Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:         

• Beijing Pushes Its Big Banks to Weakest Health in a Decade.
• U.K. Expands Test Funding; Preakness to Go Ahead: Virus Update.
• Thailand to Miss Stimulus Borrowing Target as Spending Falters.
• Asia Stocks to Track U.S. Gains; Dollar Climbs: Markets Wrap. Asian stocks looked set to follow their U.S. peers higher Thursday where shares continued to set fresh records despite a setback for some tech giants. The dollar advanced. Futures rose in Japan and Australia, though dipped in Hong Kong. S&P 500 contracts were steady after the index gained 1.5% to hit another all-time high with utilities and materials stocks leading the charge and technology shares lagging. The dollar gained the most in almost two weeks as the euro slid further below $1.20, a level it breached for the first time in more than two years Tuesday. Oil steadied after a slide, while gold held Wednesday’s retreat. Treasury yields retreated. S&P 500 Index futures dipped 0.1% as of 7:17 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge gained 1.5% on Wednesday. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1%. Hang Seng futures earlier fell 0.1%. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.7%. 
• Oil Drops With Upcoming Refiner Maintenance a Warning for Demand.
• Fed Observations, China Banking Stress, BOE Bond Option: Eco Day.
• CBO Sees U.S. Federal Debt Exceeding Size of Economy in 2021.
• CDC Tells States to Get Ready for Nov. 1 Vaccine Distribution.
• Trump Marks World War II’s End With Criticism of ‘Violent Mobs’.
• McConnell Raises Doubts on Congress Getting New Stimulus Done.
• Covid-19 Flares in New Hot Spots as Americans Let Their Guard Down.
• Murphy Envisions N.J. Trade Tax for Social Justice Agenda.   
• Airlines Are Removing Seats to Make Space for Gadgets and Seafood.
  

Wall Street Journal:

• What Could Go Wrong on Election Day.
• The Culture Wars Are Back.
• Allow Us to Present the Pandemic Bill.
• Saudi Aramco Slows Diversification Plans Amid Industry Downturn.
• A Texas School Reopens and Everyone Holds Their Breath.
• Fox News, NBC and C-Span Journalists to Moderate Debates.
  

Fox News:

• Pelosi 'apologizes' after being caught on video getting styled at COVID-shuttered salon.
• Barr says there's no 'epidemic' of cops shooting unarmed Black men.
  

CNBC.com:

• It sure feels like the easy money has been made, PNC’s Amanda Agati says.
• Dr. Fauci says U.S. coronavirus cases are ‘unacceptably high’ going into Labor Day.
• Pelosi says Dems, White House have ‘serious differences’ over coronavirus aid after Mnuchin call.
• Job growth appears stuck in neutral after enhanced unemployment expired, data shows.

MarketWatch.com:   

• Tesla’s stock sinks again to kick off a correction after disclosure of another large seller.  
• The government is making a big change in how it reports jobless claims. Here’s why.

Zero Hedge: 

• "It Was A Setup": Pelosi Blames Salon For Covert Blow-Out, Demands Apology.
• Air Travel Bust Worsens As Carriers Need More Cash.
• 'Occupy Lafayette Square' Protestors Planning 50 Day "White House Siege", Warn "Things Could Turn Very Ugly".
• Pompeo Unveils Extensive New Restrictions On Chinese Diplomats In US.
• Portland Mayor Tells Neighbors He's Moving After Riot Outside His Condo.
• BMO: The Relationship Between Equity Vol And Financial Conditions Has All But Institutionalized The Powell Put.
• Trump Foe Chris Wallace Among Moderators Chosen For Upcoming Presidential Debates.
• Chicago, Portland, Baltimore – The Things We've Warned About Are Now Starting To Happen Everywhere.
• EU Official Warns COVID-19 Cases "Almost Back To March Levels": Live Updates.
• "Demand Is Insane": NYC Movers Turn People Away, Suburban & Rural Housing Snagged Up, As Big City COVID-Exodus Accelerates.
• Creating Perverse Asymmetries To Extort The "Little Guy": The Special "Screw You" Of Junk Bond Bailouts.
• Will You Choose Freedom?
• An Epic Battle Is Raging Beneath The Market Surface.
• 81 Scientists Back Biden After He Commits To Shuttering Economy If Advised... By Scientists.
• S&P Reaches Critical Resistance, Valuation At Record High As Liquidity Crashes.

 Business Insider:  

• Target adds to its Good & Gather brand as private labels sales soar.
  
• Robinhood is reportedly facing an SEC investigation over deals with high-speed trading firms.
• Half of US adults now report some sign of depression, twice as much compared to a few years ago, study finds.   
  
• Ben & Jerry's is launching a podcast about white supremacy in America, after calling for civil rights reforms earlier this summer.
• 'High valuations will become a speed limit': A Goldman Sachs portfolio strategist warns the stock market's record-setting August is setting traders up for disappointment.

The Epoch Times:

• Long Queues at Hospitals, Apartment Lockdowns in Wuhan as Some Suspect Virus Resurgence.
• House Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Reduce US Reliance on China for Rare Earths.
  

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 unch. to +1.0% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 57.25 -2.5 basis points.

• China Sovereign CDS 32.75 -.5 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 60.71 -.01%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 413.0 +32.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 35.30 -.07%
• FTSE 100 futures +.49%.

• S&P 500 futures unch.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.04%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (CPB)/.53
• (CIEN)/.82
• (CONN)/-.04
• (DCI)/.44
• (GCO)/-1.85
• (JW/A)/.10
• (KFY)/.08
• (MIK)/-.13
• (PDCO)/.24
• (SIG)/-2.07
• (TTC)/.56
  

After the Close:

• (AVGO)/5.24
• (COO)/1.54
• (DOCU)/.07
• (OXM)/-.61
• (NX)/.08
• (RH)/3.19
• (SWBI)/.49
  

Economic Releases

7:30 am EST

• The Challenger Job Cuts YoY report for August..
  

8:30 am EST:

• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 950K versus 1006K the prior week. 
• Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 14000K versus 14535K prior.
• The Trade Balance for July is estimated to widen to -$58.0B versus -$50.7B in June.
  

10:00 am EST

• ISM Services for August is estimated to fall to 57.0 versus 58.1 in July.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, Eurozone Services PMI report, Bloomberg weekly Consumer Comfort Index and the Australia Sales report 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 mixed and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.