Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:                

• Banking Is Center Stage as Iran Seeks Nuclear Deal That Delivers.
• Inflation Debate Hits Emerging Markets With Pimco Standing Firm.  
• Tens of Millions Plunge Into Poverty in Covid-Ravaged India.    
• China Tech Giants Bet $19 Billion on Global Electric Car Frenzy.  
• U.S. Stock Futures Up After Record; Gasoline Jumps: Markets Wrap.  
• Brent Oil Surge Draws Flood of Crude Cargoes Toward Europe.
• U.S. Cases Slow; EU Hasn’t Renewed Astra Contract: Virus Update.
• U.S. Fuel Suppliers Work to Avert Shortages From Pipeline Attack.  
• Restarting U.S. Pipeline Hit by Cyberattack May Not Be Easy.  
• Hackers Stole Data Ahead of U.S. Fuel Pipeline Shutdown.  
• Investors Bet Billions That the Metals Bull Run Isn’t Stopping.  
• Colonial Is Just the Latest Energy Asset Hit by Cyber-Attack.
• Bezos’s New Superyacht Heralds Roaring Market for Big Boats.
• The Hottest Trends in ETFs This Year.
• Focus Shifts to U.S. Prices After Jobs Disappointment: Eco Week.  
• Wall Street Bracing for $45 Billion of High-Grade Deals on Tap.   

Wall Street Journal:

• Consumers Feel the Pinch as Prices Rise.
• The Courage of the Apolitical CEO.
• Southlake Says No to Woke Education.
• Remote Kindergarten Could Affect Children ‘for Their Lifetime’.
• AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile Challenge Rule Targeting Robocalls.
• Should Business-School Hopefuls Skip the GMATs? Some of Their Power May Be a Myth.
• Summer Jobs for Teens Make a Comeback—But Not All Types.
• The New Scientific Method: Identity Politics.
• The Breakout Cities on the Forefront of America’s Economic Recovery.

Barron's:

• Had bullish commentary on (FCX), (COPX), (STX), (NKE), (TJX), (RVLV), (AEO), (VIRT) and (SCCO).

Fox News:

• NPR ripped for 'openly admitting' Big Tech meddling.

CNBC:  

• Ransomware attack forces shutdown of largest fuel pipeline in the U.S.
• Dogecoin plunges nearly 30% during Elon Musk’s SNL appearance.
• These stocks just scored upgrades from Wall Street’s best-performing analysts.
• China urges U.N. states not to attend Xinjiang human rights event, warns of more confrontation. 
• Gasoline futures jump as much of vital pipeline remains shutdown following cyberattack.

Zero Hedge: 

• Gasoline Futures Soar After Colonial Gives No Timetable For Hacked Pipeline Restart.
• "It's A Hustle": Dogecoin Demolished After Musk SNL Snafu.
• $170,000 Per Year: The Post-COVID Hiring Crunch Is Hitting The World Of AI Data Scientists.
• Retail Participation In Stock Trading Has Collapsed.
• Morgan Stanley Says "Rather Than Getting Excited, It's Getting More Concerned".
• Disney Caught Indoctrinating Employees With Critical Race Theory, "White Privilege" Checklist.
• Chinese Military Discussed Weaponizing COVID In 2015 'To Cause Enemy's Medical System To Collapse'.
• The Fed Embraces Its Inner Zimbabwean.
• Rocket Debris Lands Off Maldives As NASA Blasts China's "Failing To Meet Responsible Standards".
• Two Longtime Enemy Mideast Countries Have Entered Unlikely Peace Talks.
• The Energy Crisis That No One Is Talking About.
• Don't Fight The Fed's Commodity "Put".
• If Robots Are Replacing People, Why Is There A Labor Shortage.
• Cyberattack Forces Shutdown Of Largest Gasoline Pipeline In United States.
• Three Shot In Times Square Including Four-Year-Old Girl.
• Kauai Real Estate In Total Frenzy As Buyers Snap Up Multi-Million Dollar Homes Sight-Unseen.
• Turn Over Routers Or Face Subpoenas, Arizona Lawmakers Tell Maricopa County.
• Justice Dept. Proposes New Rule To Serialize "Ghost Gun" Kits .
• Beijing's Elusive Bid For Pricing Power On Rare Earths.
• New York Baseball Stadiums To Seat Fans in Separate Vaccinated And Unvaccinated Sections.
• The Dynamics Behind America's Ugly Amount Of Empty Office Space.
• Hedge Funds Are The 'Most Short' Junk Debt Since Lehman.
• Why Californians Have Sky-High Electricity Bills.
• At Record Highs, Copper "Is The New Oil" & Could Be A Double From Here.

MarketWatch.com:  

• Here’s why the Dow and S&P 500 hit records despite a weak April jobs report.  
• Cyberattack halts operations on U.S. East Coast oil pipeline.  
• Jeff Bezos sold nearly $5 billion in Amazon shares this week.  
• Gates’ divorce had been in works for years; Epstein ties said to be one source of tension.

NewsMax:    

• GOP Leader McCarthy: Biden's Tax 'Lie' Exposed by Inflation.
• Sen. Ron Johnson: 'Highly Concerned' Over Biden's Ability to Handle Threats From China.
• Stephen Moore: Biden's Jobless Benefits Deplete Workforce.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Holds Emergency Meeting After AZ Senate Threatens Legal Action for Not Providing Passwords and Routers.
• Biden’s CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Admits She Changed School Guidance to Give Toxic Teachers Unions “What They Need” (VIDEO).
• ‘Stop Programing Kids To Be Socialists!’, NC Lt. Gov Robinson Hammers Public Schools, Predicts “Mass Exodus” (VIDEO). 
• Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski Swarmed by Police and Arrested After Holding “Illegal” Church Service (VIDEO).
• Insane Biden Wants to Rely on China, the WHO (Led by a Ranking Member from a Terrorist Nation), and a Conflicted US Doctor, to Investigate COVID-19 Origins.
• In January Gateway Pundit Reported on How China was Colluding with Bidens and Sharing Info on How to Defeat Donald Trump — This Weekend The Daily Mail and Breitbart Echo Those Reports.
• AZ Audit Director Ken Bennett Drops a BOMB! – Says “It’s Very Concerning” that Dominion Has Passwords, Control of Maricopa County Voting Systems and Officials There Do Not. 
• Newt Gingrich: In My Mind “There Was No Question” all of the Close Battleground States Were Stolen in 2020 Election (VIDEO).
• Maricopa County Elections Witness Testifies that Dominion Ran Entire Election – County Officials and Observers NEVER HAD Access or Passwords! (Video).
• EXCLUSIVE: BILLIONS in US Money, Knowledge and Skills Were GIVEN to China’s Virus Research Programs, Ultimately Resulting in COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Epoch Times:

• No Way for Europe to Be ‘Distant Bystanders’ in Taiwan-Beijing Conflict: French Expert.
• Climate Change Presents Opportunity for Beijing to Expand Global Power: Chinese Professor. 
• Gordon Chang: Communist China Has Committed ‘Mass Murder’ of Americans. 
• Global Chip Shortage Underscores Need to Diversify US Supply Chain.

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 +.75% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 79.0 -.5 basis point.
• China Sovereign CDS 36.0 -.75 basis point.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 61.51 +.04%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,297.0 +21.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 20.5 +.04%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.52%.
• S&P 500 futures +.26%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.22%

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (APD)/2.12
• (CHH)/.58
• (DBD)/.20
• (DUK)/1.23
• (EBIX)/.77
• (ENR)/.59
• (MAR)/.04
• (PLUG)/-.08
• (SGMS)/-.40
• (TTD)/.81
• (TSN)/1.03
• (WB)/.49
• (WKHS)/-.14
  

After the Close:

• (DDD)/.02
• (BRKS)/.51
• (EVBG)/-.11
• (MBI)/-.45
• (OXY)/-.48
• (RBLX)/.13
• (SPG)/2.26
• (SUM)//-.46
• (TREX)/.39
• (WYNN)/-1.98
  

Economic Releases

• None of note

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The China Inflation Data report and the (FDX) May economic update could also impact trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and commodity shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher.  The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.