Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:               

• Israel Vows Harsher Gaza Attacks as Sides Draw Nearer to War.
• Inside the Secretive Swiss Bank for the World’s Richest People.
• U.S. Equity Futures Dip, Asia Set for Weak Open: Markets Wrap.
• Oil Edges Higher With Weak Dollar Offsetting Refiner Run Cuts.  
• April ‘Head-Scratcher,’ Inflation Brewing, Japan Spends: Eco Day.  
• Gas Flowing 5 MPH Will Take Two Weeks to Reach New York Once Pipeline Is Reopened.  
• Colonial Faces Day of Reckoning Amid Expanding Gasoline Crisis.
• Gasoline Shortages Across the U.S. East Are Creeping Northward.  
• U.S. Gulf Coast Refineries May Cut Output Due to Colonial Outage.  
• Why Lumber Remains King in American Homes Despite a 300% Surge.  
• Bezos Wraps Up His Latest Amazon Stock Sales for $6.7 Billion.  
• Tech Stock Rout Represents Opportunity, Vindication, Regret for Retail Traders.  
• The Options Market May Be Fueling the Turbulence in Tech Shares.

Wall Street Journal:

• Job Openings Reach Record as Hiring Slows.
• Americans Up and Moved During the Pandemic. Here’s Where They Went.
• Credit-Card Debt Keeps Falling. That’s a Problem for Banks.
• Xi Jinping’s Achilles Heel.
• Hamas Tests Israel—and Biden.
• Colonial Pipeline Hack Shows Ransomware Emergence as Industrial-Scale Threat.
• Google Plans to Double AI Ethics Research Staff.

Fox News:

• Israel mobilizes 5,000 reserve soldiers as Egypt trying to broker cease-fire with Gaza militants.
  

CNBC.com:

• Spot gas shortages could worsen if Colonial Pipeline doesn’t reopen by the weekend.
• As the U.S. economy restarts from the pandemic, parts are severely broken.
• Stanley Druckenmiller says the Fed is endangering the dollar’s global reserve status.
• Abbott’s CEO says it has a team of ‘virus hunters’ to stay on top of new Covid variants.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: fuboTV, Opendoor Technologies, Electronic Arts & more.

MarketWatch.com:       

• Dogecoin copycats are driving up Ethereum fees and vexing parts of the crypto community.

Zero Hedge:

• "His Womanizing Was Well Known": Flood-'Gates' Open As Biographer Details Microsoft Founder's Salacious Past.
• "Lines Down The Street" - People Wait Five Hours To Fill Up Amid Gas Shortages.
• Professor Explains Flaw In Many Models Used For COVID-19 Lockdown Policies.
• Hedge Funds Descend On Puerto Rico As Biden Tax Threat Looms.
• "I Hope We All Survive It" - Dave Chappelle Warns About Cancel Culture.
• NYT Calls Out CDC Over Disingenuous COVID Guidance.
• Dissenters, Unite!
• All Hell Breaks Loose: Hamas Fires 130 Rockets On Tel Aviv, Israel Collapses 13-Story Building In Gaza.
• The Psychology Of QE Is Far More Important Than The Amount Of It.
• WTI Dips After Big Surprise Build In Gasoline Inventory.
• The Worker Shortage In New Jersey Is Getting Ridiculous.
• Satellite Imagery Captures Thousands Of Unfinished Ford Trucks Stashed At Kentucky Speedway.
• Big-Tech Bloodbath Continues After Biggest Sell-Program In History.

Newsmax: 

• Biden Facing Bipartisan Blowback Over Mideast Flareup.
  

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Rand Paul is Right! There is Ample Evidence that Dr. Fauci Supported COVID-19 Research In China – As Gateway Pundit Has Reported Since LAST MAY.
• Rand Paul Rips Into Dr. Fauci About Funding the Wuhan Virology Institute Lab – Arrogant Fauci Hits Back! (VIDEO).
• Gov. DeSantis Leads the Way: “These Kids Do Not Need to Be Wearing Masks… We Need to Let Them Be Kids and Let Them Act Normally” (VIDEO).
• FLASHBACK: CDC Uses Faulty COVID Transmission Data to Push for Mail-in Voting in Attempt to Get Rid of Trump.
• It’s Only Been 4 Months: Keystone Pipeline is Shut Down, Gas Prices Are Highest in 6 Years, Gas Stations Are Out of Gas, And Gas Lines in Several States – Nice Work, Joe!
• Bombshell Report Reveals CDC Risk of Covid Transmission Outdoors Greatly Exaggerated.

The Epoch Times: 

• Beijing’s Solar Panel Plan Plunges Chinese Farmers Into Heavy Debt. 
• The CCP’s Economic Coercion Tactics Against Australia Meet Its Waterloo.

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 +.5% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 79.75 +.75 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 37.0 +1.0 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 61.52 -.02%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 2,857.0 -53.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 22.88 +.14%.
• FTSE 100 futures +.4%.

• S&P 500 futures -.04%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.12%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (LITE)/1.40
• (TSEM)/.31
• (WEN)/.14
• (WWW)/.38
  

After the Close:

• (DOX)/1.13
• (BOOT)/.43
• (JACK)/1.25
• (PAAS)/.50
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• The CPI MoM for April is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.6% gain in March.
• The CPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for April is estimated to rise +.3% versus a +.3% gain in March.
• Real Average Weekly Earnings YoY for April.
  

10:30 am EST

• Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -2,142,000 barrels versus a -7,990,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to rise by +152,630 barrels versus a +737,000 barrel gain the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to fall by -1,545,630 barrels versus a -2,896,000 barrel decline the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to rise by +.16% versus a +1.1% gain prior.

2:00 pm EST

• The Monthly Budget Deficit for April is estimated at -$207.9B versus -$738.0B in March.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Clarida speaking, UK GDP report, German Inflation data report, 10Y T-note outlook, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report and the Citi Car of teh Future Symposium could also impact global trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

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