Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• Xi Jinping’s Tech Wonderland Runs Into Headwinds.
• Cash Tidal Wave Gives Asia Best Ever Third-Quarter Share Sales.
• Gold-Buying by Central Banks Seen Climbing From Near Decade Low.
• Asia Stocks to Drift Before China Data Flurry: Markets Wrap. Asia stocks opened with modest declines as traders awaited data from China for the latest information on the strength of the recovery in the region’s largest economy. U.S. shares earlier slipped on low volumes. Shares in Tokyo and Australia edged lower, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were steady ahead of the first presidential election debate. The index declined 0.5% on Tuesday with more than two stocks falling for every one that advanced as talks on expanding aid ended for the day with plans to resume discussions Wednesday. Oil fell toward $39 a barrel in New York. Treasuries and the dollar were little changed. China markets will shut from Thursday for a week of national holidays and South Korea is closed Wednesday. S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge fell 0.5% on Tuesday. Japan’s Topix index slid 0.4%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 1.2%.
• Oil Holds Below $40 as Concerns About Demand Recovery Increase.
  
• JPMorgan Admits Spoofing by 15 Traders, Two Desks in Record Deal.
  
• Antibody Cocktail Shows Promise; NYC Positivity Up: Virus Update.
• Apple Gives Tim Cook Up to a Million Shares That Vest Through 2025.

Wall Street Journal:

• Retail Store Closures Hit Record in First Half.
• How China Is Taking Over International Organizations, One Vote at a Time.
• The Left’s Unhealthy Interest in Amy Coney Barrett’s Adopted Kids.
• Applicants Flock to Business Schools to Ride Out Pandemic.
• Covid-19 Cases Tick Up in New York as U.S. Infections Edge Down.

Fox News:

• Biden campaign rejects Trump's call for inspector to check candidates for listening devices at debate.
• Obama admin briefed on claims Clinton amped up Russia to distract from emails.
  

CNBC.com:

• Disney to lay off 28,000 employees as coronavirus slams its theme park business.
• GM extends talks on $2 billion deal with Nikola after fraud, sexual assault allegations surface.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Micron, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals & more.
• UnitedHealth has acquired DivvyDose, a competitor to Amazon’s PillPack. 
  

MarketWatch.com:         

• Micron stock slides as weak outlook follows doubled earnings.  
• Regeneron says that trial coronavirus drug cocktail cut virus load, aided patient recovery.
  

Zero Hedge:   

• Hillary Clinton Accused Of Approving Scheme To Smear Trump With Russia Accusations.
• Vietnam Cashes In On China Exodus.
• Which Jobs Have Been Hardest Hit By The Pandemic.
• Helicopter Money And The End Of Taxes.
• 911 System Goes Down Across The Country: Was This A Test?
• "Corruption !!!" - Furious Trump Questions Why Observers Were Barred From Early Voting Sites.
• Latest Moderna Data Shows Vaccine "Safe And Effective" In Older People; NYC Positivity Rate Jumps: Live Updates.
• How Many Of These Questions Will Chris Wallace Ask Joe Biden?
• The Most Miserable Place On Earth: Disney Firing 28,000 Workers.
• Gov Cuomo Threatens To Send In National Guard To Pick Up Trash As NYC Garbage Crisis Worsens.
• Verizon Looks To Dump Unprofitable "Huffington Post" As Traffic Sags.
• WTI Rebounds Above $39 After Surprise Crude Draw.
• Jim Quinn: The Only Thing 'Systematic' Is The Destruction Of America.
• Bonds & Bullion Bid As Stocks & Dollar Skid.

The Epoch Times:

• ‘Chilling Moment’: How Beijing Pressured California Senate to Scrap Human Rights Resolution.
• China’s Largest Real Estate Developers Face Financing Crunch.
  

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 -1.0% to -.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 77.25 unch.

• China Sovereign CDS 51.25 +2.0 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 58.96 +.01%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 89.0 -12.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 29.95 +.59%
• FTSE 100 futures +.04%.

• S&P 500 futures +.13%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.12%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• None of note
  

After the Close:

• None of note
  

Economic Releases

8:15 am EST

• The ADP Employment Change for Sept. is estimated to rise to 648K versus 428K the prior week.
  

9:45 am EST

• The MNI Chicago PMI report for Sept. is estimated to rise to 52.0 versus 51.2 in Aug.

10:00 am EST

• Pending Home Sales MoM for Aug. is estimated to rise +3.2% versus a +5.9% gain in July.

10:30 am EST

• Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory gain of +465,000 barrels versus a -1,639,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -1,368,450 barrels versus a -4,025,000 barrel decline the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to fall by -1,374,360 barrels versus a -3,364,000 barrel decline the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to fall by -.2% versus a -1.0% decline prior.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Bowman speaking, UK GDP report, government funding deadline, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report and the (TOT) investor day could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are modestly lower, weighed down by commodity and transportation 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 day.