funds are accounting for their highest-ever proportion of hedge fund start-ups, despite weak returns since the financial crisis. A record 187 quant, or algorithmic funds, launched last year and account for 12 per cent of all hedge fund start-ups, another record, according to Preqin, a data provider whose figures go back to 2000.
• UK’s Euro Trade Supremacy Under Attack. The City of London should be deposed as the euro's main financial center so the single currency club can "control" most financial business in the euro zone, France's central bank governor has said. Christian Noyer of the Banque de France said there was "no rationale" for allowing the euro area's financial hub to be "offshore", in a blunt assessment that will fan UK concerns over EU rules being rigged against it. "Most of the euro business should be done inside the euro area. It's linked to the capacity of the central bank to provide liquidity and ensure oversight of its own currency," Mr Noyer told the Financial Times while touring Asia to promote Paris as a renminbi trading center. "We're not against some business being done in London, but the bulk of the business should be under our control. That's the consequence of the choice by the UK to remain outside the euro area."
• Rules will ‘stifle alternative lending’. A plethora of new regulation will hamper the ability of investment funds, insurers and asset managers to provide the world economy with alternative sources of credit as banks in the US and Europe shrink, a study by Allen & Overy has warned.

Wirtschafts Woche:

• Portugal Demands Easier Conditions for EFSF Funds. Euro-area finance ministers will speak about Portuguese request as soon as Monday in Brussels. Easier conditions for Greece prompted Portugal's demand. 
  

The Chosunilbo:

• Senate Reaffirms U.S. Support for Japan in Land Dispute with China. The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved an amendment that reaffirms Washington's commitment to Japan in its territorial dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. The measure was attached Thursday to the National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2012, which is still being debated in the Senate -- the upper body of Congress. The amendment says that the U.S. acknowledges Japan's administration over the Senkaku Islands, but does not take a position on the ultimate sovereignty of the territory. It also notes U.S. opposition to any efforts to coerce, threaten or use force to resolve the territorial dispute. 

Financial News: 

• People's Bank of China's recent open market operations have resulted in a net draining of liquidity, suggesting the central bank won't further ease monetary policy, according to a commentary by reporter Xu Shaofeng.

Weekend Recommendations

Barron's:

• Made positive comments on (JPM), (HTBI), (RIG), (LMCA) and (INTC).

Night Trading

• Asian indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 111.05 +.5 basis point.
• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 82.75 unch.
• FTSE-100 futures +.23%.
• S&P 500 futures +.21%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.37%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (CONN)/.27

Economic Releases
8:58 am EST

• Markit US PMI Final for November is estimated at 51.7 versus a prior estimate of 52.4.

10:00 am EST

• ISM Manufacturing for November is estimated to fall to 51.5 versus 51.7 in October. 
• ISM Prices Paid for November is estimated to fall to 53.5 versus 55.0 in October. 
• Construction Spending for October is estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.6% gain in October. 

Afternoon:

• Total Vehicle Sales for November is estimated to rise to 14.8M versus 14.22M in October. 
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Bullard speaking, Fed's Rosengren speaking, Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, EuroGroup Meeting, RBA rate decision, HSBC India PMI, UBS Media/Communications Conference, Barclays Precious Metals Conference, (SLG) investor day and the (EW) investor conference could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and automaker shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 25% net long heading into the week.

Weekly Outlook

U.S. Week Ahead by MarketWatch (video). 
Wall St. Week Ahead by Reuters.
Stocks to Watch Monday by MarketWatch.
Weekly Economic Calendar by Briefing.com.

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week modestly lower on Eurozone debt angst, rising US fiscal cliff concerns, more Mideast unrest, technical selling, profit-taking, more shorting and increasing global growth fears. My intermediate-term trading indicators are giving neutral signals and the Portfolio is 25% net long heading into the week.