Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Why China Is Trying to Curb Short Selling of Stocks.
• Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery Targets Output of 550,000 Barrels a Day.
• Trump Trade Sees Investors Snap Up Junk Debt and Industrials.
• How a Routine CrowdStrike Update Crashed the World’s Computers.
• Hedge Funds’ Bullish Bets on Gold Jump to Four-Year High.
• Brazil Halts All Chicken Exports to China as Virus Takes Toll.
• A Fintech’s Collapse Raises Questions About a Hot Business Model.
• Bitcoin Hits One-Month High, Revives Talk of Another Record Run.
• JD Vance Leads Trump’s Push to Win Key ‘Blue Wall’ States,
• Mike Novogratz Among Donors Pushing for Risky Plan to Replace Biden.
• Big Tech Stock Slump Amps Up Pressure to Deliver on Earnings. 

Zero Hedge:

• Dems Plot 'Loophole' Of Rebellion If Biden Won't Step Down.
• Zuck Praises Trump As An American "Badass".
• Gov. Pritzker's Role In The Extreme Rhetoric Surrounding Donald Trump.
• Trump Tells Zelensky He'll "Bring Peace" In "Very Good Call".
• Putting The National Debt Into Perspective We Can All Understand.
• Israeli Jets Strike Houthi-Controlled Port City Following Tel Aviv Drone Attack.
• Court Blocks Ariz. Illegals From Registering To Vote... Until September.
• We Are On The Edge.
• Just Like Joe Biden, The US Economy Is Sick Once Again.
• Trump Shooter Flew Drone Over Rally Site Just Hours Before Event.
• "Day Has Finally Come": Instagram Censors Team USA Rifle Shooter Ahead Of Paris Paralympics.
• This Is Why Electricity Costs Twice As Much In Britain As In The US.
• Meanwhile In Leeds, UK...
• Germany's (Lack Of) Defense Spending Will Start An Immediate Clash With Trump.
• Ultra Processed Foods Make Up 2/3rds Of Diet For Kids In Britain, New Study Reveals.
• Biggest AI Drop Since ChatGPT Was Released.
• Nervous Or Prudent? Hedge Funds Record De-Gross.
• The Ballot Or The Bullet.
• Distraction? Blinken Says Iran Just 1-2 Weeks Away From Producing Material For A Nuclear Weapon.
• The Ascendance Of Sociopaths In US Governance.
• Illegal Alien TikToker Who Urged Migrants To Invade US Homes Reportedly Worked For Venezuela's Military Intel.
• The Quiet Power And Influence Of Timothy Mellon.
• Leftists Prove They Are Zealots In The Wake Of Trump Shooting.
• Existence Tax: The Vig Plus 3%.
• These Are The Most Reliable Car Brands In The US.
• UN Says Global Child Vaccination Rates Below Pre-Pandemic Levels.
• Impatient Zelensky After NATO Summit: Where Are My Jets?
• Tennessee Drag Show Ban Upheld After Appeals Court Reverses Ruling.
• Fed F**kery Turns $23BN US Bank Deposit Outflow Into $34BN Inflow Ahead Of Stock Slump.
• California Family Appeals Ruling Which Punished 1st Grader For 'All Lives Matter' Drawing
• SPX posts biggest weekly decline since mid-April while CrowdStrike outages hits sentiment - Newsquawk US Market Wrap.
• Slowly... Then All At Once!
• Bitcoin & The Buck Bounce As Biden, Big-Tech, Bonds, & Black Gold Breakdown.

Wall Street Journal:   

• The Software Patch That Shook the World.
• Israel Strikes Houthi-Controlled Port City in Yemen.
• California’s Minimum Wage Backfire. The $20 fast-food mandate is harming workers and business.
• The Gamer CEO Trying to Level Up Dating Apps.
• A Case for Backing Up Your Precious Photos and Files at Home.
• ‘Reservation Bots’ Are Stealing Spots at Your Favorite Restaurant. How to Beat Them

Barron's:

• Had bullish commentary on (RH), (WSM), (W) and (EADSY).

CNBC:

• The CrowdStrike fail and the next global IT meltdown already in the making.
• How a software update from cyber firm CrowdStrike caused one of the world’s biggest IT blackouts.
• CrowdStrike shares close down 11% after major outage.
• Microsoft says about 8.5 million of its devices affected by CrowdStrike-related outage.
• ‘Just buying, buying, buying’: What the recent small-cap boom suggests about risk.

MarketWatch.com:

• Stock market ruled by ‘Trump trade’ and the Fed. Here’s how to keep track.
• CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz is taking a $42 million personal hit from stock’s drop.
• Airlines grounded, banks and retailers experience outages tied to CrowdStrike issue.
• These small-cap stocks score highest when screened for quality.
• The time may be right for value stocks — here are Wall Street’s favorites.
• Biden wants national rent control. But has it lowered housing costs in the cities that have it? 

NewsMax:   

• Pelosi: Don't Anoint Kamala If Biden Quits.
• Fauci: Trump Suffered 'Superficial Wound' in Assassination Attempt.

Fox News:

• Late-night legend headlining ritzy fundraiser for Biden in Martha's Vineyard amid campaign crisis.
• Gov Whitmer's former opponent warns Dems would be making mistake putting her on ticket.
• Thousands descend on town for first Trump rally since failed assassination attempt.

TheGatewayPundit.com: 

• 3D Model Posits what Trump Assassination Attempt at Butler PA Rally Looked Like, Concludes Secret Service Failed Trump, Ignores Evidence of Larger Conspiracy to Kill Trump,
• ASSASSIN EYE-WITNESS: Police Are Lying about Rooftop Confrontation of Alleged Sniper – “The Guys on the Second Floor Were Watching – But They Didn’t Do Anything!”
• COVER-UP: FBI Tries to Kick Out Senator Josh Hawley at Assassination Attempt Site Despite Having Local Security Operator’s Permission — “Get Out of Here. You Shouldn’t Be on the Site”.
• 28 Million Viewers Tuned in for Trump RNC Speech – SHATTERS FOX News Record for Highest Ever Ratings as Outpouring of Support Continues to Grow Post-Assassination.
• AOC Livestreams Hour-Long Rant: Says Nobody will Support Kamala as Biden’s Replacement and Calls Trump a “Neo-Nazi” Just Days After He was Shot.
• Trump Pledges to Achieve ‘Just Peace in Ukraine’ in Call With Zelensky – Conversation Went ‘Exceedingly Well’.
• Now That the RNC Is Over – Republicans Should Not Fool Themselves that Democrats Are Not Going for the Steal – This Time with Very Different Dynamics.
• Here We Go: DNC Rules Committee Outlines New Voting Process — Will Move to Virtual Roll Call to Nominate Joe Biden in Order to Prevent Embarrassing Public Display.
• Tulsi Gabbard Absolutely Savages Kamala Harris for Questioning JD Vance’s Loyalty to Our Country (VIDEO).
• NBC News Journo: Resentment Growing Between Biden Team and Obama People, Biden Feels Betrayed (VIDEO).
• BREAKING: Massive Fire Engulfs Dallas Area Church Led by Trump Supporter Pastor Robert Jeffress (VIDEO).
• Kari Lake to RNC: This Middle-Aged Mama Bear Will Be a Terror to DC.
• Microsoft Reportedly Lays Off DEI Team with a Brutal Message.
• RINO Jeff Timmer, Said Trump Was a “Malignant tumor” Who “Must be removed” and “forever cut away and irradiated” In 2020—Is His Latest Sick Tweet Evidence He’s Whipping Up Violence Against Trump Again?

Epoch Times:

• Chinese Premier’s Veiled Remarks at Davos Forum Spark Debate.
• Xi Jinping and China: Running Out of Time, Ready to Strike.

Around X:

• @BGatesIsaPsycho

• Another recent rain water sample returned these results as a consequence of the daily atmospheric spraying happening. These metals are entering our ecosystems & ultimately you.

• @drawandstrike
  

• Out of all the rallies Trump held in the last year, CNN decided to carry exactly one of them live: Saturday, July 13, 2024 in Butler, PA. Interestingly enough, as the shooter - whoever that was - began firing, a NYT's photographer was in prime position to catch Trump's head exploding with a camera set to the unusual setting of 1/8000 & 30 FPS. Which you would only use if you expected to be shooting something happening in a millisecond. Turns out you can actually SEE a bullet in flight at those settings. Isn't that amazing?

• @kylenabecker
  

• BREAKING. Biden’s Secret Service has denied a FOIA request by @America1stLegal following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The Secret Service claims there is no urgency and denies the American public has a right to know. The Trump assassination cover-up continues. (pic)
• "86 45." @TudorDixon pointed out an ominous message in Michigan Governor Whitmer's post. "86" is a euphemism for "k*ll" and "45" is Trump's presidential number. Donald Trump is in Grand Rapids, Michigan today for the first Trump/Vance campaign rally. It is also Trump's first rally since he was shot last Saturday in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service is implementing tighter security protocols at Van Andel Arena that *should* prevent another Trump assassination attempt. (video)
• "The FBI set everything up. They drove people; they paid for everything. They wrote the script." JUST IN: Whitmer Kidnapping Plot whistleblower who was *ACQUITTED* by a jury speaks out about FBI scheme to frame Trump supporters.  
• “Today when I went to that site, the FBI had more security on that site now than they did the night Trump was shot at.” “They tried to kick me off of the site. They said 'Get Outta here !’” @HawleyMO on the FBI covering up the Trump assassination plot. (video)
  

• @amuse

• Is this normal? Does law enforcement clean crime scenes? Why would the FBI clean a roof? (pic)
• You may have forgotten that CrowdStrike was center stage in the Democrat email leak scandal & the impeachment of Trump. The DNC refused to let the FBI examine servers, giving them to CrowdStrike. Trump asked Zelensky to look into the company on his famous call.

• @WendyP4545

• An assasination attempt was made on President Trump. One man died, 2 were in Critical Condition and:  No FBI Press Breifing. No DOJ Press Briefing. The House of Representatives doesn't reconvene back in Session. The US Senate doesn't reconvine back in Session. Oversight sends out Invitations to appear not subpoena's. FBI Director refuses the invitation to appear...

• @ChuckCallesto
  

• JUST IN: Video of Kamala Harris re- emerges questioning the integrity of election machines while TODAY claiming TRUMP attempted to overturn a free and fair election. THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO PLATFORM TO RUN ON.. Share this everywhere. (video)

• @WallStreetApes

• EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. EXPOSED: Marc Elias, the same guy who pushed Steele Dossier, Trump Russian collusion hoax for Hillary Clinton IS THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROJECT 2025 PROPAGANDA.
• Matt Tardio, Retired Green Beret, Prior Law Enforcement Officer Who’s An Explosives Expert Breaks Down The Significance Of The Donald Trump Assassins Transmitter Found. There is NO WAY this wasn’t an inside job. (video)
• Retired FBI Agent Says The FBI 100% CAN NOT Be Trusted To Honestly Investigate The Assassination Attempt On Donald Trump. “I'm a retired FBI agent — I do not have faith and confidence that the upper level and executive management of the FBI will report it in a faithful, credible, honest and timely manner. Hate to say that but that's just, I think that's the truth.” (video)

• @VigilantNews

• Bill Maher Confronts Pete Buttigieg on Massive Security Failure in Trump Shooting. “Should Joe Biden have fired the Secret Service head? ... I’ve seen people fired for less, and it just looks bad.” “It looks like, ‘Well, the other guy from the other party got shot. We’ll look into it if we have time.’”
• Ron Johnson Outraged Over ‘Infuriating’ Trump Assassination Attempt Details. The Trump assassination attempt reeks of foul play, and now Senator Ron Johnson is getting angry.
  

• @BehizyTweets
  

• BREAKING: Reports are coming from Maricopa County, Arizona that Dominion voting machines are malfunctioning county-wide as a result of the CrowdStrike outage. Officials have long claimed that the machines are NEVER connected to the internet... you can laugh at those claims now.
  

• @patel_patriot

• Wonder if this Crowdstrike outage was just a test run. What happens if there is an outage on November 5th?

• @LauraLoomer

• Did you know that the President of CrowdStrike Services and the Chief Security Officer served as the Executive Assistant Director of the FBI under the Obama-Biden administration? Weird how the CrowdStrike @CrowdStrike global outage happened during President Trump’s nomination speech at the RNC Convention. Meet Shawn Henry...
• EXCLUSIVE: NEW REPORT. ALARMING NEW DETAILS AROUND THE BUILDING USED BY THE SHOOTER TO ALMOST ASSASSINATE PRESIDENT TRUMP! (pic)

• @EndWokeness
  

• Kamala Harris is 1,000x worse than Biden. Her ideology is literally racial Marxism. If you think I'm exaggerating, listen: (video)
• Democracy is when these 2 matter more than the 14.4 million Dems who voted to keep Joe Biden the nominee: (pic)

• @Stillgray

• JUST IN: BIDEN QUIETLY FUMING AT FORMER ALLIES IN DELAWARE RETREAT, BLAMES OBAMA AND PELOSI. “Sick with Covid and abandoned by allies, President Biden has been fuming at his Delaware beach house, increasingly resentful about what he sees as an orchestrated campaign to drive him out of the race and bitter toward some of those he once considered close, including his onetime running mate Barack Obama. Mr. Biden has been around politics long enough to assume that the leaks appearing in the media in recent days are being coordinated to raise the pressure on him to step aside, according to people close to him. He considers Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, the main instigator, but is irritated at Mr. Obama as well, seeing him as a puppet master behind the scenes.”

• @RWMaloneMD

• This post gets to the bottom of the Crowdstrike matter. It was a C++ memory pointer coding error. I was once trained on C++. Classic error. This should not have passed qc. It raises questions of intentionality. And then we go right down the rabbit hole of the tight relationship between Crowdstrike and the DNC. And the globalists want to force all of onto CBDC? Read the thread. (pic)

• @foundring1

• Doug Mills, who took the "one in a million" bullet picture, is the same guy who just happened to be on hand to catch the iconic moment Bush learned about 9/11. Huh. (pic)

• @LaNativePatriot

• Questions about the assassination attempt I would like answered sooner than later. (list)
  

• @newstart_2024

• A Texas rancher has come forward to blow the whistle and expose efforts by the federal government to spike the U.S. food supply with mRNA vaccines. Rancher Trevor Cowley revealed during an interview that the feds have been experimenting on livestock by injecting animals destined for the food supply with mRNA shots. Cowley told the “Real Business Owners” podcast that Democrat President Joe Biden’s Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been running secret trials on animals. However, a huge percentage of the livestock that received the injections has died. (video)

• @IGSquawk 

• Weekend Markets Indices Update: #DAX 18171.8 +0.01% #DOW 40286.8 +0.01% #NASDAQ 19522.3 -0.00% #FTSE 8166.5 -0.03% #HANGSENG 17391.9 -0.07% .

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 1,012,894 Reports(+1,222 from prior report) Through June 28th, 2024.

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.

Stocks Finish Lower on Crowdstrike Global IT Outages, Democrat Presidential Candidate Chaos, Higher Long-Term Rates, Tech/Commodity Sector Weakness

Economic Gauges:

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 39.1 -.06%
• 3-Month T-Bill Yield 5.33% -1.0 basis point
  

• China Iron Ore Spot 104.7 USD/Metric Tonne +.17%
• Dutch TTF Nat Gas(European benchmark) 32.2 euros/megawatt-hour -1.5%

• Citi US Economic Surprise Index -35.0 +.6 point

• Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index -26.0 +.3 point

• Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index 4.7 +1.3 points
• S&P 500 Current Quarter EPS Growth Rate YoY(70 of 500 reporting) +8.9% +1.7 percentage points
  
• S&P 500 Blended Forward 12 Months Mean EPS Estimate 261.60 +.06:  Growth Rate +14.6% +.1, P/E 21.1 -.1
  
• S&P 500 Current Year Estimated Profit Margin 12.79% unch.
  
• NYSE FANG+ Current Quarter EPS Growth Rate YoY(1 of 10 reporting) +43.8%
  
• NYSE FANG+ Blended Forward 12 Months Mean EPS Estimate 332.18 +.08: Growth Rate +23.8% unch., P/E 34.2 unch.
  
• Bloomberg US Financial Conditions Index .91 +9.0 basis points
  
• Bloomberg Euro-Zone Financial Conditions Index .79 -2.0 basis points
  
• US Yield Curve -27.5 basis points (2s/10s) -.25 basis point
  
• US Atlanta Fed 2Q GDPNow Forecast +2.73% unch.
  
• US Recession Within 6 Months Probability(3M/18M Forward Yld Curve Spread) 59.6% -.9 percentage point
  

• Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast Core PCE YoY +2.39% unch.: CPI YoY +3.01% unch.
  
• 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.30 +4.0 basis points
  
• Highest target rate probability for Sept. 18th FOMC meeting: 93.5%(-.5 percentage point) chance of 5.0%-5.25%. Highest target rate probability for Nov. 7th meeting: 57.4%(-.9 percentage point) chance of 4.75%-5.0%.
  

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei 225 Futures: Indicating -21 open in Japan 
• China A50 Futures: Indicating -110 open in China

• DAX Futures: Indicating +90 open in Germany

Portfolio:

• Slightly Higher:  On gains in my biotech sector longs, index hedges and emerging market shorts
• Disclosed Trades: None
• Market Exposure: 50% Net Long

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

• Mid-Cap Value -.6%
  

Sector Underperformers:

• 1) Semis -2.7% 2) Alt Energy -2.4% 3) Insurance -2.0%

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume: 

• LPLA, AXP, PPG, FDMT, FP, LBRT, HAL, OCFC, APTV, CENX, EEFT, MEG, TRV, INST, SMR, EH, ALV, CMA, CRWD, AIR, SIGI and LPA
  

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

• 1) CRWD 2) OIH 3) NRG 4) SBSW 5) LSXMK
  

Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:

• 1) CRWD 2) SPWR 3) TRV 4) PLUG 5) ALV
  

Sector ETFs With Most Negative Money Flow:

• 1) XLK 2) XLF 3) XLI 4) OIH 5) XLC

Charts:

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

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

• Mid-Cap Growth +.2%
  

Sector Outperformers:

• 1) Medical Equipment +1.4% 2) Regional Banks +.8% 3) Pharma +.8%

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

• HE, MSTR, BTDR, ISRG, S, COIN, IREN, WAL, ML, RIOT, HUT, NFE, MARA, NTRA, VIRT, INDB, SUPN, DASH, BX and ERJ
  

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:

• 1) ISRG 2) ALIT 3) HBAN 4) GFI 5) RF

Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:

• 1) SERV 2) ISRG 3) WAL 4) WWW 5) ARM
  

Sector ETFs With Most Positive Money Flow:

• 1) AIRR 2) SOXX 3) XLP 4) IBB 5) RSPT
  

Charts:

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

Monday's Earnings/Economic Releases of Note; Market Movers

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

Before the Open:

• (BOH)/.87
• (TFC)/.66
• (VZ)/1.15
• (SAP)/1.14
  

After the Close: 

• (BRO)/.88
• (CDNS)/1.23
• (CALX)/.06
• (CLF)/-.01
• (CCK)/1.59
• (NUE)/2.49
• (NXPI)/3.20
• (ZION)/1.09
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for June is estimated to fall to -.06 versus .18 in May. 
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The (WOOF) general meeting and the (SNAP) annual meeting could also impact global trading on Monday.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

Mid-Day Market Internals

NYSE Composite Index:

• Volume Running -15.5% Below 100-Day Average 
• Nasdaq/NYSE Volume Ratio 9.5 -2.3
  
• 6 Sectors Declining, 5 Sectors Rising
• 40.7% of Issues Advancing, 56.7% Declining 
• TRIN/Arms .73 -28.2%
  
• Non-Block Money Flow +$23.7M
  
• 38 New 52-Week Highs, 16 New Lows
• 63.2% (-2.7%) of Issues Above 200-day Moving Average
• Average 14-Day RSI 57.0 -3.0
  

Other:

• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk-Off Index 55.5 +2.5%
• Bloomberg Cyclicals/Defensives Index 237.7 -.4%
  
• Russell 1000: Growth/Value 20,197.9 +.5%
• CNN Fear & Greed Index 5.0 (NEUTRAL) unch.
  
• 1-Day Vix 12.6 -18.8%
  
• Vix 16.3 +2.1%
  
• Total Put/Call .77 -15.4%