Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines 
Bloomberg: 
  • Yen's Role in Abenomics Threatened by Tokyo Vote: Currencies. Tokyo's gubernatorial elections this weekend could hardly come at a worse time for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his efforts to boost the economy by depreciating the yen. Among the frontrunners is Morihiro Hosokawa, an opponent of the premier's pro-nuclear stance whose victory would undermine faith in the government's Abenomics policy and may push up the currency, according to firms from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. to Nomura Securities Co. The economic plan is already being tested by the yen's 4.3% jump this year as investors fleeing emerging markets seek havens for their cash. 
  • Fukushima Wash-Up Fears in U.S. Belie Radiation Risks: Energy. Seaborne radiation from Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant will wash up on the West Coast of the U.S. this year. That’s raising concerns among some Americans including the residents of the San Francisco Bay Area city of Fairfax, which passed a resolution on Dec. 6 calling for more testing of coastal seafood.
  • Japanese Banks' Record Earnings Mask Prospects for Profit Growth. Japan's biggest banks, poised to achieve record annual earnings after last year's stock-market surge, may still disappoint investors as the equity rally fades, leaving them reliant on a lending recovery for profit.  
  • Japan Sees Worst Developed-Stock Rout as Nikkei 225 Drops. What a difference a year makes. At the end of January 2013, Japanese stocks trailed only Portugal for the biggest rally among developed markets. Now the Nikkei 225 Stock Average is leading declines, slumping 8.5 percent last month and yesterday capping a 10 percent drop from its Dec. 30 peak.
  • Lenovo Slumps on Analyst Downgrades After Buying Spree. Lenovo Group Ltd. (992), which announced $5 billion of deals last month to bolster its server and smartphone businesses, plunged the most in five years in Hong Kong after the stock was downgraded by at least five brokerages. Lenovo fell as much as 15 percent to HK$8.55, headed for its biggest decline since January 2009. The world’s biggest maker of personal computers was cut at UBS AG (UBSN), Morgan Stanley (MS), Jefferies Group LLC, JI-Asia Research Ltd. and Kim Eng Securities Ltd., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 
  • Asian Stocks Extend Rout With Copper; Credit Risk Rises. Asian stocks tumbled, extending a global selloff, with Japanese and Hong Kong shares dragging the regional index toward its lowest close in five months. Copper headed for its longest losing streak in 28 years and Australia’s currency surged as the country’s central bank held rates. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 2.4 percent by 12:46 p.m. in Tokyo, the most since June. Japan’s Topix index plunged toward a correction and the Hang Seng Index slid 2.3 percent in Hong Kong. Copper fell as much as 0.3 percent in London, a 10th straight decline. The so-called Aussie climbed 1.1 percent. Asian credit risk rose to the highest in five months
  • Copper Heads for Longest Slump in 27 Years on Factory Outlook. Copper dropped for a 10th day, heading for the longest losing streak since at least April 1986, on signs of weakening demand after manufacturing slowed in China and the U.S., the world’s top metals consumers. Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange slid as much as 0.3 percent to $7,016 a metric ton, the lowest intraday level since Dec. 4, and was at $7,028.75 at 10:51 a.m. in Tokyo. 
  • Rubber Falls to Near 17-Month Low as U.S. Factory Growth Slows. Rubber futures in Tokyo declined to the lowest level in almost 17 months after signs of slowing global industrial output boosted demand for the Japanese currency as a haven. The commodity for delivery in July fell as much as 2.3 percent to 221.8 yen a kilogram ($2,192 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the lowest intraday price for a most-active contract since Sept. 6, 2012. Futures traded at $223.3 yen by 10:25 a.m. local time, down 19 percent this year after entering a bear market last week.
  • Banks to Corporates Prepare for Big Bang of EU Swaps Rules. Companies from banks and technology firms to energy suppliers are set to face European Union swaps rules, amid warnings from some businesses that they may not have all the systems in place to meet this month’s deadline. Starting Feb. 12, firms in the EU must begin systematic reporting of their derivatives transactions to data banks known as trade repositories. The measure marks the EU’s implementation of a global agreement targeted at preventing any repeat of the financial crisis that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
  • U.S. Said to Probe Banks Over Sovereign Wealth Fund Dealings. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether financial firms made improper payments to secure investments from sovereign wealth funds, according to two people familiar with the matter. The probe, which grew out of a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry, looks at firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(GS) that sought business from Libya’s sovereign wealth fund before Muammar Qaddafi’s regime was toppled in 2011, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the investigation isn’t public.
Wall Street Journal:
Fox News:
  • O'Reilly v Obama, Round 2 : Keystone, poverty and veterans. President Obama told Bill O’Reilly Monday on “The O’Reilly Factor” that he was waiting to get an official recommendation from Secretary of State John Kerry before proceeding with the Keystone Pipeline. Obama also took issue with the number of jobs the pipeline would create after supporters said it would create tens of thousands.
CNBC: 
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider: 
Washington Post: 
  • House GOP finalizes debt-limit playbook. Several House members told The Washington Post on Monday that Republican leaders have narrowed their list of possible debt-limit strategies to two options: trading a one-year extension for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, or trading a one-year extension for repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s risk corridors.
Reuters: 
Telegraph:
People's Daily:
  • China 2014 Job Market Needs to Absorb 7.3m Graduates. Job market will face pressure this year to absorb 7.3m college graduates, citing Yuan Guiren, Minister of Education.
Evening Recommendations
  • None of note
Night Trading
  • Asian equity indices are -2.25% to -1.25% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 157.0 +6.0 basis points.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 119.25 +3.25 basis points.
  • FTSE-100 futures -.53%.
  • S&P 500 futures +.40%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures +.35%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
  • (ADM)/.84
  • (GCI)/.65
  • (BSX)/.13
  • (IP)/.86
  • (AGCO)/1.34
  • (EMR)/.67
  • (HCA)/.86
  • (BDX)/1.29
  • (IDXX)/.81
  • (CME)/.67
  • (R)/1.29
  • (CL)/.91
  • (CVD)/.84
  • (GILD)/.50
  • (CHRW)/.68
  • (BWLD)/1.06
  • (AFL)/1.39
  • (TDW)//1.11
  • (CERN)/1.39
  • (DV)/.73
Economic Releases
10:00 am EST
  • Factory Orders for December are estimated to fall -1.8% versus a +1.8% gain in November. 
  • The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index for February is estimated to fall to 44.5 versus 45.2 in January.
Upcoming Splits
  • None of note
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Fed's Evans speaking, Fed's Lacker speaking, UK Construction PMI report, weekly retail sales reports, ISM New York for January, (MBT) investor day and the (SAP) investor day could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower, weighed down by technology and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 25% net long heading into the day.

Monday, February 03, 2014

Stocks Falling into Final Hour on Rising Global Growth Fears, Rising Emerging Markets/European Debt Angst, Surging Yen, Financial/Retail Sector Weakness

Broad Equity Market Tone:
  • Advance/Decline Line: Substantially Lower
  • Sector Performance: Every Sector Declining
  • Volume: Above Average
  • Market Leading Stocks: Underperforming
Equity Investor Angst:
  • Volatility(VIX) 21.24 +15.37%
  • Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 142.57 -.71%
  • Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 10.30 +.59%
  • S&P 500 Implied Correlation 62.26 +4.85%
  • ISE Sentiment Index 86.0 -8.2%
  • Total Put/Call .78 -10.34%
  • NYSE Arms 2.71 +78.59% 
Credit Investor Angst:
  • North American Investment Grade CDS Index 74.43 +4.31%
  • European Financial Sector CDS Index 104.51 +3.44%
  • Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 55.0 unch.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign Debt CDS Index 117.74 +1.40%
  • Emerging Market CDS Index 347.33 +2.50%
  • 2-Year Swap Spread 13.25 +.25 basis point
  • TED Spread 21.50 -.75 basis point
  • 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -6.75 +1.0 basis point
Economic Gauges:
  • 3-Month T-Bill Yield .02% unch.
  • Yield Curve 228.0 -4.0 basis points
  • China Import Iron Ore Spot $122.60/Metric Tonne unch.
  • Citi US Economic Surprise Index 32.60 -16.4 points
  • Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index 13.0 +.5 point
  • 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.13 unch.
Overseas Futures:
  • Nikkei Futures: Indicating -430 open in Japan
  • DAX Futures: Indicating -61 open in Germany
Portfolio: 
  • Slightly Lower: On losses in my tech/biotech/medical/retail sector longs
  • Disclosed Trades: Added to my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges
  • Market Exposure: Moved to 25% Net Long

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
  • Emerging Stocks Fall on Data as Brazil Leads World Losses. Emerging-market stocks fell to a five-month low as a manufacturing slowdown in China and the U.S. bolstered concern global growth will falter. Brazil’s Ibovespa led losses in world equities as Petroleo Brasileiro SA tumbled. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 1.1 percent to 926.18 at 1:32 p.m. in New York. Brazil’s Ibovespa posted the biggest decline among the 94 global equity gauges tracked by Bloomberg as oil producer Petrobras sank to an eight-year low. Turkey’s lira extended its worst start to a year since 2009 after inflation quickened to the highest level in three months. Ukrainian bonds rallied on speculation the European Union will offer financial aid to rival emergency loans from Russia. “When both the U.S. and China show slowing growth in manufacturing, it’s a really big deal,” Paul Zemsky, the head of multi-asset strategies at ING U.S. Investment Management, which oversees $200 billion, said by phone from New York. “There is no place in the world right now that investors are comfortable about economic growth.” All 10 groups in the measure for developing-nation equities decreased, led by commodity companies. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index exchange-traded fund fell 2.4 percent to $37.27 today. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Emerging Markets ETF Volatility Index, a measure of options prices on the fund and expectations of price swings, advanced 7.1 percent to 30.96.
  • Emerging-Market Rout Seen Enduring on Low Real Rates. Inflation-adjusted interest rates are still too low in developing nations for Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to foresee an end to the worst emerging-market currency selloff in five years. One-year borrowing costs in Turkey are 3.6 percent, less than half of the average in the three years before the 2008 global financial crisis, even after the central bank doubled its benchmark rate last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The real yield for Mexico is almost zero, while South Africa’s is 1.4 percent, compared with an average of 2 percent over the past decade. Central-bank rate increases in Turkey, India and South Africa last week failed to contain January’s 3 percent selloff in emerging-market currencies. Citigroup says yields aren’t high enough to attract the capital needed to finance current-account deficits in some of those nations. Competition for capital is intensifying with the Federal Reserve paring monetary stimulus, while the International Monetary Fund is calling for “urgent policy action.” 
  • Europe Stocks Drop as Lloyds Falls on Compensation Costs. European stocks declined, following their worst start to a year since 2010, as Lloyds Banking Group Plc dragged a gauge of banks lower and a report showed U.S. manufacturing expanded at the slowest pace in eight months. Lloyds posted its biggest drop since September 2012 after saying it set aside 1.8 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) in the fourth quarter to cover the cost of compensating customers for mis-sold payment protection insurance. Colruyt SA tumbled the most in more than two years after cutting its annual profit forecast. Ryanair Holdings Plc (RYA) rallied the most in eight months after saying more people have booked flights for this summer than at this stage a year ago. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1.3 percent to 318.21 at the close of trading, dropping to its lowest level in six weeks. The benchmark slid 1.8 percent in January. It has slumped 5.3 percent from a six-year high on Jan. 22 as the Argentinian government’s decision to allow the peso to devalue triggered a rout in emerging-market currencies
Wall Street Journal:
MarketWatch:
CNBC:
  • After swearing in, Yellen's next hurdle is GOP scrutiny. The Janet Yellen era officially began with the new Fed chair's swearing in at the central bank Monday morning. But Yellen's real challenges start next week, when she faces the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday
ZeroHedge:
ValueWalk:
Business Insider:
Reuters:
  • Brazil posts widest trade deficit ever in January. Brazil's trade deficit in January was the biggest on record, after a rise in raw material exports failed to offset greater imports of consumer and capital goods, the Trade Ministry said on Monday. 
  • METALS-Copper hits 2-month low; China, U.S growth concerns drag. Copper fell to a two-month low on Monday, with slowing factory growth in top consumer China and the United States compounding a deteriorating demand outlook for the metal. China's factory growth eased to an expected six-month low in January, hurt by weaker local and foreign demand, heightening worries of an economic slowdown. Also, growth in China's services sector slowed to a five-year low in January.
  • GLOBAL ECONOMY-China, U.S. drag on global manufacturing revival. Slower growth in the Chinese and U.S. factory sectors raised worries about global growth on Monday, even though European manufacturers enjoyed a solid start to the year. Data showed growth in China's manufacturing sector slowed to a six-month low, while its service sector grew at its slowest pace in five years.
Financial Times:
  • Investors turn wary on US earnings growth. There is one certainty in the stock market: companies usually beat their lowballed earnings forecasts. At least, that is what equity bulls say. Others have turned wary.
Telegraph:

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:
  • Small-Cap Growth -3.37%
Sector Underperformers:
  • 1) Oil Tankers -4.08% 2) Steel -3.14% 3) Gaming -3.12%
Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:
  • WPC, ORMP, WWE, GLOG, QCLN, VNDA, CNQR, UFS, CSC, DEO, SOXX, AKAM, XIV, BCEI, MAT, BID, ADEP, WRB, LTM, EV, SZYM, ITMN, PCCC, AMZN, CCJ, OKE, FEYE, HMSY, SKYW, MNTA, MW, MDVN, EVR, CPHD, OZM, IRF, ITMN, SLCA, BLUE, CVLT, BCEI, WPC, SFG, MAN, WHR, URI, RGA, UBSI, MAT, AMG, PFPT, BCO, EV, BYD, WWD, LPLA, RJF, IM, KEX, ESI, SPW, JW/A, WETF, PII, RHI, FMER, GT, MTW, JAH, ASBC, ATW and LUK
Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:
  • 1) FAST 2) EMR 3) AKAM 4) FITB 5) DXJ
Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:
  • 1) GPC 2) DAL 3) TGT 4) FOSL 5) CSCO
Charts:

Monday Watch

Weekend Headlines 
Bloomberg: 
  • China Manufacturing Gauge Falls to Six-Month Low. A Chinese manufacturing gauge fell to a six-month low in January as output and orders slowed, adding to signs that government efforts to rein in excessive credit will cool growth in the world’s second-largest economy. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (EC11CHPM) was at 50.5, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Feb. 1 in Beijing. That matched the median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News and compared with December’s 51 reading
  • Cost of Bearish Chinese ETF Bets Surges as Growth Slows. Options traders are paying the most in six months to protect against declines in the largest Chinese exchange-traded fund on concern economic growth is slowing amid a selloff in emerging-market equities. Puts hedging against a 10 percent decline on the iShares China Large-Cap ETF cost 5.8 points more than calls betting on a 10 percent increase, according to three-month implied volatility data compiled by Bloomberg. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index (EC11CHPM) of the most-traded Chinese stocks in the U.S. fell 1 percent last week, led by Sina Corp. (SINA) The gauge dropped 8.4 percent in January, the worst monthly slide since 2012.
  • China-Japan Relations Reach Low Point, Chinese Official Says. China’s relationship with Japan is “probably at its worst” amid a territorial dispute and the Communist government will take action to maintain stability in the region, a senior Chinese official said. Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China’s National People’s Congress, told a panel at the Munich Security Conference today that the government in Beijing would “respond effectively to any provocation” that risked upsetting the “order of tranquility” in East Asia. 
  • S. Korea Crackdown on Underground Economy Stokes Angst: Economy. Extra pressure on groups from bar owners to doctors to mom-and-pop retailers contrasts with Park’s 2012 election-campaign focus on reducing the scope of industrial groups, known as chaebol, to create space for small- and medium-sized businesses. The clampdown may have the opposite effect, said Jean Lim, a Seoul-based economist at Korea Institute of Finance, a non-profit research center. 
  • Dollar Rises Most Since May as Taper Fuels Emerging-Markets Rout. The dollar had its biggest monthly gain against a basket of peers since May as a global selloff of emerging-market currencies prompted investors to seek the relative safety of haven assets. “The dollar has benefited from the broad-based flight out of risk assets and into safer ones,” Omer Esiner, chief market analyst in Washington at the currency brokerage Commonwealth Foreign Exchange Inc., said yesterday in a phone interview. “That we didn’t really get even an acknowledgment of the selloff in emerging markets by the Fed shows that it sees little risk of contagion at this point, which is also dollar-positive.” 
  • Asian Stocks Extend January Rout After China Factory Data. Asian stocks fell, with the regional benchmark gauge extending its steepest monthly slump since May, after a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing growth added to concern a global economic recovery is faltering. Hokkaido Electric Power Co. (9509) slumped 8.4 percent, leading losses on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, as the Japanese utility forecast a full-year loss. Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., the biggest shareholder in a company that ran tours to North Korea’s Mount Geumgang resort, the site of reunions in 2010 between families separated by war, fell 4.2 percent in Seoul after North Korea didn’t respond to South Korea’s suggested dates for a new round of reunions. Fanuc Corp. advanced 3.3 percent in Tokyo after orders at the factory-robotics maker topped projections. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.5 percent to 134.14 at 10:01 a.m. in Tokyo, heading for the lowest close since Sept. 6.
  • Record Momentum Unwinding in S&P 500 as China Quashes Euphoria. After U.S. stocks gained 30 percent last year and almost everything went up, measures of Standard & Poor’s 500 Index price momentum are slipping just as concern mounts that emerging markets will snuff out the rally. Almost 160 companies in the benchmark gauge for American equities traded below their average level over the past 200 days last week, more than any time last year, when stocks posted the biggest rally since the technology bubble, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A total of 86 stocks set one-year highs as the index hit a record Jan. 15. That’s down from an average of 112 when peaks were reached in the third quarter.
  • Hedge Funds Raising Gold Wagers Dump Copper: Commodities. Hedge funds raised bullish gold wagers by the most since July and sold copper holdings as emerging-market turmoil boosted concern the global economy will slow and increased demand for precious metals as a haven. The net-long position in gold jumped 40 percent to 60,672 futures and options in the week ended Jan. 28, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Long wagers rose 5.5 percent to the highest since September, and short bets dropped 16 percent. Net-bullish copper holdings tumbled 62 percent as shorts gained by the most in 11 weeks
  • Copper Set for Longest Slump Since 1996 on China Manufacturing. Copper fell for a ninth day, the longest losing streak since January 1996, after manufacturing slowed in China, the world’s largest user of base metals. Aluminum traded near a four-year low. Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange slid as much as 0.4 percent to $7,035 a metric ton and was at $7,045 at 10:31 a.m. in Tokyo. The industrial metal, used in wires and pipes, lost 4 percent in January, the most since June, extending a 7.2 percent drop in 2013
  • Rubber Reaches 16-Month Low as China Manufacturing Growth Slows. Rubber fell to the lowest level since September 2012 after data showed Chinese manufacturing dropped to a six-month low, adding to concerns that demand may weaken from the largest consumer. Futures for delivery in July lost as much as 1.9 percent to 223.1 yen a kilogram ($2,181 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the lowest price for a most-active contract in 16 months. Prices traded at 223.7 yen by 10:14 a.m. local time. The commodity used in tires entered a bear market last week and tumbled 17 percent in January.
  • U.S. 10-Year Yield Falls Most Since 2011 on Emerging-Market Rout. Treasury 10-year yields dropped the most since August 2011 as uneven economic data and an exodus from emerging-market assets fueled demand for the safety of U.S. government securities. Benchmark 10-year yields reached the least in 12 weeks as growth slowed in China and Russia and as central banks in India, Turkey and South Africa sought to stem capital outflows, as the Federal Reserve cut bond purchases. U.S. central bank policy makers expressed optimism about improved U.S. economic growth before a Labor Department report on Feb. 7 forecast to show an increase of 180,000 in January nonfarm payrolls.
  • German, French Banks Broke Pact on Greek Debt. German, French, Dutch lenders sold Greek debt in 2010, breaching govt promise, citing minutes of IMF meeting from May that year.
Wall Street Journal:
  • Michael Barone: How ObamaCare Misreads America. The Washington elites who designed the law must be bewildered: Why doesn't everyone behave as they do? People learn from their mistakes. Or they can—and should. Which is the reason we should try to learn from the revelations of mistakes about health care and health insurance since the passage of ObamaCare. The evidence is not all in. But it seems that Americans are not behaving as ObamaCare's architects—and many critics—expected.
Fox News: 
  • ‘Not even a smidgen of corruption’: Obama downplays IRS, other scandals. President Obama, in an interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, tried to put behind him the scandals that have hung over his second term, suggesting his administration did not mislead the public on the Benghazi attack and going so far as to say the IRS targeting scandal had “not even a smidgen of corruption.”
CNBC: 
  • Japan in danger of missing 2020 budget target. Japan is on course to break a pledge to balance its budget by 2020, according to a new government forecast that sets up a battle between fiscal hawks at the ministry of finance and doves in the cabinet of Shinzo Abe, prime minister. 
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
  • LIVE: Thousands Of Companies Around The World Reveal The Truth About The Global Economy.
New York Times:
  • Banks Could Still Face Tougher Capital Requirements to Prevent Crises. Ever since the end of the 2008 financial crisis, the world’s leaders have searched for ways to shore up the banking system. Earlier this month, the committee that sets standards for the global financial system proposed changes to a crucial indicator of bank risk in a way that critics considered a sop to big European lenders like Deutsche Bank.
Washington Post:
  • UN says more than 733 Iraqis killed in January. The United Nations said Saturday that at least 733 Iraqis were killed during violence in January, even when leaving out casualties from an embattled western province. The figures issued Saturday by the U.N.’s mission to Iraq show 618 civilians and 115 members of the security forces were killed in January. But the UNAMI statement excluded deaths from ongoing fighting in Anbar, due to problems in verifying the “status of those killed.” The figures also leave out insurgent deaths. 
Reuters: 
  • Jos. A. Bank(JOSB) says no benefit in commencing negotiations with Men's Wearhouse(MW). Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc on Sunday rejected yet another offer by rival Men's Wearhouse Inc, the latest in a prolonged acquisition battle between the two men's clothing retailers. In response to Men's Wearhouse offer last week that it is open to sweetening its spurned buyout offer under certain conditions, Jos. A. Bank said the proposal was still undervaluing the company.
Financial Times:
Telegraph:
  • Currency crisis at Chinese banks 'could trigger global meltdown’. A rise in foreign funding at China's banks poses a threat for international lenders. The growing problems in the Chinese banking system could spill over into a wider financial crisis, one of the most respected analysts of China’s lenders has warned. Charlene Chu, a former senior analyst at Fitch in Beijing and now the head of Asian research at Autonomous Research, said the rapid expansion of foreign-currency borrowing meant a crisis in China’s financial system was becoming a bigger risk for international banks. 
Night Trading
  • Asian indices are -1.0% to -.50% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 151.0 +1.75 basis points.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 116.0 +1.0 basis point.
  • FTSE-100 futures -.22%.
  • S&P 500 futures +.19%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures +.16%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
  • (SYY)/.40
  • (YUM)/.80
  • (HIG)/.90
  • (ADVS)/.30
  • (TTWO)/1.42
  • (APC)/.90
  • (DNB)/2.83
  • (GGP)/.35
  • (PPS)/.66 
Economic Releases 
8:58 am EST
  • Final Markit US PMI for January is estimated at 53.9 versus a prior estimate of 53.7. 
10:00 am EST
  • ISM Manufacturing for January is estimated to fall to 56.0 versus 57.0 in December.
  • ISM Prices Paid for January is estimated to rise to 54.0 versus 53.5 in December.
  • Construction Spending for December is estimated unch. versus a +1.0% gain in November.
Afternoon:
  • Total Vehicle Sales for January are estimated to rise to 15.7M versus 15.3M in December.
Upcoming Splits
  • (TD) 2-for-1
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Eurozone Manufacturing PMI and RBA rate decision could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower, weighed down by industrial and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the week.

Sunday, February 02, 2014

Weekly Outlook

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 earnings concerns, rising global growth fears, a stronger yen, increasing emerging markets/European debt angst and technical selling. My intermediate-term trading indicators are giving neutral signals and the Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the week.