Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:      

• The U.K. Is on a Collision Course With China.

• Global Risk Rally Powers On as Asia Stocks Climb. The global stock rally extended into Thursday as investors clung to optimism for a speedy economic recovery from the pandemic. Treasury yields kept Wednesday’s jump and the dollar remained at its weakest since early March. South Korean shares led early gains in Asia, while Japanese stocks opened about 1% higher and U.S. equity futures edged up. The Nasdaq 100 earlier briefly surpassed its February closing record and banks led the S&P 500 Index to a three-month high. Treasuries retained declines as investors turned away from havens after U.S. private payrolls showed fewer job losses than forecast in May. Australian 10-year yields rose back above 1% for the first time since March. Futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.2% as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge rose 1.4% on Wednesday. Japan’s Topix index advanced 0.9%. South Korea’s Kospi index rose 1.9%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.7%.  

• Singapore’s Challenge, Japan’s Spree, Merkel’s Billions: Eco Day.  

• U.S. Cases Rise 1.2%; N.Y. Deaths Hit 10-Week Low: Virus Update.  

• White House Works With Seven Drugmakers in ‘Warp Speed’ Push.

• The Things That Used to Matter to Stock Investors Don’t Anymore.

• Two Days of Stock Euphoria Show Risk Appetite Getting Gluttonous.

Wall Street Journal:

• Minnesota Brings New Charges in George Floyd Killing.

• Virginia to Remove Statue of Robert E. Lee in State Capital.

• CEO Pay for the S&P 500.

• U.S. Plans to Block Flights by Chinese Airlines.

• Coronavirus Stimulus Funds Largely Depleted.

• America’s New Nihilism.

• Looting Deals Second Blow to Reeling Businesses in Minority Neighborhoods.

• Snap Says It Won't Promote Trump’s Snapchat Account.

• Israel Shuts Schools as Coronavirus Cases Jump After Reopening.

Fox News:

• Feds probe possible 'command and control' over riots as bricks thrown at cops.

• Bail reform laws let alleged criminals back on the streets within hours.

• Tucker Carlson: The 'revolution' being waged in the George Floyd mob violence is against the working class. (video)

CNBC.com:

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Cloudera, Fossil, Costco and more.

• Coronavirus: Delta caps plane capacity at 60%, WHO resumes study of malaria drug.

• This is the greatest 50-day rally in the history of the S&P 500.

• Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives $3 million to Colin Kaepernick’s organization.

MarketWatch.com:          

• The Fed has made valuing stocks like ‘cheating off the F student,’ strategist says.

Zero Hedge:

• Millions Of Higher-Paying Jobs Targeted As Next Wave Of COVID Layoffs Begins.

• Violent Protests Spread Across Europe, Virginia Gov Unveils Plan To Remove Statue Of Robert E Lee.

• "They Sent The World A Buy Signal": Minerd Says Fed Faces "Day Of Reckoning" For Unleashing The Final Bubble.

• HSBC Bends The Knee To Beijing, Says It Will "Respect & Support" Security Law.

• Merkel's Coalition Agrees To €130BN Stimulus Package To Boost German Economy.

• "Are Markets Suffering A Moment Of Madness?"

• Pompeo Tweets Pic Hosting 'Wanted' Chinese Dissidents & Tiananmen Survivors.

• "They're Getting The Sh*t Kicked Out Of Them": Antifa Attempt To Riot In California Suburb Goes Awry.

• Pelosi Turns To Black Caucus For Bill On Policing.

• Consumer "Cash" Spending Is Much Worse Than The Reported Figures.

• In Defense Of America.

• Canadian Car Sales "Recover", Only Crashing 44% In May, After April's 75% Plunge

• Social Unrest Rises As Confidence Falls.

• The Post-COVID Economy Will Be Very Different From The Pre-Pandemic Bubble Economy.

• Dow Soars Over 1000 Points Since Riots Started; Bonds, Bullion, & Dollar Dumped.

Business Insider:

• Boston opened its offices this week and almost no one showed up to work.

The Epoch Times:

• China’s Official Narrative on Wuhan Wet Market Contradicted by Leaked Document.

• Chinese Poet and Wife Arrested for ‘Inciting Subversion’.

John Hopkins University:

• Coronavirus Global Cases. (map)

BNO News:

• Tracking Coronavirus: Map, data and timeline.

KFF:

• State Data(Tests/Hospitalizations).

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are +.5% to +1.0% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 91.75 -4.25 basis points.

• China Sovereign CDS 48.5 -2.75 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 61.23 -.02%.

• FTSE 100 futures -.03%

• S&P 500 futures -.01%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures unch.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (CIEN)/.52

• (GIII)/-.67

• (SJM)/2.14

• (MIK)/.17

• (NAV)/-.39

• (TTC)/1.02

After the Close:

• (AVGO)/5.14

• (COO)/2.42

• (DOCU)/.09

• (GPS)/-.64

• (NX)/.05

• (RH)/.55

• (WORK)/-.06

• (MTN)/3.24

• (ZUMZ)/-.64

Economic Releases
7:30 am EST

• Challenger Job Cuts YoY for May.

8:30 am EST

• The Trade Deficit for April is estimated at -$49.2B versus -$44.4B in March. 

• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 1843K versus 2123K the prior week.

• Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 20050K versus 21052K prior.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The ECB Decision/Press Conference, Eurozone Retail Sales report, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report and the RBC Global Mining/Materials conference could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are higher, boosted by commodity 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.