Sunday, April 22, 2018

Monday Watch

Today's Headlines
Bloomberg:
  • Central Banks Fret Trade War More Deflationary Than Inflationary. Global central bankers sounded the alert that a trade war would leave them worrying more about the economic fallout than any boost tariffs would give to inflation. As President Donald Trump threatens to impose levies on imported steel and aluminum and duties on as much as $150 billion of Chinese goods, uncertainty over global commerce is casting a pall over an otherwise strong outlook. The tensions were a key theme at the IMF meetings in Washington, with policy makers on Saturday warning of challenges in a communique. Colombia’s central bank president said a trade war would be "catastrophic," his Paraguayan peer said it would be "bad for everyone," while Japan’s chief described protectionism as "very undesirable."    
MarketWatch.com:
Night Trading
  • Asian indices are -.25% to +.25% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 75.5 +2.0 basis points.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 12.0 unch.
  • Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 74.33 unch.
  • FTSE 100 futures +.17%.
  • S&P 500 futures +.25%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures +.33%.

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
  • (ALK)/.12
  • (HAL)/.40
  • (HAS)/.34
  • (KMB)/1.69
  • (GOOG)/9.29
  • (ABX)/.14
  • (BRO)/.30
  • (OI)/.58
  • (AMTD)/.74
  • (WHR)/2.98 
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
  • The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for March is estimated to fall to .25 versus .88 in February.
9:45 am EST
  • The Preliminary Markit US Manufacturing PMI for April is estimated to fall to 55.1 versus 55.6 in March.
  • The Preliminary Markit US Services PMI for April is estimated to rise to 54.1 versu 54.0 in March.
10:00 am EST
  • Existing Home Sales for March are estimated to rise to 5.55M versus 5.54M in February.
Upcoming Splits
  • None of note
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Eurozone Manufacturing PMI report could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by technology and healthcare shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.

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