Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

• Large-Cap Growth -.1%

Sector Underperformers:

• 1) Utilities -.3% 2) Biotech -.1% 3) Medical Equipment unch.

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume: 

• YRD, EXEL and OFG

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

• 1) DKS 2) SN 3) DG 4) EL 5) NLY

Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:

• 1) YOGA 2) NWSA 3) TSLA 4) STZ 5) COOL

Charts:

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

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

• Mid-Cap Growth +.5%

Sector Outperformers:

• 1) Airlines +2.0% 2) Oil Service +1.9% 3) Retail +1.2%

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

• CGC, CMCM, TOWR, CBPO, JWN, HMI, EL, AMRX, BGG, TOT, DDD, NEWA, EYE, RDFN, TEVA, ZIV, THRM, TCMD, PAR, AZN, WUBA, XOMA, REGI and MNK

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:

• 1) URI 2) GPS 3) ADSK 4) TOL 5) XLV

Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:

• 1) CMCM 2) SSC 3) NKE 4) DAL 5) CBPO

Charts:

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

Morning Market Internals

NYSE Composite Index:

• Volume Running -18.7% Below 100-Day Average
• 10 Sectors Rising, 1 Sector Declining
• 61.3% of Issues Advancing, 35.7% Declining
• 115 New 52-Week Highs, 12 New Lows
• 53.2% of Issues Above 200-day Moving Average
• Average 14-Day RSI 49.1%
• Vix 12.5 -.8%
• Total Put/Call .75 -27.2%
• TRIN/Arms 1.22 +92.7%

Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:        

• China Tells Its Finance Firms to Boost Infrastructure Support.

• Big Questions on Global Economy Hang Over Jackson Hole Gathering.  

• Asia Stocks Set for Mixed Start; Dollar Holds Loss . Asian equities looked set for a mixed open Monday as traders look for clues from earnings reports, developments in the trade war and a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole to gauge the outlook for growth. Futures indicated Hong Kong shares may open with small declines, while Japan was poised for a muted start to the week. The dollar held on to losses sustained last week, with the 10-year Treasury yield at 2.86 percent. The yuan steadied after stemming its recent declines amid signs China is propping up the currency just as it prepares to restart trade negotiations with the U.S. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei slid 0.1 percent in most recent trading late Friday. Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.4 percent. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 percent.

• Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day.

Wall Street Journal:   

• U.S. Military Faces Sweeping Turnover Among Commanders.

• MS-13, Violent and Unruly, Is Trying to Organize—Can It?

• As Euro Crisis Ends, Italy Stokes Fear of a Revival.

• Canada’s Auto Capital Caught in Crossfire of Trade Dispute.

• Amazon’s No Bargain. Here’s Why Investors Keep Buying.

Fox News:

• Bolton suggests ex-CIA boss Brennan may have misused classified info.

CNBC:

• Millennials are sharing streaming passwords, costing companies millions in revenue. 

• An unlikely winner in the long-running bull market: Health insurers.

• Deloitte: Parents are set to spend $510 per household during back-to-school shopping, and most will be in stores.

Zero Hedge:    

• In Stunning Admission, Jack Dorsey Acknowledges Twitter's "Left-Leaning" Bias

• Clapper Turns On Brennan: "John And His Rhetoric Have Become An Issue".

• Did Erdogan Quietly Fold? Overnight Lending Rate Spikes 150bps Amid Silence From Central Bank.

• Step Aside Russia: US Warns Of China, Iran And North Korea "Election Meddling" Next.

• Venezuela's Key Refineries At Risk Of Seizure.

• Wisconsin Company Injecting RFID Microchips Into Hands Of Employees.

• Elon Musk: Changing The Way I Work "Is Not An Option".

• Venezuela In Chaos After Maduro Announces Massive 95% Devaluation, New FX Rate Tied To Cryptocurrency.

• Tech Firms Account For 60% Of Profit Margin Growth In The Past 20 Years.

• CDC: 25% Of Adults Have Life-Impacting Disability.

• Seymour Hersh And The Death Of Journalism.

• Emerging Markets Have Gone Nowhere Over The Past Decade.

Business Insider:

• Barging into your home, threatening your family, or making you disappear: Here's what China does to people who speak out against them.
  

Night Trading

• Asian indices are unch. to +.5% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 82.5 +.25 basis point.

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 11.0 unch.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 66.61 -.05%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.11%

• S&P 500 futures +.09%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.15%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• (EL)/.56

• (ZOES)/-.04

After the Close:

• (FN)/.75

• (NDSN)/1.60

Economic Releases

• None of note

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Eurozone PPI report and the (EFX) investor meeting could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are slightly 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 100% net long heading into the week.

Weekly Outlook

• Wall St. Week Ahead by Reuters. 

• Weekly Market Outlook by Yahoo. (video)

• Week Ahead by TheStreet.

• Stocks to Watch Next Week by Seeking Alpha.

• Weekly Economic Calendar by Briefing.com.

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week modestly higher on less European/Emerging Markets debt angst, oil strength, diminished trade war fears, yen weakness, short-covering and technical buying. My intermediate-term trading indicators are giving neutral signals and the Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:     

• Stocks Jump on Signs China's Tired of Losing the Trade War.    

• U.S., Mexico Bridge Differences on Nafta Farm Goods.     

• Currency Devaluation Layers on More Chaos in Caracas.

• Deere(DE) Says Trade Anxiety Is Getting Overblown in the Farm World.

• Turkey Cut Deeper Into Junk as S&P Sees Recession Next Year.

• Kofi Annan, UN Leader Who Won Peace Prize, Dies at 80.

• Americans Will Spend More Than $1 Billion on Weddings on Saturday.   

• Funerals Are Becoming One Last Extravagant Display of Wealth. 

• Tesla(TSLA) Board Torn Between Service to Shareholders and CEO.

Wall Street Journal:

• The Press Abets a Coverup.

• Tuition Insurance Catches On as Costs Rise, Students Struggle to Adjust.

• China’s Uighur Camps Swell as Beijing Widens the Dragnet.

• Trump to Roll Back Restrictions on Coal-Burning Plants.

• How Erdogan’s Push for Endless Growth Brought Turkey to the Brink.

• End Quarterly Reporting? Not Much to Cheer About.

• What Your Car Knows About You.

• U.S., China Chart Plan to End Trade Dispute by November.

• Big Spenders Pinch Chip Equipment Makers.

MarketWatch.com:

• The best stock-market investing strategy now is just to ‘stay home,’ says Ed Yardeni. 

• Meet the tech-savvy upstarts who think they can finally give Realtors a run for their money.

• If turmoil spreads in Europe, expect heavy flows into U.S. stocks.

Fox News:

• Dem candidates embrace gun control en masse in campaign for House takeover.

• Top Dem 2020 hopefuls under fire for 'collective bashing of America'.

CNBC: 

• US stocks are again headed for new highs while rest of the world's stock market struggles.   

• Tesla stock has its worst day in two years after Elon Musk's off-kilter interview with the NYT. 

• The Dow is flashing 2 big bullish signs, says chart 'godfather' Ralph Acampora.

• Tech, retail bellwethers show how US economy’s strength is real and broad-based.

• Why crypto investors might want to think twice about giving out their phone numbers.

• US, China plot roadmap for meeting between Trump, Xi to resolve trade dispute: Wall Street Journal.

• Why the current rally could end up being the 'longest bull run ever'.   

• Walmart(WMT) asks some beauty suppliers to consider sourcing outside of China. 

• Maduro orders 96 percent devaluation in hyperinflation-stricken Venezuela.

• Wall Street still loves Nvidia despite warning about cryptocurrency revenue. 

• Crude oil is getting crushed, but one expert sees year-end rally.

Zero Hedge: 

• White House Counsel "Cooperating Extensively" With Obstruction Probe, Spent 30 Hours With Mueller.

• Musk Admits He Saw Azealia Banks, Unclear If He Was Tweeting On Acid.

• Black Voter Support For Trump Nearly Doubles To 36%: Rasmussen.

• Judicial Watch Demands Re-Opening Of Hillary Email Probe After More Classified Info Found.

• Americans' Appetites For "Eating Out" Is Soaring.

• Hedgies Hit Record Short Gold As Gundlach Warns Bond Bears Of "Massive...Short Squeeze".

• The Charts To Watch In "A Frantic August".

• "Facebook(FB) Enshrines Stupidity!" Doug Casey Dumps On Social Media's Ubiquity.

• Death Of A Nation: Drug Overdose Deaths Jump To Record 72,000 Last Year.

• Russia Offers 2.5 Million Acres Of Farmland To China, Amid Worsening Trade War.

• Trump: "Social Media Is Totally Discriminating Against Conservative Voices".

• Not The Onion: Southwest To Allow Miniature Horses As 'Emotional Support Animals'.

• Stocks, Yuan Jump On Reports Of US-China "Roadmap" For Trade-Talks.

• Leaking Las Vegas: West's Biggest Reservoir Nears Critical Threshold.

• Philadelphians Alcohol Intake Has Soared Since The City's Soda Tax Was Imposed.

• Trump 'Boom' Sparks Record-Breaking Backlog Of Big Rigs. 

• To Survive The Midterms With Your Mental Health Intact, Turn Off The "News" & Social Media Now.

• S&P Downgrades Turkey To B+, Forecasts "Recession" And "Hard Landing".

• Global Stocks Slump, US Stocks Jump Despite Economic Data Dump.

The Telegraph:

• Buyers flee Hong Kong property as credit crunch bites.