Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Trump-Xi Trade Summit May Slip to December, Be Outside U.S.    

• Hong Kong Leaders Accused of Spending ‘Peanuts’ to Save Economy.

• Toxic Air Adds to India’s Woes as Economy Goes From Bad to Worse.    

• BOE to Hold Steady as Brexit Fog Thickens: Decision Day Guide.

• Smartphone Rebound Sparks Signs of Life in Asia’s Tech Cycle.

• Stocks Mixed as Interim Trade Deal Hits Roadblock. Stocks in Asia were mixed Thursday after reports that the signing of a partial U.S.-China trade deal may be delayed until next month. Treasuries extended Wednesday’s gains. Equities in Japan opened flat and South Korean stocks slipped, while shares in Sydney rose modestly. The S&P 500 Index closed little changed Wednesday. The latest news suggested that the signing of a preliminary trade agreement may not happen this month as originally planned as the two sides wrangle over a location. West Texas oil remained near $53 a barrel. Japan’s Topix index dipped 0.1% of as 9:07 a.m. in Tokyo. South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 0.3%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5%. Futures on the S&P 500 were flat.

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

• Europe Girds for Worse, Productivity Plunges, Trump-Xi: Eco Day.

• Vape Shops Likely to Be Exempted in Planned FDA E-Cig Curbs.  

• North Sea Oil Man Finds New Opportunities in Dying Fields.   

• ‘Powerfully’ Bullish Setup Fuels Year-End Optimism in Stocks.

Wall Street Journal:

• China Embraces Bankruptcy, U.S.-Style, to Cushion a Slowing Economy.

• Has Elizabeth Warren Wrecked the Left?

• If Warren Scraps Private Health Care, Beware Unintended Consequences.

• Sessions Plans to Enter Alabama Senate Race.

• Google(GOOG) Weighs Changes to Political Ad Policy.

• Mexico Says U.S. Homicides May Have Been Case of Mistaken Identity.

• The New College Rock Stars.

Fox News:

• Whistleblower attorney called for 'rebellion,' 'impeachment' in 2017.

MarketWatch.com:     

• Roku(ROKU) shares slump 15% on widening loss.  

• Square(SQ) gives a rosier revenue forecast after Caviar sale, but earnings outlook is light.  

• Short sellers are increasing bets on cannabis stocks even after summer selloff.

CNBC:

• Alphabet’s(GOOG) board of directors is investigating executives over inappropriate relationships.

• Qualcomm(QCOM) stock spikes after licensing business propels earnings and revenue past estimates.

• Netflix(NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings says subscriber numbers aren’t the right metric to track competition.

• This industrial stock could be the best way to ride sector surge, trader says.

Zero Hedge:   

• 'Coup Has Started': Whistleblower's Attorney Vowed To 'Get Rid Of Trump' In 2017.

• Arizona County Declares Itself A "Second Amendment Sanctuary".

• Almost 80,000 California Retirees Receive Over $100,000 In Pension Pay.

• Two Former Twitter Employees Charged With Spying For Saudi Arabia, May Be Involved In Khashoggi Murder.

• The 'Sissifying' Of America Continues.

• Ukrainians Pimped Hunter Biden's Seat For Leverage With Obama State Department.

• 45 Population-Control Quotes That Expose The Elites' Plan To Cut The Number Of People On The Planet.

• Democrats' 'Star Witness' Admits He Wasn't On Trump-Ukraine Call, Sole Source Was NY Times.

• Bonds & Bullion Bid As Trade-Deal-Delay Stalls Stocks.

Night Trading 

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 64.75 +.5 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 36.75 -.25 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index  66.16 -.05%.

• FTSE 100 futures +.15%.

• S&P 500 futures -.06%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.06%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (APD)/2.29

• (ABC)/1.58

• (MT)/-.28

• (CAH)/1.09

• (DISCA)/.81

• (DISH)/.58

• (HAIN)/.08

• (JCI)/.76

• (NCLH)/2.17

• (RL)/2.39

• (STRA)/1.20

• (TSG)/.42

• (WWW)/.63

• (ZTS)/.88

After the Close:

• (ATVI)/.23

• (MNST)/.54

• (NWSA)/.08

• (PETQ)/.35

• (SGMS)/.03

• (STMP)/.74

• (SYNA)/.73

• (TTWO)/1.70

• (TTD)/.66

• (DIS)/.97

• (YELP)/.50

• (ZG)/-.20

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST

• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 215K versus 218K the prior week.

• Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 1682K versus 1690K prior.

3:00 pm EST

• Consumer Credit for Sept. is estimated to fall to $15.0B versus $17.901B in Aug.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Bostic speaking, Fed's Kaplan speaking, BofE rate decision/meeting, China Trade Balance report, $19B 30Y T-Bond auction, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, (STRA) analyst day and the Stifel Growth Conference could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are slightly lower, weighed down by consumer and commodity shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.