Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:  

• Australian Household Sentiment Soars as Optimists Now Majority.  
• Deflationary Trends Are Growing More Powerful.
• Asia Stocks Slip Amid Earnings, Stimulus Deadlock: Markets Wrap. Asian stocks followed their U.S. counterparts lower Wednesday as earnings season began and there was no sign of a quick end to the fiscal stimulus stalemate. Treasuries and the dollar were steady. Stocks slipped in Japan and South Korea and were little changed in Australia. Hong Kong’s markets are expected to resume trading after a tropical storm forced closures on Tuesday. S&P 500 contracts ticked higher after banks earlier dragged down the U.S. benchmark, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. sinking as investors worried that third-quarter earnings signaled just a pause in pain from soured loans. Eli Lilly & Co. dropped after saying that enrollment in a government-sponsored clinical trial of its antibody therapy had been paused out of safety concerns. Elsewhere, traders will be watching a speech from China President Xi Jinping in Shenzhen on Wednesday, where he is expected to lay out a vision for the region’s growth. The Bank of Korea is likely to keep its key interest rate on hold Wednesday, amid signs of economic improvement. Crude oil held an overnight advance. S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:03 a.m. in Tokyo. The index dipped 0.6% on Tuesday. Topix index fell 0.4%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 0.1%. South Korea’s Kospi index was little changed.  
• Oil Rally Loses Steam as Hopes Fade for Timely U.S. Stimulus.
  
• Trump, Republicans Divided on Stimulus as Pelosi Demands Revamp.
  
• States See $31 Billion of Taxes Disappear Due to Covid Recession.
  
• Lilly, J&J Pause Trials; Texas Cases Top 800,000: Virus Update.

Wall Street Journal:

• Mass Testing: China Doubles Down on Virus Control Plan.
• Who’s Afraid of Amy Coney Barrett?
• Regeneron’s Coronavirus October Surprise.
• On Wall Street Regulation, Joe Biden Keeps Everyone Guessing.
• How Do Real-Estate Agents Show Homes During Covid?
• J&J Hopes Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Will Restart Shortly.
• Fewer Fistfights, Less Sex—TV Production Gets a Covid Makeover.
• JPMorgan, Citigroup Signal Economy Not Out of the Woods.
• iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 11 vs. iPhone XR vs. iPhone SE: Comparing Apple’s Full Lineup.
• Trump’s Drug-Discount Cards Expected to Reach Medicare Recipients After Election.
• Turkish-Backed Syrian Fighters Join Armenian-Azeri Conflict.

Fox News:

• WATCH NOW: Barrett has tense exchange with Harris over ObamaCare, recusal, and abortion.
• Speaker rips CNN's Blitzer over COVID stimulus questions.
  

CNBC.com:

• Apple’s full-size iPhone 12 costs at least $100 more than last year’s iPhone 11.
• Cramer: It’s still too early to be speculating in the cruise line stocks.
• U.S. pauses Eli Lilly’s trial of a coronavirus antibody treatment over safety concerns. 
  

MarketWatch.com:       

• McConnell says will try to move $500 billion stimulus package before Barrett vote.

Zero Hedge:

• JPMorgan's Kolanovic Has A Warning For Those Expecting A Crushing Biden Victory.
• Trump Scores With Independents As Suburban Women Lean Left.
• Texas COVID-19 Cases Top 800k; France Sees Biggest Jump In ICU Admissions Since April: Live Updates.
• US "Geoblocks" BLS And Census Websites For Hong Kong Internet Users.
• Federal Judge Allows Clinton Foundation Whistleblower Complaint To Proceed, Rules IRS 'Abused Its Discretion'.
• Declassified FBI Spreadsheet Exposes Steele Dossier Farce: Media Reports On FBI Reports Of Media Reports.
• NYPD Braces For Protests 'Growing In Size, Frequency And Intensity' Surrounding 'Most Highly Contested Election In Modern Era'.
• Mapping The Uneven Recovery Of US Small Businesses.
• Banks Bust, Bullion Battered, But Big-Tech Bid (Again).

The Epoch Times: 

• Exclusive: China Had COVID-Like Patients Months Before Official Timeline. 
  

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 +.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 64.25 +.25 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 38.75 +.5 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 59.43 -.01%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 432.0 -8.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 28.57 -.02%
• FTSE 100 futures +.24%.

• S&P 500 futures +.15%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.27%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (BAC)/.50
• (GS)/5.50
• (PNC)/2.05
• (PGR)/1.31
• (USB)/.90
• (UNH)/3.08
• (WFC)/.47
  

After the Close:

• (AA)/-1.07
• (UAL)/-7.46
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• PPI Final Demand MoM for Sept. is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.3% gain in Aug.
• PPI Ex Food & Energy MoM for Sept. is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.4% gain in Aug.
  

11:00 am EST

• Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -1,832,630 barrels versus a +501,000 barrel gain the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -1,306,500 barrels versus a -1,435,000 barrel decline the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to fall by -1,584,130 barrels versus a -962,000 barrel decline the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to fall -.57% versus a +1.3% gain prior.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Quarles speaking, Fed's Clarida speaking, Australia Unemployment Rate, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report and the (ZM) analyst day could also impact trading today.

Market Hours
Normal:

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

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