Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Asia Stocks Rise as Earnings Eyed; Dollar Falls: Markets Wrap. Equity markets in Japan and Australia eked out feeble gains in a muted start, while Hong Kong stocks pointed higher. Futures on the S&P 500 Index climbed. The S&P 500 Index gained to the highest in almost a month and erased its loss for the year as investors turned their focus to the earnings season after there was no immediate reprisal to the U.S.-led missile strike in Syria and trade concerns took a back seat. The dollar traded at the lowest in two months as U.S. President Donald Trump accused Russia and China of devaluing their currencies, contradicting an assessment from the Treasury Department. Treasury yields were steady and West Texas crude futures traded below $67 a barrel. Japan’s Topix index fluctuated as of 9:18 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 percent. The Kospi index rose 0.3 percent. Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.6 percent. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2 percent.

• Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day.

• Aluminum Hits Highest Since 2011 With Rusal Supply Seen at Risk.  

• Cantor Brokerage Chief Matthews Leaves to Start a Hedge Fund.

• Netflix(NFLX) Proves It Can Raise Prices Without Losing Customers.

Wall Street Journal:

• U.S., Britain Issue Warnings Over China’s ZTE.

• Stock Pickers Ready to Take Behind the Alliance That Hit Syria the Facebook Out of ‘FANG’.

• Behind the Alliance That Hit Syria.

• Facing Historic Labor Shortages, Companies Snap Up Teenagers.

• Trump Breaches Precedent by Commenting on Currency Values.

• Homebuilding Isn’t Keeping Up With Growth, Group Says.

• EU Support Grows for New Iran Sanctions.

Fox News:

• Judge won't let Trump attorney Cohen review seized files before the feds, as Stormy Daniels speaks out.

CNBC:

• Facebook(FB) explains how it can collect info about you even if you never post on Facebook. 

• After-hours buzz: NFLX, ROKU, CE & WTFC.

• Drug distributor and drugstore stocks rally after Amazon shelves plan to sell to hospitals.  

• Netflix(NFLX) shows it still has plenty of growth left in the U.S. 

• US reportedly weighs retaliation against China for restrictions on tech companies.

Zero Hedge:     

• Tesla(TSLA) Temporarily Shutting Down Model 3 Production: Buzzfeed.

• "Self-Centered, Self-Serving Jackass": FBI Insiders Furious After Comey Interview.

• It's Not China That's Dumping US Treasuries...

• Missile-Mania Sparks Stock-Buying Bonanza As Yield Curve Tumbles. (graph)

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.5% to +.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 74.5 -.25 basis point. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 12.5 unch.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 74.74 +.02%.

• FTSE 100 futures -.10%.

• S&P 500 futures +.04%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.03%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (CMA)/1.54

• (GS)/5.57

• (JNJ)/2.00

• (NTRS)/1.42

• (UNH)/2.91

• (PGR)/1.17

• (OMC)/1.05

• (BMI)/.36

• (CSX).66

• (IBM)/2.42

• (IBKR)/.59

• (ISRG)/2.06

• (LRCX)/4.37

• (UAL)/.41

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• Housing Starts for March is estimated to rise to 1267K versus 1236K in February.

• Building Permits for March is estimated to rise to 1321K versus 1298K in February.

9:15 am EST

• Industrial Production MoM for March is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +1.1% gain in February.

• Manufacturing Production for March is estimated to rise +.1% versus a +1.2% gain in February. 

• Capacity Utilization for March is estimated to fall to 77.9% versus 78.1% in February.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Williams speaking, Fed's Quarles speaking, Fed's Evans speaking, China GDP report, Japan Capacity Utilization report, Japan Trade Balance report, weekly US retail sales reports, German ZEW Index and the (FDS) investor day could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by energy and technology 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 day.