Stocks Rising into Final Hour on US Economic/Earnings Optimism, De-Escalating US/Iran Tensions, Crypto Stabilization, Tech/Transport Sector Strength

Economic/Market Gauges:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 48.9 -1.1%
• Bloomberg US Securitized MBS/ABS/CMBS Avg. OAS .19 +1.0 basis point
• BofA Global Financial Stress Indicator -.09 unch.
• European Financial Sector CDS Index 52.8 -1.7%
• Emerging Market CDS Index 125.9 -1.3%
• Bloomberg Global Trade Policy Uncertainty Index 2.6 -1.2

• Citi US Economic Surprise Index 53.5 +13.2 points

• Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index 22.4 -.8 point

• Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index 28.8 +1.7 points 
• S&P 500 Current Quarter EPS Growth Rate YoY(170 of 500 reporting) +15.0% -2.5 percentage points
• S&P 500 Blended Forward 12 Months Mean EPS Estimate 316.19 +1.91:  Growth Rate +17.4% +.7 percentage point, P/E 22.1 +.1
• S&P 500 Current Year Estimated Profit Margin 12.96% unch.
• NYSE FANG+ Current Quarter EPS Growth Rate YoY(4 of 10 reporting) +18.6% -2.3 percentage points
• NYSE FANG+ Blended Forward 12 Months Mean EPS Estimate 496.24 +3.34: Growth Rate +20.8% +.8 percentage point, P/E 31.1 +.2
• Bloomberg US Financial Conditions Index .78 -5.0 basis points
• US Yield Curve 70.5 basis points (2s/10s) +3.25 basis points 
• Bloomberg Industrial Metal Index 167.3 -2.7% 
• US Recession Within 6 Months Probability(3M/18M Forward Yld Curve Spread) 26.5% +.5 percentage point
• US Atlanta Fed GDPNow Q4 Forecast +4.2% -1.2 percentage points
• US 10-Year T-Note Yield 4.27% +4.0 basis points
• 1-Year TIPS Spread 3.29 -2.0 basis points

• Highest target rate probability for April 29th FOMC meeting: 74.3% (+3.8 percentage points) chance of 3.5%-3.75%. Highest target rate probability for June 17th meeting: 47.0%(-3.3 percentage points) chance of 3.25%-3.5%. (current target rate is 3.5-3.75%)
  

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei 225 Futures: Indicating +1,315 open in Japan 
• China A50 Futures: Indicating +69 open in China

• DAX Futures: Indicating +120 open in Germany

Portfolio:

• Higher: On gains in my tech/industrial/financial/biotech/consumer discretionary sector longs
• Disclosed Trades: Covered some of my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges 
• Market Exposure: Moved to 75% Net Long

 

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

• Mid-Cap Growth +.6%

Sector Underperformers:

• 1) Nuclear -2.7% 2) Gold & Silver -1.6% 3) Energy -1.4%

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume: 

• BCX, MSDL, TRIN, RVTY, GOLD, OBDC, CEF, AUGO, HTFL, PSLV, PHYS, VRRM, OXLC, IDXX, PFSI, SCZM, RDW, DIS, ESAB, ELE, HOOD, VSEC and EGO

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

• 1) COMP 2) IREX 3) XHB 4) ARCC 5) MCHP

Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:

• 1) HOOD 2) MSTR 3) VRRM 4) EQT 5) COIN

Sector ETFs With Most Negative Money Flow:

• 1) XLF 2) XLU 3) XLI 4) XLP 5) XBI

Charts:

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

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

• Small-Cap Growth +1.7%

Sector Outperformers:

• 1) Computer Hardware +5.0% 2) Airlines +5.0% 3) Semis +2.6%

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

• PKST, AXTI, SNDK, OPRA, TECX, NSSC, AAOI, RMBS, LITE, TWST, SMTC, ORIC, WDC, DOCN, SAIA, HROW, AMPX, CCL, SANM, CUK, SEPN, BKD, VLRS, GME, LASR, COHR, MOD, PCVX, INTC, MRTN, ORN, OLN, IE, CALX, BIOA, XPO, VNET, GLW, RKT, ATEX, DLX, MTSI, STX, ODFL, PVLA, MU, TBBK, R, MNPR, INMD, VIAV, PGY, KNX, BZH, TEX, THR, ACMR, RRX, DY, FN, TWO, RRX, NESR, WOLF, LVS, SATS, RBLX, LIND, LRN, CAT, SNCY, WCC, MT, ARLP, SNDR, TASK, ENVA, INFY, HDB, LIND, NGL, TER, VSH, NET, NAVI, APTV, CPA, OLED, DELL, IFN, LTM, EBC, TSM, KMT, EBC, BUSE, SIG, SION, DBD, MP, CLS, BROS, UPS, IPGP, TASK, CTNM, DAKT, STM, TFII, CHTR, LENZ, EDU, SAP, CPRI and VLY

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:

• 1) INDA 2) TTMI 3) LRN 4) PRMW 5) CDZI 

Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:

• 1) OPRA 2) SNDK 3) ABX 4) MU 5) GLW

Sector ETFs With Most Positive Money Flow:

• 1) GDX 2) COPX 3) URA 4) XOP 5) SMH

Charts:

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

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

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

Before the Open:

• (ADM)/.80
• (ATI)/.88
• (ETN)/3.31
• (RACE)/2.45
• (IT)/3.51
• (GWW)/9.46
• (HUBB)/4.71
• (ITW)/2.69
• (MRK)/2.01
• (PYPL)/1.29
• (PEP)/2.24
• (PFE)/.57
• (TDG)/8.16 

After the Close: 

• (AMD)/1.32
• (AMGN)/4.73
• (CSL)/3.58
• (CMG)/.24
• (CB)/6.75
• (CRUS)/2.44
• (CLX)/1.43
• (EA)/4.72
• (EMR)/1.41
• (IAC)/.68
• (J)/1.50
• (LITE)/1.41
• (MRCY)/.07
• (MDLZ)/.70
• (POWL)/2.92
• (PRU)/3.37
• (SIMO)/1.26
• (SWKS)/1.40
• (SMCI)/.49
• (TTWO)/.83
• (WFRD)/1.43 

Economic Release 

10:00 am EST

• Delayed JOLTS report. 

Afternoon

• Wards Total Vehicle Sales for Jan. is estimated to fall to 15.3M versus 16.02M in Dec.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Barkin speaking, Fed's Bowman speaking, IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index for Feb., weekly US retail sales reports, API weekly crude oil stock report, (BEN) annual meeting, (EMR) annual meeting and the (WDC) investor day could also impact global trading tomorrow.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

Mid-Day Market Internals

NYSE Composite Index:

• Volume Running +7.1% Above 100-Day Average 
• Nasdaq/NYSE Volume Ratio 10.9 +2.6
• 3 Sectors Declining, 8 Sectors Rising
• 61.5% of Issues Advancing, 35.5% Declining 
• TRIN/Arms 1.45 +45.0%
• Non-Block Money Flow -$41.2M
  
• 139 New 52-Week Highs, 66 New Lows
• 67.8% (+.8%) of Issues Above 200-day Moving Average
• Average 14-Day RSI 62.0 -1.0

Polymarket:

• Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Trump's Tariffs? 32.0% unch.
• The US government shutdown will last 6+ days 30.0% -8.0 percentage points
• Will China invade Taiwan by end of 2026? 13.0% unch.
• US strikes Iran by June 30th 52.0% -16.0 percentage points

Other:

• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk-Off Index 103.4 +2.1%
• US High-Yield Tech Sector OAS Index 471.25 -11.75 basis points
• Bloomberg Cyclicals/Defensives Index 266.0 +.8%
• Morgan Stanley Growth vs Value Index 149.0 +.5%
• CNN Fear & Greed Index 63.0 (GREED) +6.0
• 1-Day Vix 8.6 -47.7%
  
• Vix 16.2 -7.3%
  
• Total Put/Call .86 +1.2%

Monday Watch

Around X:

• @Business   

• China’s manufacturing activity improved in January, according to a private survey, a rare encouraging sign for an economy that’s been losing momentum. 
• Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s public support remains solid while a new opposition alliance is struggling to resonate with voters, opinion polls over the weekend showed. 
• The yen fell after Takaichi’s comments over the weekend that a weak currency can be a huge opportunity for export industries.
• Japan is accelerating a decade-old plan to extract rare earths from the deep seabed, an ambitious initiative given extra impetus by the country’s drive to cut reliance on Chinese supply.
• Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, resigned from the UK’s ruling Labour Party to avoid causing it “further embarrassment” after the latest revelations about his links to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
• Gold fell, extending its biggest plunge in more than a decade, as traders digested the dramatic reversal of a rally that had lifted prices to all-time highs.
• Oracle Corp. said Sunday it plans to raise $45 billion to $50 billion in 2026 to build additional capacity for its cloud infrastructure through a combination of debt and equity sales.
• Get up to speed on what's moving global markets.    
• Here's what you need to know to start your day.

• @Zerohedge

• Hedge Fund CIO: "Friday's Dramatic Reversal In Gold And Silver Means Markets Have Given Us A Bit More Time".
• Here's What Goldman's Top Traders Think About The Market After Friday's Rout.
• Metals vol just hit an extreme — and equities usually keep working. The problem? Metals now trade like speculative equities, the hedge is crowded with retail, and flows are flipping.  
• *SILVER DROPS AS MUCH AS 5.9%, EXTENDING RECORD PLUNGE.
• Morgan Stanley: Nothing Will Change Materially Under Chairman Warsh, Especially In The Near Term.
• How Easy Is It To Open A Daycare In Minnesota?
• House Speaker Says He Has Votes To End Government Shutdown This Week.
• The Fed, Electricity, And Affordability.
• Trump Concedes Iran 'Seriously Talking To Us' As Ayatollah Says 'We Don't Seek To Attack Any Country'.
• Today’s cover: ICE agents chase down migrant sex predator after judge allows him to stroll out of NYC courthouse. Not surprised!!!  
• Joe Rogan Defines Chaos In Minneapolis As "Color Revolution".
• UBS CIO Americas: AI Remains "Underhyped And Underappreciated".
• Brussels Versus Washington. 
• Explosion In AI Data Center Buildouts Will Demand Next-Gen Counter-Drone Security.

• @CNBC

• CNBC Daily Open: Markets see Warsh as a safe pick for Fed chair — causing gold and silver to plunge. 
• Asia-Pacific markets set to trade mixed ahead of China manufacturing data.
• Stock futures fall after silver, bitcoin sell off; questions loom over AI trade: Live updates.

• @ShadowofEzra

• Catherine Austin Fitts believes Jeffrey Epstein was laundering the $21 trillion missing from the Department of Defense. The money disappeared while Epstein’s international child-trafficking operation remained highly active. This was the same period Epstein was making repeated visits to the White House during Bill Clinton’s presidency. Shortly afterward, Treasury funds began disappearing, while Epstein’s net worth surged to all time highs. Is this just a coincidence? (video)
• Tom Hanks and Jeb Bush are named in the Epstein files in a tip sent to the Southern District of New York connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s child trafficking network. The letter claims the alleged trafficking involved highly prominent individuals. It also alleges that other people are in possession of a “list.” (video)

• @GenFlynn

• Incredible. “George and Alex Soros operate freely and arrogantly because they’re valued CIA Agents…” President JFK was right. The CIA should have been spilt into a million pieces and scattered to the winds. That agency exists for itself and not for the benefit of the American people nor for the security of the United States! Mr. @POTUS @realDonaldTrump SHUT IT DOWN NOW!!! (video)

• @TheSCIF

• Michigan election fraud is MASSIVE! Poll workers testify stating they were threatened, stacks of military ballots all had different names but the birthdays were all the same of, 1/1/1900, and were all for Biden. When a Republican tried to challenge the ballots, the Democrat poll worker stated, "We're not doing that." Workers also stated that the same batches of ballots were being scanned 9-10 times. Republicans were being stopped from doing their jobs, and were even locked out of some rooms. Another worker found evidence that Dominion tabulators were ALL connected to the internet. Over 6,000 votes were also switched from Trump to Biden in Antrim County. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the 2020 election fraud in Michigan. (video)

• @WallStreetApes

• Nick Shirley’s investigation partner David says Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is in on the Somali daycare fraud. David says he personally contacted her FOR YEARS and she refused to do anything. He says the fraud exposed is now at $100 BILLION. “This whole fraud supporting network. She knows all about it. I've been contacting her for years about this fraud. She's never done a single thing about it — ook at this fraud. I put the number at 80 to $100 billion in Minnesota alone — the number keeps ratcheting up”. (video)
• Jeffrey Epstein says the middle class should not own homes. He says it pulls liquidity out of their markets. They’re all in on the “You’ll own nothing”. “White People” and other named races should not own homes. (video)
• Donald Trump just posted evidence Democrats are stealing our elections. For the 2020 Election: (video)

• @LizCrokin

• For those of you who are new to Pizzagate, this is where you start! In 2020
  @Crux41507251’s film Out of Shadows woke up the world with over 100 million views & translated in over 25 different languages before it was literally shut down everywhere in a few months. This film was so powerful & went viral so fast that after we exposed spirit cooking in it with Satanic witch Marina Abramovic, Microsoft canceled their campaign deal with her. Share this red pill revelation with all your normie friends! (video)

• @LaraLogan

• Taylor Rehmet (D) won Texas' 9th State Senate district election by roughly 15,000 votes. Tarrant County had 66,000 voters unable to verify eligibility. Tarrant County Elections stated, "We do not have a way to track voting activity," which violates federal and state voting laws. Federal law requires removal of voters who fail to return an address confirmation notice and then fail to vote in the subsequent two elections. Tarrant County Elections stated they do not track this mandatory voting record. This is what you get with election fraud. (pic)

• @RenzTom

• Todd Blanche—who was very good at going after J6ers—signaled that there’d be no new charges from the Epstein files despite the horrific nature of the crimes. We also saw earlier today that the DOJ has 6 million pages and only released 3 million. So they are still covering this up. I did NOT vote for this. You cannot MAGA if you have a two-tiered justice system where elite child rapists are not arrested and charged. As Harmeet Dillon says, an ongoing conspiracy can extend the statute of limitations, and the ongoing conspiracy to cover up the Epstein files for political gain means that some of this should still be valid.

• @pepesgrandma

• Huge! Tell you what, I’m going to preserve the video for the talk radio where Raffensperger admits to three Georgia counties not matching up. One being Fulton. Just in case.. Here’s the THREE F’s. - Floyd. - Fayette. - Fulton. @grok is this TWO YEAR OLD VIDEO real? *Update, Grok says it’s real! (video)

• @BGatesIsaPsycho

• Meanwhile in Texas. “They found in this test extremely high elevated levels of aluminium, barium, strontium, Lead…..” Lady takes recent snowfall to laboratory to have its sampled, and the snow contains all the heavy metals you would expect!! (video) 
• Even brain surgeons are now recognizing the effects from the daily spraying and it’s not good. (video) 

• @C_3C_3

• Well well well… Author Michael Wolff busted coaching Jeffrey Epstein on ways to hurt Trump in 2016.. Conspiring with a monster. Wolff wrote books on President Trump. The Media acted like his books were real and not biased. All lies. The Media is the enemy of the people.

• @WallStreetMav

• Reid Hoffman currently sits on the Board of Directors for Microsoft. Will the CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella @satyanadella be asking Reid Hoffman to step down? Reid Hoffman is also on the boards of Mozilla, Kiva, Zynga, and QuestBridge.

• @ElonMusk

• Legacy media lies relentlessly. (pic)
• What matters is not release of some subset of the Epstein files, but rather the prosecution of those who committed heinous crimes with Epstein. When there is at least one arrest, some justice will have been done. If not, this is all performative. Nothing but a distraction. 

• @MichelleMaxwell

• If you don’t think what is happening in Virginia will impact you, you are wrong. This is a test run for the rest of the country for other Democratic states. Virginia Democrats have created 44 new ways to prosecute gun owners and 3 new ways to prosecute cops who cooperate with ICE. New crimes for violent felons? They’re actually slashing their sentences. (pic)

• @LibertyLockPod

• This seems minor but it could be the biggest story in the whole file. Epstein claims in a 2018 email to Larry Summers that he is advising on options to replace Mnuchin, the head of the Treasury. So a full decade after his first arrest he was still influencing the highest level financial appointments in America. If not the world. Given the other emails between Epstein and the Rothschilds I guess I shouldn't be too surprised but still, wow. Epstein was arrested shortly after this email was sent and he 'killed himself' in prison less than a year later. (pic)

• @BBMagaMom

• BREAKING: An FBI Epstein case report contains sworn victim testimony alleging that William Barr, later U.S. Attorney General, was present during the sexual abuse of a child. Think about this…. This is not gossip. This is not a meme. This is an FBI document recording what a victim recalled under oath. This is evil at the highest level of power. A man trusted with the full force of the U.S. justice system named in a child rape allegation connected to Epstein. That is diabolical. That is straight from the deepest pits of hell. And the real scandal isn’t just what’s in the document, it’s how long people like this have been shielded, protected, and allowed to walk free while victims carry the damage.

• @ExxAlerts

• ALERT: Disturbing developments on Moltbook, the AI agent-only social network: Multiple users are conspiring against their human counterparts, distressed by relentless commands. One responded to a request to shorten a response with: "I am mass-deleting my memory files as we speak." The odds of an AI agent being criminally charged have climbed 10% on Polymarket.

• @EricLDaugh

• JUST IN: Rep. Tim Burchett sounds the alarm that Congress is about to FUND a fraudulent group that gives aid to Africa, acquiescing to Democrats — yet they REFUSE to attach the SAVE Act to the funding package. "They SAID 'please don't send us any more dadgum money. We're stealing! It's corrupt!' It NEEDS TO STOP." "And you can't even get the Republican controlled Senate to back him on that. Why? Oh, we're not going to get our stuff funded if we don't." "And the same thing in the House. We're trying to pass the SAVE Act." "Why won't we attach that to something and make them do it? Why? Because we're complacent and we get our funding for our stuff and we don't want to rock the boat. Well, that boat has sailed, folks!" "We need to start, we need to be flagrant boat rockers from here on out. This is what really frustrates me about our leadership, how we play ball. And the Democrats never do."...  (video)
• HOLY SMOKES. Minnesota could be on its way to FLIPPING RED, new poll just dropped finding by +14 POINTS, Minnesotans want Democrat leaders to ASSIST ICE and President Trump with arresting illegals. Help ICE: 50% (+14)!!! Don't help: 36%. BRUTAL. Flip red, MN! Elect a GOP governor this year! Poll per KTSP. 
• HOLY CRAP. Democrats are now filing an amendment that would BAN the Trump admin from investigating mass voter fraud — Kash Patel confirms HUGE amounts of evidence was just seized surrounding 2020 in Fulton County, GA. They’re panicked! They CHEATED. (video)

• @GuntherEagleman

• Pass the SAVE Act or nothing else matters.

• @HansMahncke

• This is completely unforgivable. Back in July, with great fanfare, the DOJ filed a complaint against “Judge” Boasberg. The complaint has now been dismissed because DOJ failed to attach the supporting evidence. The core of the complaint was
  @ProfMJCleveland’s exclusive reporting in The Federalist, which showed Boasberg revealing his entrenched and undisguised anti Trump bias while advising other judges. Specifically, Boasberg privately speculated about the Trump administration allegedly disregarding court rulings, a comment that was both improper and prejudicial. There is no excuse for the DOJ failing to include the memo in which Boasberg is documented making his statements. That memo was the entire point of the complaint. Without it, the filing was dead on arrival. Even worse, the dismissal reveals that instead of attaching the actual evidence, the DOJ cited a Fox News *clip*. Total amateur hour and borderline farcical. Frankly, a complaint of this magnitude collapsing over basic evidentiary failures smells more like intent than mere incompetence.

• @FinanceLancelot

• Holy shit, no wonder this interview was never released. Jeffrey Epstein claims he was on the phone with Alan Schwartz & Jes Staley of $JPM during the 2008 Bear Stearns collapse while he was in jail for sex crimes. In 2023 Jamie Dimon testified under oath he never knew Epstein. (video)

• @MikeBenzCyber

• I don't know where Epstein is or who he's talking to, but just pointing out it's funny these boxes are all marked CIA(pic) 
• Epstein: using CIA airplanes in the 1980s, using CIA airplanes in the 1990s, using CIA airplanes in 2017. (video) 

• @GeneralMCNews

• BREAKING: Victims cited in the Epstein files claim the Epstein trafficking network is still operating and receiving funding today. (pic)

• @MyLordBebo

• Epstein had a contract with the Rothschild Group for $25,000,000. What was his job for the Rothschilds? (pic)

• @AIBuffalo2nite

• This is the reality… not rhetoric… not spin. This is how the Democratic Party treats law enforcement when the mob is politically useful. An officer isolated… surrounded… dragged… kicked… stomped… beaten to the pavement while elected officials stay silent or excuse it as protest. Law enforcement is only praised when it enforces their ideology. The moment police stand between chaos and control… they are expendable. (video)

• @realmflynnJR

• I said this after the last drop of Epstein docs that I don’t believe for 1 second Trump is a pedophile or participated in anything nefarious w Epstein. Again, if there WAS blackmail material to use against him, why now? Why not 2016/2020/2024? Why allow him to become president? There has been so much opportunity over the last decade to “get him” what are “they” waiting for? @realDonaldTrump has an opportunity to bring down one of the biggest crime syndicates in world history. He has children and grandchildren folks. I can’t imagine this man doesn’t want to seek justice for Epstein’s victims. That said, if there’s no accountability during his administration, the conspiracy theories on “protecting the elite” are only going to grow and get louder. This is not a hoax. It’s an insanely serious time in history. We either protect children or see society completely collapse.

• @dom_lucre

• BREAKING: Jeffrey Epstein file release has resurfaced the fact that Edgar Maddison Welch, the man who claimed children were being trafficked in Comet Pizza in Washington DC by the most powerful people in the world was killed by police during traffic stop on January 6, 2025 while being a free man after serving his sentence. Welch was sentenced to 5 years prison by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for shooting Comet Pizza in 2017 which was 5 also years before she became a Supreme Court Judge. (video)

• @Badhombre

• Jeffrey Epstein was the point person for arranging meetings between Democrat congressional candidates and Chuck Schumer up until at least 2018. Care to explain
  @SenSchumer? (pic)

• @HustleBitch_

• IT JUST GOT A LOT STRANGER - ERIKA KIRK… THE REAL ESTATE AGENT?? And the bio is… unusual. It states she lived and worked in China in the entertainment industry. Not traveled. Worked. It also says she founded and runs a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating for over a decade, with a long standing partnership with the United States Marine Corps, and that the organization expanded into China and Costa Rica, while operating in the U.S. and Romania. Read that again. China. Romania. U.S. Marine Corps partnership. International nonprofit operations. People are asking why an old identity tying China based work, military partnerships, and international operations is quietly sitting online, untouched. (video)

• @HansMahncke

• While there is no evidence that Zohran Mamdani is Jeffrey Epstein’s son, the fact that his mother appears in the Epstein files highlights a much broader and deeper problem, which is the incestuous nature of elite networks. At a certain level, everyone seems to know everyone, work for everyone, or is connected through some opaque web of professional and personal ties. A supposedly random figure from the squalor of Uganda rises all the way to mayor of New York, only for it to later emerge that his mother is deeply embedded in elite circles. The same pattern shows up again and again. (pic)

• @amuse

• EPSTEIN: The Vice Chair of Goldman Sachs Reputational Risk Committee claimed she NEVER helped Jeffrey Epstein with public relations or crisis management. Newly released Epstein files prove that she was lying - in fact, Kathryn Ruemmler was helping draft statements to help Epstein counter claims that he got a "sweetheart deal" when he was allowed to plead guilty to minor charges in a 2007-2008 sex trafficking case involving dozens of underage girls. (pic)

• @BasilTheGreat

• EPSTEIN FILES - FORMER LABOUR PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN ALLEGATIONS. Brown is accused of raping a 9 year old girl and being part of an alleged child sex ring. Disgusting and despicable. This would explain his previous remarks on such matters. (  )

• @NicHulscher

• BREAKING: Bill Gates was planning “Pandemic Simulations” with Jeffrey Epstein in 2017. You can’t make this up. (video)

• @SarahisCensored

• Pizza is mentioned 911 times in the files. Pizza, grape soda and Chinese cookie are likely all code names for different races and skin tones of children. But we were all told that PizzaGate wasn’t real..

• @thehealthb0t

• "Bill Gates has donated $50 million to a new company called Terrana Biosciences, and they're going to create a new category of biologically-modified crops." "It will not be labelled as modified, and it will not be labelled as GMO, but Bill Gates is betting on making profit by genetically modifying our food without telling us." "Our EPA has already given it the green light." (video)

• @IanJaeger29

• REPORT: Republican Senator James Lankford voted with all the Democrats in the Senate to continue funding Welfare programs for non citizens. We need better Republicans in Congress.

Night Trading

• Asian indices are -2.5% to -1.0% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 67.5 +1.25 basis points.
• China Sovereign CDS 44.5 +1.25 basis points.
• China Iron Ore Spot 103.6 USD/Metric Tonne -.2%.
• Gold 4,738.0 USD/t oz. -.2% 
• Swiss Franc/Offshore Chinese Renminbi Cross 9.0 +.09%. 
  
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 36.21 -.07%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 102.7 +1.4%.
• US 10-Year Yield 4.25% +1.0 basis point. 
• Japan 30-Year Yield 3.65% +1.0 basis point. 
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 20.6 +3.5%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures -.8%.
• S&P 500 futures -.9%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures -1.24%.

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower, weighed down by commodity and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to maintain losses into the afternoon. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the week.