Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• Hong Kong’s Stocks Buckle Under Weight of Negative News Flow.  
• Singapore’s Economy Posts Worse Contraction in Second Quarter.
• Cases Top 20 Million as Pandemic Keeps Spreading: Virus Update.  
• Asian Stocks Set for Muted Start; Oil Rises. Asian stocks looked set for a muted open Tuesday after a lackluster session on Wall Street. Crude oil rallied and the dollar touched a one-week high. Futures were little changed in Japan, which reopens after a holiday Monday. Contracts were flat in Australia and edged higher in Hong Kong. S&P 500 futures were little changed after the benchmark approached its all-time high from February. The tech- heavy Nasdaq 100 lost ground. Treasuries slipped, pushing yields to the highest in two weeks. S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 8:30 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 Index increased 0.3%. Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.1%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index futures were flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures rose 0.4% earlier.  
• Lazard Sees Danger, Recovery Troubles, N.Z.’s Big Call: Eco Day.
• Active Managers Had Worst Stumble in Two Years Last Month.
• Trump’s Executive Action Fails to Jolt Stalled Relief Talks.
• Shale Job Losses Accelerating and the Worst May Be Yet to Come.
• Investor Who Pushed NFL Team Rebrand Shifts Focus to Evictions.
• U.S. Junk Bond Market Sets Record-Low Coupon in Relentless Rally.

Wall Street Journal:

• Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Cabinet Resign After Protests.
• Mayhem Continues, Protest Narrative Crumbles.
• Untangling the Media Myths of Covid-19.
• The No-Win School Reopening: One Superintendent’s Dilemma.
• Why Are Some Groceries Still So Hard to Find During Covid?
• U.S. Sent Workers Nearly $250 Billion in $600-a-Week Jobless Aid.
• Chicago Braces for More Looting After Chaotic Night.
• Jimmy Lai’s Arrest Signals New Limits for Hong Kong Dissent.
  

Fox News:

• Chicago takes steps to prevent another night of violence.
  

CNBC.com:

• Trump urges Americans to stop politicizing the coronavirus, blames China.
• China’s policies to boost chipmakers amid U.S. tensions may not help, analysts say.
• Big tech is bubbling up and could spark a correction: BTIG’s Julian Emanuel.
• TSA: July air travel down 75% from 2019, but gun confiscation rates triple.
• Trump’s extra unemployment could amount to $300 a week instead of $400, and you may not qualify.
• El-Erian says the biggest threat to stock market rally is wave of corporate bankruptcies.

MarketWatch.com:    

• After 150 days of the COVID-19 pandemic, here are the best- and worst-performing stocks.
• Uber and Lyft ordered to classify workers as employees in California.

Zero Hedge:

• Stelter Meltdown: CNN Host Says It's "Otherworldly, Offensive" To Question Biden's Mental Health.
• Police Comb "Thousands Of Hours" Of CCTV Footage, Make Looting Arrests Months After George Floyd Protests.
• Trump Pulled From Press Briefing After Shooting Outside White House.
• How Climate Alarmism Hijacked Environmentalism.
• China Mobilizes Invasion Craft On Coast Near Taiwan As Top US Official Arrives In Taipei: Report.
• What's Behind The Bizzare Break Between Breakevens And Crashing Real Rates.
• The Economy Is Mortally Wounded.
• Earnings Season Shocker: FAAMG Earnings Grew By 2% While EPS For The Other 495 S&P Companies Plunged 38%.
• Silver Soars Amid Momo Meltdown, Apple Almost As Big As Entire Russell 2000.

Business Insider:

• Some coronavirus patients say they're losing their hair in clumps. Doctors think it's a response to trauma.
• Young adults can't stop partying during the pandemic because they're wired that way

The Epoch Times:

• ‘Worst Fears’: Arrest of Hong Kong Media Mogul Jimmy Lai Draws International Condemnation.
• 49 Virginia Lawmakers Call for End to Torture, Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong in China.
  

Digital Blackboard:

• Daily New Cases by Region.

Worldometer:

• New Cases/Deaths by state.

Rt Covid-19:

• How fast virus is growing by state.

KFF:

• State Data(Tests/Hospitalizations).

Night Trading 

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

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 67.25 -.25 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 40.5 -1.0 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.07 -.02%.
• FTSE 100 futures +.57%.

• S&P 500 futures +.01%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.09%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (GOOS)/-.42
• (LITE)/.83
• (SYY)/-.31
  

After the Close:

• (LRN)/.04
• (RRGB)/-3.26
  

Economic Releases

6:00 am EST

• The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for July is estimated to fall to 100.5 versus 100.6 in June.
  

8:30 am EST

• The PPI Final Demand MoM for July is estimated to rise +.3% versus a -.2% decline in June.
• PPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for July is estimated to rise +.1% versus a -.3% decline in June.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The UK unemployment report, weekly US retail sales reports, $48B 3Y T-Note auction, Oppenheimer Tech/Internet/Communications Conference, Canaccord Growth Conference, UBS Financial Services Conference and the Wedbush PacGrow Healthcare Conference could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

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