Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:  

• Japan’s Suga Set to Win Ruling Party Race in Landslide, NHK Says.  
• China Clamps Down on Finance Arms of Ant, Other Giants.
• Germany Is Calling the Shots in Europe and Merkel Isn’t Sorry.
• Googling for Gut Symptoms Predicts Covid Hot Spots, Study Finds.
• SoftBank Officials Revive Talks to Take Company Private: FT.
• SoftBank Selloff Hits $17 Billion After Tech Exposure Fear Grows.    
• Stocks, Futures Push Higher After Two-Week Slide: Markets Wrap. Asian stocks started the week with gains and U.S. futures pointed higher as investors looked ahead to a Federal Reserve meeting that could provide clues on the policy outlook. The dollar and Tre.asuries were little changed. Shares saw modest gains in Japan, Australia and South Korea. S&P 500 futures climbed about 0.8%. Helping to buoy sentiment were comments from the Pfizer Inc. CEO about the likely deployment of a vaccine to Americans by year-end and reports that the sale of TikTok in the U.S. was nearing a conclusion. Gold was steady and crude oil ticked higher. S&P 500 futures rose 0.8% as of 9:05 a.m. in Tokyo. The index ended Friday little changed. Japan’s Topix index gained 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.9%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2%.
• Oil Traders Snap Up Tankers in Sign Second-Wave Glut Is Near.    
• BP Says the Era of Oil-Demand Growth Is Over.
• Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day.
• Treasury Traders Are Doubtful Powell Can Drive Inflation Higher.  
• ByteDance Tells U.S. It Won’t Sell Tiktok’s Algorithm: SCMP.  
• Michael Bloomberg to Spend $100 Million in Florida to Aid Biden.  
• Tropical Storm Sally Is Heading North, Stalking New Orleans.
• Oracle Picked as Winning Bid for TikTok U.S. Over Microsoft: WSJ.

Wall Street Journal:

• Gilead Close to Deal to Buy Immunomedics for More Than $20 Billion.
• The Wildly Popular Trades Behind the Market’s Swoon and Surge.
• Bad Teaching Is Tearing America Apart.
• Would a TikTok Ban Make the App Disappear? It’s Complicated.
• Remote Schooling Out of Reach for Many West Virginia Students Without Internet.
• U.S., China Spar Over Mainland Detention of 12 Hong Kong Activists.

Fox News:

• Protesters show up at LA hospital treating ambushed cops, shout chilling threats.

CNBC:

• United CEO says demand unlikely to recover until vaccine is widely distributed
• Pfizer coronavirus vaccine could be given to Americans before end of the year, CEO says.
• At least 33 dead as wildfires scorch millions of acres across Western U.S. — ‘It is apocalyptic’.

Zero Hedge:

• "We Hope They Die!" Protesters Chant, Block Hospital ER Entrance As Ambushed LA Cops Remain Critical.
• "I've Never Seen Anything Like This": Shippers Using West Coast Ports Can't Book Rail On BNSF And Union Pacific.
• China Injects $500 Billion In New Monthly Credit As Surge In US Real Yields Looms.
• Facebook And FBI Wage Infowar On West Coast Wildfire Arson "Conspiracy Theories".
• Czech Republic Suffers Another Record Jump In COVID-19 Cases As Florida Deaths Drop To Just 8: Live Updates.
• "Fishy As Hell": Graham Slams ActBlue Over Anonymous Donations After Group Drops Nearly $200 Million On Biden Campaign.
• ​​​​​​​DEA Busts Drug 'Superhighway' Across America, Seizes 28,000 Pounds Of Meth.
• Oracle Reportedly Passes Microsoft As New 'Frontrunner' In Race To Buy TikTok US.
• Princeton Math Prof Dares To Challenge University's "Systemic Racism" Narrative.
• On The Edge Of Another Historic Inversion: Retail Traders Set To Surpass 50% Of All Call Buying.
• Enter Austin "At Your Own Risk" - Texas Billboards Warn Motorists Amid Police Cuts.
• Retail Worshipers Routed By Last Week's Tesla Tumble Remain Faithful To The Church Of Musk.
• It's Far Too Late To Think Lockdowns Can Make COVID-19 Go Away.
• People Are Rolling Cars In Neutral Down The Hill Where The Nikola One Semi Was Allegedly Filmed "In Motion".
• A Permanent Shift In Valuations?
• LA Deputies Shot In Compton Ambush, Suspect At Large.
• The Millennials Are Coming For The Boomers' Money: One Bank Sees Generational Conflict Breaking Out This Decade.
• Author Of Dystopian Classics Predicted 'Use Of Face Masks To Enforce Conformity' 70 Years Ago.
• DHS Proposes Massive Expansion Of "Biometric Modality" Collection.
• Chinese Government Combines "Track & Trace" COVID-System With Social Credit Score.
• New System In Gulf Could "Strengthen" Into Hurricane Sally; New Orleans In Crosshairs.
• How To Protect Your Children From Indoctrination.
  

The Epoch Times:

• US ‘Deeply Concerned’ About 12 Hong Kong Activists Detained in China: Pompeo. 
  

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 indices are -.25% to +.5% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 58.75 -.75 basis point.
• China Sovereign CDS 36.50 -.75 basis point.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.53 +.02%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 222.0 +27.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 31.10 -2.4%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.15%.
• S&P 500 futures +.88%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +1.1%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• None of note
  

After the Close:

• (LEN)/1.58

Economic Releases

• None of note

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Euzozone Industrial Production report, RBA minutes, Barclays Financial Services Conference, RBC Industrials Conference, Morgan Stanley Healthcare Conference, Jefferies Software Conference, JPMorgan Gaming/Lodging/Restaurant/Leisure Forum, (PFE) investor day and the Deutsche Bank dbAccess 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 consumer shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to maintain gains into the afternoon.  The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the week.