Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

• Large-Cap Growth -.5%

Sector Underperformers:

• 1) Software -.7% 2) Computer Services -.6% 3) Agriculture -.6%

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume: 

• CIM, FLXN, PMT, TTD and RAD

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

• 1) MTCH 2) WVE 3) RAD 4) PAA 5) NTAP

Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:

• 1) SPOT 2) IHRT 3) TWTR 4) MTCH 5) GRUB

Charts:

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

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

• Small-Cap Value +.1%

Sector Outperformers:

• 1) Oil Service +2.2% 2) Gold & Silver +1.2% 3) Shipping +1.0%

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

• MAXR, AXSM, PSNL, CRNC, RRGB, PTON and LBRT

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:

• 1) MIK 2) MAS 3) ASHR 4) APC 5) AMGN

Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:

• 1) NIO 2) VAL 3) AXSM 4) SLGL 5) XLRN

Charts:

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

Morning Market Internals

NYSE Composite Index:

• Volume Running -11.6% Below 100-Day Average
• 2 Sectors Rising, 9 Sectors Declining
• 40.8% of Issues Advancing, 56.5% Declining
• 58 New 52-Week Highs, 9 New Lows
• 65.1% of Issues Above 200-day Moving Average
• Average 14-Day RSI 51.0%
• Vix 14.9 +11.1%
• Total Put/Call 1.3 +47.7%
• TRIN/Arms .60 -62.7%

Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Hong Kong Protests Cause Economy to Shrink in Fourth Quarter.   

• China's $44 Trillion Market Is Opening Up. Here's What to Watch in 2020.

• Kim May Have Reconsidered His ‘Christmas Gift,’ Trump Aide Says.

• Asian Stocks Set for Muted Open, at 18-Month High. Asian stocks are set to drift on Monday around the highest in a year and a half, with few financial market catalysts going into the year-end. Futures slipped in Tokyo and were little changed in Hong Kong. Australian equities opened flat. U.S. futures were little changed after stocks ended Friday mixed as traders assessed a rally that’s added more than $5 trillion to equities this year. The S&P 500 Index notched a fifth straight weekly advance. Treasuries rose on Friday, when the dollar logged its biggest drop since October. Nikkei 225 futures fell 0.3% in Singapore. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.1%. Hang Seng Index futures were little changed. S&P 500 futures rose about 0.1%. The S&P 500 was little changed Friday. 

• Cuomo Calls Latest Anti-Semitic Attack ‘Domestic Terrorism’.

• Trading a Dove for Two Hawks: A Look at the Fed’s 2020 Voters.

• Big Tech Is Coming for Banking: Experts Predict Fintech’s 2020.

Wall Street Journal:

• Fight for Market Share Gives Bond Issuers Pick of Ratings

• 2019: The Year of IPO Disappointment.

• Biden’s Subpoena Standard.

• This Isn’t Your Father’s Impeachment.

• Sales-Tax Ruling Strains Small Sellers.

• The Decade of the Uber-Decadent House.

• Why 2020 Is the Turning Point for Electric Cars.

• Manhattan Real Estate Didn’t Have a Good Year.

• China Is Taking No Chances With Stagflation.

• European Hedge Funds Caught Out by Bull Run in Stocks.

• Greener Roads Spell a Decade of Disruption.

Fox News:

• Congressman, civil rights leader announces stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

• Cuomo condemns rise of anti-Semitism, calls attack at NY Hanukkah party an 'act of terrorism'.

• Calif. businesswoman welcomes federal intervention on state's homeless crisis.

CNBC:

• Wave of new laws to take effect in 2020: Electric cars, data privacy, taxes & more.

• Surprise S&P 500 stocks that posted 1,000%-plus returns this decade and are not in ‘tech’.

• Disney(DIS) accounted for nearly 40% of the 2019 US box office.

Zero Hedge:              

• Wealth Of The Richest Surged By $1.2 Trillion In 2019.

• NY Gov Cuomo Calls Jewish Machete-Attack "An Act Of Domestic Terrorism".

• Experts Warn Global Outrage Levels May Reach Point Of No Return In 2020.

• Chinese President Xi Installs Finance Experts To Avoid "Lurking, Devastating Debt Bombs".

• China Launches Stealth Rate Cut By Switching Benchmark Lending Rate, Lowering Funding Costs.

• "If He'd Take It, Yes" - Biden Considers Obama For Supreme Court Nomination.

Business Insider:

• 'I was praying for my life': Witnesses of stabbing in rabbi's home say the attacker had a machete 'the size of a broomstick'.

• 10 ways North Korea uses technology to keep its citizens in the dark about the outside world.

• 12 AI startups that will boom in 2019, according to VCs.

Night Trading

• Asian indices are -.25% to +.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 53.0 unch.

• China Sovereign CDS 30.75 -1.25 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 66.58 +.03%.

• FTSE 100 futures n/a.

• S&P 500 futures +.09%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.15%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
Before the Open:

• None of note

After the Close:

• None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST

• Advance Goods Trade Balance for Nov. is estimated at -$69.0B versus -$66.5B in Oct.

• Retail Inventories MoM for Nov. is estimated to rise +.1% versus a +.3% gain in Oct.

• Wholesale Inventories MoM for Nov. is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.1% gain in Oct.

9:45 am EST

• The MNI Chicago PMI for Dec. is estimated to rise to 48.0 versus 46.3 in Nov.

10:00 am EST

• Pending Home Sales MoM for Nov. is estimated to rise +1.5% versus a -1.7% decline in Oct. 

• Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity for Dec. is estimated to rise to 0.0 from -1.3 in Nov.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The China Manufacturing PMI report could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by consumer and commodity 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.

• The Week Ahead by Yahoo. (video)

• 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 global growth optimism, technical buying, diminished global trade tensions, short-covering, oil gains and seasonal strength. My intermediate-term trading indicators are giving neutral signals and the Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Hong Kong Protesters Target Shopping Centers, Mainland Chinese.

• China to Scrap Benchmark Lending Rate in Shift to New System.  

• China’s Government Is Letting a Wave of Bond Defaults Just Happen.

• That Recession Everyone Was Scared of Got Priced Out By a Record Stock Rally.

• Apple Will Lead FAANG Performers Again Next Year, Loup Says.

• Treasuries Have a Hard Act to Follow in 2020 as Optimism Rises.

• Flying Cars, Hyperloops and the Other 2020 Tech Predictions That Didn’t Pan Out.

• Around the World, Luxury Real Estate Poised to (Mostly) Strengthen.  

• Hedge Funds Stay Bullish on Oil Amid Trade Truce, OPEC+ Cuts. 

• Chill, It Might Not Be That Bad: The Optimist's Guide to 2020.

• Year in Stocks Ending Just Like It Began, in Straight-Up Bliss.

• Rite Aid’s 138% December Surge Costs Short-Sellers $187 Million.

Wall Street Journal:

• The Top 6 Interior-Design Trends for 2020.

• Tech That Will Change Your Life in 2020.

• ‘Hong Kong’s Not Right.’ Protests Upend Life in a City on Edge.

• Violence Plagues Migrants Under U.S. ‘Remain in Mexico’ Program.

• As China’s Troubles Mushroom, Xi Collects a Special Title.

• Investors Push Tech Startups for Profits, Not Just Customers.

• ‘Aloha’ Increasingly Means Goodbye Thanks to High Taxes.

• More Workers Eligible for Overtime Pay in 2020.

CNBC:

• Russia claims its new hypersonic weapon is ready for war.

• These biomedical breakthroughs of the decade saved lives and reduced suffering.

• S&P 500 notches fifth straight week of gains as market rallies into end of 2019.

Barron's:

• Had bullish commentary on (AAPL), (VIAC), (NFLX), (KO), (AMAT), (ATVI), (SMAR), (DDOG), (TSM) and (ICPT).

• Had bearish commentary on (BA).

MarketWatch.com:

• The Secure Act changes the way people will inherit money — are you hit by the new rules?

• Here’s how the Dow and S&P 500 perform in years after they ring up gains of 20%.  

• Here are the best-performing Nasdaq stocks of 2019.

Fox News:

• Trump tells New York, California to tackle homeless crisis, says they can ‘politely’ ask for help.

Zero Hedge:

• An American Oligarch's Dirty Tale Of Corruption.

• Venezuela Is Fast Becoming World's Biggest Refugee Crisis.

• Visualizing Every Coal Power Plant In The World (1927-2019).

• Understanding Why There's No FBI Whistleblowers Outlining Institutional Corruption.

• Donald Trump Will Easily Be Reelected: There's Been No Repudiation Of What He Represents and There Won't Be.

• Media's Deafening Silence On The Biggest Scandal Of 2019 Is Chilling.

• Democrats Want To Outlaw 'Racist' Single-Family Housing In Virginia.

• Trump Exposes Pelosi And Son's Ties To Ukraine-Linked Energy Group.

• City Tells Church It Will Lose Religious Designation Because It Shelters Homeless People.

• Biden Attempts To Defend Hypocritical Subpoena Refusal (That Trump Is Being Impeached For).

• Somalia Truck Bomb Attack Rocks Capital During Rush Hour, At Least 90 Dead.

• Is Social Media The New Tobacco?

• Is Tesla Shoving It In Trump's Face By Producing Cars In China To Skirt Tariffs?

• Report Hyped By Climate Alarmists Warned: Millions Dead, Nuclear War, & Sunken Major Cities By 2020.

• Opioid Abusers Also Face Higher Risks Of Death From Suicide, Disease & Car Accidents.

• China Crackdown On Bitcoin Miners Sparks Concern.

• Demographic Armageddon: Japan's Births Drop To Lowest Since 1874 As Deaths Hit Highest Since World War II.

• Warren Campaign Sounds The Alarm As Q4 Fundraising Total Plunges 30%.

• Bonds, Stocks, & Silver Surge Over Xmas Week But Dollar Dives To 5-Month Lows.

Business Insider: 

• 14 incredible tech products that didn't exist 10 years ago.

• A truck bomb explosion killed at least 76 people in Somalia's capital.

• These are the 11 worst-performing S&P 500 stocks of 2019.

• TikTok reportedly wants a new HQ outside China to distance itself from its Chinese roots.

• 15 jobs no one knew about in 2010 that everyone will want in 2020.