Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Live Now: Chinese President Xi Jinping Speaks at Boao Forum. Here is a quick CATCHUP as Xi's speech continues: Xi sees an "open and prosperous" approach to Asian economic development. Cold War and zero-sum mentalities are "out of place". Says dialogue is the way to resolve disputes. China will significantly lower import tariffs for vehicles. Says China will increase transparency, strengthen property-rights protection and oppose monopolies.  

• Trump Hints at Deal on Chinese Trade as Xi Readies Response.

• Global Debt Jumped to Record $237 Trillion Last Year .

• Asian Stocks Trade Mixed as Focus on Xi Address: Markets Wrap. Japan’s Topix index was little changed as of 10:31 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.3 percent. The Kospi index lost 0.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index was little changed. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent.

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

• Iron Ore Giant Says Miners Have Shut Gates on Adding New Supply.

• Bitcoin, the Biggest Bubble in History, Is Popping.  

• United Sees First-Quarter Revenue Gauge Near High End of Outlook.

Wall Street Journal:

• Comfiest Seat in the House: Struggling Movie Theaters Go Upscale to Survive. 

• CBO Sees Annual Deficits Exceeding $1 Trillion by 2020. 

• Zuckerberg: Facebook(FB) Made Mistakes on ‘Fake News,’ Privacy.

• PayPal(PYPL) Makes a Move Toward Traditional Banking.

• Why Should Markets Care About a Paltry $150 Billion Trade War?

• Nafta Partners Seek Deal by Early May, Mexico Says.

MarketWatch.com:

• Nvidia(NVDA) stock gains after Morgan Stanley says cryptocurrency weakness offers buying opportunity. 

• Why stock-market investors shouldn’t expect China’s Xi to back down in trade battle.

Fox News:

• Trump attacks Mueller 'witch hunt' as WH source calls investigation 'out of control'. (video)

CNBC:

• Dow's 400-point rally is nearly erased in final hour on report of FBI raid of Trump's lawyer. (video)

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Tupperware, Verifone, Nike & more.

• 'Emotional' market is providing opportunities: Trader. (video)

• Verifone surges more than 50 percent after acquisition announcement. (video)

• 'None of us will have any privacy anymore': Senator calls for Facebook regulation.

• Syria, Middle East tensions pose bigger risk for oil prices.  

• Trump rips Cohen raid: 'It's a disgraceful situation, it’s a total witch hunt'.

Zero Hedge:    

• US Futures Spike As Xi Pushes Globalization Agenda.

• Mueller Reportedly Investigating Trump Links To Ukrainian Who Gave Clintons More Than $13 Million.

• Trump Blasts "Disgraceful" FBI Raid Of Lawyer's Office: "A Whole New Level Of Unfairness".

• Iran Warns U.S. Would "Regret" Pulling Out of Nuclear Deal Soon After Doing So.

• Forget The Trade War, China Has Even Bigger Problems Domestically.

• Japan Activates Marines For First Time Since WWII On Chinese Border.

• Dow Roundtrips 800 Points As Trump Turmoil Returns. (graph)

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are +.25% to +.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 77.25 -.75 basis point. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 12.50 -.75 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 74.55 +.04%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.72%.

• S&P 500 futures +1.0%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +1.22%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (MSM)/1.31

• (LAYN)/-.16

• (HCSG)/.38

Economic Releases

6:00 am EST

• The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for March is estimated to fall to 107.0 versus 107.6 in February.
  

8:30 am EST

• PPI Final Demand MoM for March is estimated to rise +.1% versus a +.2% gain in February.

• PPI Ex Food & Energy MoM for March is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.2% gain in February.
  

10:00 am EST

• Wholesale Trade Sales MoM for February is estimated to rise +.1% versus a -1.1% decline in January.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Chinese President Xi speaking, China Money Supply report, WasDe Crop report, $30B 3Y T-Note auction, weekly US retail Sales reports, Zuckerberg's testimony before Senate Committee and the (ETH) investor meeting could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are higher, boosted by technology and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open higher and to maintain gains into the afternoon.  The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.