Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:               

• China’s Attacks on Australian Goods Take Many Different Forms.
• Japan Prices Fall at Fastest Pace in a Decade as BOJ Meets.
• U.K. Warns Brexit Talks ‘Blocked’ as Time to Reach Deal Ebbs.
• Muted Start for Stocks Friday Amid Stimulus Talks: Markets Wrap.
• Oil Poised for Seventh Weekly Gain Amid U.S. Stimulus Optimism.
• GOP Georgia Senators Lose Bid to Alter Mail-in Ballot Rules.
• Los Angeles Is Now Worst-Hit U.S. Metro Area for Covid-19 Cases. 
• Tracking the Coronavirus Vaccines That Will End the Pandemic.
• Government Faces Risk of Weekend Shutdown, GOP Senator Says.  
• Coca-Cola to Cut 2,200 Jobs Worldwide Amid Covid Challenges.
• Skillz Soars in Trading Debut as Investors Bet on Mobile Esports.
• Poshmark Files for IPO Saying It Became Profitable in Pandemic.  
• DoorDash Slips After Citron Calls IPO ‘Most Ridiculous’ of 2020.  
• Amazon Has Turned a Middle-Class Warehouse Career Into a McJob.  
• NYC’s Plummeting Real Estate Sales Cost City $1.2 Billion.

Wall Street Journal:

• Hijacking the Fed to Bail Out States.
• Biden’s Court Problem.
• Roku Torments Entertainment Giants in Quest to Dominate Streaming.
• Robinhood Financial to Pay $65 Million to Settle SEC Probe.
• Hack Suggests New Scope, Sophistication for Cyberattacks.
• More States Hit Google Over Alleged Monopoly Conduct.
• Risky Loans Secure Private-Equity Payouts Despite Downturn.

Fox News:   

• Joe Biden addresses Hunter investigation in new interview.
  

CNBC.com:

• Online thrift store Poshmark files to go public after two profitable quarters.
• Congress scrambles to finalize Covid relief, avoid shutdown as deadline draws near.
• FedEx beats quarterly earnings, revenue estimates but cites continued uncertainty of Covid pandemic.
• FDA panel endorses second Covid vaccine in U.S. as Moderna wins key vote in path to emergency use.
• Microsoft was swept up in SolarWinds hack.
• The stock market will face a big test early in 2021 with the Georgia runoffs.
• Largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase files for IPO as bitcoin soars past $23,000.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: FedEx, United States Steel, Scholastic & more.

MarketWatch.com:         

• Mortgage rates slide to fresh record low as Fed holds steady.  
• The U.S. dollar is getting crushed — here’s why you can thank the Fed .
  
• Bitcoin price rally near point of ‘exhaustion,’ warns market-timing expert.

Zero Hedge:

• Former Goldman CFO Calls For Universal Basic Income "To Stave Off Revolution".
• "Who Wants To Be A Guinea Pig?": Health Workers Balk At Vaccine; 40% Of Staff At One Chicago Hospital Refuse To Take.
• The Decimal Point That Blew Up The World.
• This Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words.
• US Nuclear Weapons Agency Breached As Part Of Massive Cyberattack: Report.
• FDA Advisory Panel Confirms Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Benefits Outweigh Risks.
• Why Albert Edwards Is Starting To Panic About Soaring Food Prices.
• Dollar Slump Sparks Surge In Small Caps, Lumber, Copper, Crypto, & Gold.

Newsmax:

• Trump Adviser Navarro: 6 Frauds 'More Than Sufficient' to Swing Election Outcome.
• Trump: 'Thousands of Noncitizens Voted in Nevada'.
• Tommy Tuberville Floated as Ally for Rep. Brooks' Electoral College Challenge.
• Sen. Rick Scott to Newsmax TV: We’ll See What Happens With Electors Jan. 6.
  

@kylenabecker:

• “On Thursday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced a statewide move to *MATCH SIGNATURES* to their absentee ballots in all 159 counties in the state.” SIGNATURE MATCH. ALL COUNTIES. BIG NEWS IN GA.
• SCOTUS. "I don't give a #@&^ about 'Bush v. Gore'... at that time we didn't have RIOTS!" A staffer "heard *SCREAMING* through the walls as Justice Roberts & other liberal Justices were insisting this case *NOT* be taken up..." Wonder why Texas' case was dropped? Here's why: (video)

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• BREAKING: Gateway Pundit Requests 3:30 AM TCF Center Footage of Detroit’s Biden Ballot Dump.
• Hackers Breached US Nuclear Security Administration which Maintains US Nuclear Stockpile.
• DNI Ratcliffe Refuses to Sign Off on Elections Report Until Intel Officials Include Damning info on China’s Attempts to Influence Election — Deep State Hiding the Facts.
• Newly Released Texts Show Hunter Biden Associate Asked to ‘Get Joe Involved’ in China Deal to Make it Look Like ‘Truly Family Business’.
• OUTRAGEOUS: Supreme Court Is Purposefully Delaying and Slow Walking Sidney Powell Emergency Petitions – State Responses Not Due Till January 14.

The Epoch Times:

• Leaked CCP Member List Shows 70-member Strong Unit at NYU Shanghai.

Geller Report: 

• LOOK Who Owns Dominion Voting Systems: Politically Motivated PRIVATE Equity NY Hedge Fund.

The Atlantic:

• The End of the Filibuster—No, Really. Many activists will not tolerate a Democratic-controlled Senate that allows Republicans to block legislation next year.

Politico:

• AOC Lays Out Progressive Wish List for Biden.

Glenn Beck:

• Elizabeth Warren’s ‘progressive wish list’ will destroy America. (video)

Daily Caller:

• Trump Urges Supporters Not To Boycott Georgia Senate Elections. President Donald Trump urged his supporters not to boycott the upcoming runoff Senate elections in Georgia on Friday, saying a boycott would be “playing right into the hands” of Democrats.
  

NTD News:

• "A lot of people, friends of mine, say, let's not vote... But if you do that, the radical left wins. ... You're angry because so many votes were stolen, it was taken away...If you don't vote, the socialists and the communists win"—Trump rallies for Perdue and Loeffler. (video) 

ProtectTheVote.com: 

• Serious allegations of misconduct in the 2020 elections have resulted in unprecedented legal action to ensure our elections are -- and remain -- free and fair. Find out where we’re exposing fraud and how you can help.

HereIsTheEvidence.com:

• This is for aggregating publicly available items of voter fraud evidence in the US election that would be admissible in court.
  

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 -.5% to +.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 56.75 -.5 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 28.0 unch.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 62.91 -.08%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 1,460.0 +19.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 24.0 +.73%
• FTSE 100 futures -.02%.

• S&P 500 futures -.09%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.16%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (APOG)/.69
• (DRI)/.72
• (WGO)/.98
  

After the Close:

• (NKE)/.62

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST:

• The Current Account Deficit for 3Q is estimated at -$187.0B versus -$170.5B in 2Q.
  

10:00 am EST

• The Leading Index for Nov. is estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.7% gain in Oct.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Brainard speaking, Fed stress test results released, government funding deadline and the (CNC) investor 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 commodity and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.