Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:               

• Biden Orders U.S. to Develop ‘Options’ for Belarus Response.
• U.S. Warns Against Japan Travel, Sowing New Doubt About Olympics.  
• Korea Consumer Confidence Hits 3-Year High as Recovery Quickens.
• Central Banks Running Out of Options as Recovery Falters in Asia.
  
• China’s Commodity Markets Hear Mixed Message in Price Crackdown.
  
• SoftBank’s Son Joins Growing Calls Opposing Tokyo Olympic Games.  
• Asian Stocks Steady Amid Easing Inflation Fears: Markets Wrap.
  
• Oil Holds Two-Day Surge as Investors Weigh Iran Talks, Demand.
  
• U.S. Cases Slow to New Low, Warns on Japan Travel: Virus Update.
• Elizabeth Warren Floats $31.5 Billion Plan to Pursue Tax Cheats.  
• A $16 Billion Quant ETF Is Poised to Reshuffle 68% of Portfolio.

Wall Street Journal:

• The Wuhan Lab Leak Question: A Disused Chinese Mine Takes Center Stage.
• Fans Are Back and Acting Crazy. Sports Are Back to Normal.
• Belarus Faces EU Flight Ban for Grounding Ryanair Plane. 
• New York City Schools Will Be Fully In-Person in Fall.
• The Rise of Woke Anti-Semitism.

Fox News:

• NY Magazine writer calls out 'liberal media' for dismissing COVID lab-leak theory, 'smearing' its backers.
• Mainstream media eating their words after attacking conservatives for lab leak claims.
• Pompeo says it's 'outrageous' US officials, including Fauci, dismissed lab leak theory.
• COVID-19 origins: Scalise, Comer demand House Dems launch 'full and complete' probe into China's role.
• Dem rips progressives' 'deafening' silence on anti-Semitic attacks.
  

CNBC.com:

• Amazon nears deal to buy MGM Studios for nearly $9 billion.
• Lordstown Motors shares fall after company slashes 2021 production plans, says it needs more capital.
• One chart reveals bullish setup for semis stocks against broader tech sector: Oppenheimer.

MarketWatch.com:        

• Why once-hot hedge-fund stock picks are now the ‘pain trade’ of 2021.
  
• Bitcoin isn’t a currency or financial asset, but ‘looks like a bubble’: Roubini.
  
• If bitcoin’s price falls below this crucial level, watch out.

Zero Hedge:

• Biden Spox Deflects Over Wuhan Bombshells During Tense Exchange.
• Vox Stealth Edits March 2020 Article "Debunking" Lab Origin Of COVID.
• Washington Reality Versus American Reality.
• "Fact-Checking" Takes Another Beating: Taibbi.
• Tow "Range Anxiety" Builds For Ford's All-New F-150 Electric Truck.
• Support For Black Lives Matter Drops To Two Year Low.
• 'Devout Catholic' Biden Bails On Notre Dame Commencement After 1000s Sign Petition Demanding No Invite.
• New York City Is Back: At Least 30 People Shot Over The Weekend.
• Lithium, Cobalt, & Rare Earths: The Post-Petroleum Resource Race.
• UK Airlines Ordered To Avoid Belarusian Airspace As Ryanair CEO Blasts "State-Sponsored Hijacking".
• Preference Or Prejudice? Federal Court Finds Biden Administration Is Engaged In Racial and Gender Discrimination.
• Bitcoin, Bullion, & Big-Tech Soar As Dollar Drop Resumes.

Newsmax: 

• Rep. Ann Wagner to Newsmax: WHO Should Not Be the Entity Investigating COVID Origins.
  

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• EXCLUSIVE: US Capitol Doors on Jan. 6 Were Magnetically Locked – Someone Inside Capitol Security Had to Release the Lock to Open the Doors (VIDEO).
• Fox News’ Peter Doocy Repeatedly Grills Psaki on WSJ Report Alleging Three Wuhan Researchers Fell Very Ill in November 2019 (VIDEO).
• TGP’s Jim Hoft Joins Steve Bannon on The War Room to Discuss “Rat in a Trap” Anthony Fauci’s Latest Admission on Wuhan Funding (VIDEO).
• John Fredericks: Six Affidavits from Georgia Election Witnesses Allege 30,000 Ballots are Fake (VIDEO).

The Epoch Times: 

• US-China Chip Hegemony War: South Korea Under Pressure to Pick a Side. 
• Biden’s Solar Ambitions Collide With China Forced Labor Complaints.

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 +.5% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 87.25 -2.0 basis points.

• China Sovereign CDS 38.5 -1.25 basis points.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 61.32 +.01%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,271.0 +2.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 20.9 +.69%.
• FTSE 100 futures -.11%.

• S&P 500 futures +.05%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.01%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (AZO)/18.38
• (CBRL)/.32
• (DY)/.23
• (VSAT)/.27
  

After the Close:

• (A)/.82
• (INTU)/6.82
• (JWN)/-.61
• (RRGB)/-1.16
• (TOL)/.81
• (URBN)/.06
• (ZS)/.07
  

Economic Releases

9:00 am EST

• The FHFA House Price Index MoM for March is estimated to rise +1.2% versus a +.9% gain in February.
• The S&P CoreLogic CS 20-City MoM for March is estimated to rise +1.3% versus a +1.17% gain in February.
  

10:00 am EST

• New Home Sales for April is estimated to fall to 950K versus 1021K in March.
• Conference Board Consumer Confidence for May is estimated to fall to 119.0 versus a reading of 121.7 in April.
• The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for May is estimated to rise to 19.0 versus 17.0 in April.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Quarles testimony to Senate, US weekly retail sales reports, Wolfe Research Transport/Industrials Conference and the UBS Energy Conference could also impact global 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 day.