Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:          

• Here Are the Winners and Losers From China’s Surging Yuan.
• Malaysia to Protest ‘Suspicious’ Intrusion by Chinese Air Force.  
• Korea Inflation Hits Highest Since 2012 As Economy Recovers.
• Asian Stocks Steady at Open After Mixed U.S. Data: Markets Wrap.  
• Oil Extends Gain From 2018 High With Saudis Upbeat on Demand.  
• American Travel Spree Proves Market Right to Be Bullish on Oil.
• Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day.
• JBS Says ‘Vast Majority’ of Plants Will Be Operational Wednesday.  
• Lazard CEO Says Remote Work Damages Prospects for Young Bankers.  
• Leon Black Sued by Woman Who Alleges Defamation, Sexual Violence.  
• Buy High, Sell Higher: Mudrick's Savvy Trade on AMC Stock Frenzy.

Wall Street Journal:

• The Southwest Is America’s New Factory Hub. ‘Cranes Everywhere.’
• Oil Price Hits Two-Year High as OPEC Sees More Demand.
• Europe Catches the Inflation Bug.
• Business Travel Starts to Make a Comeback.
• NIH Starts Testing Mixing and Matching Booster Shots.
• Biden Administration Suspends Oil Leases in Arctic Refuge.
• SPAC Pullback Pressures Creators.

Fox News:

• Cities run red with blood over Memorial Day weekend.
  

CNBC.com:

• Mudrick Capital bought 8.5 million shares of AMC, then reportedly sold them off for a profit.
• LinkedIn spinout Confluent files for IPO, with annualized revenue of over $300 million.
• Biden’s proposed 39.6% top tax rate would apply at these income levels.
• Zoom reports blowout earnings but warns of a coming slowdown.
• Oil demand will reach pre-pandemic levels in mid-2022, analyst says.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Zoom, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ambarella & more.

MarketWatch.com:         

• HPE reports results top estimates, raises full-year earnings outlook.
  
• SEC says Tesla’s Elon Musk has twice violated court order with his tweets.
  
• A huge day for meme stocks sees Mudrick reportedly dump AMC stock, and Roaring Kitty returns to rally GameStop die-hards.
  
• Want to get in on the hot energy sector? Wall Street favors these 20 stocks that could gain up to 40%.

Zero Hedge:

• Fauci Emails Reveal Damage Control Scramble After ZeroHedge Spotlights Man-Made COVID-19 Theory.
• JBS Shutters All US Meat Plants As Cyber Attack Jeopardizes Food Supply.
• 'So Sue Us': Amazon Responds To 75,000 Customers Who Say Alexa Spied On Them.
• MLB, Players Union Hit With Lawsuit For Moving All-Star Game Out Of Atlanta.
• The Social Decay That Is Eating Away At America Like A Cancer Is Visible All Around Us.
• Tennessee Will Explore The Possibility Of A State Gold Depository.
• Washington Post Becomes Latest Media Outlet To Walk Back "Debunked Conspiracy Theory" Wuhan Lab Leak Coverage.
• Mothers Of Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor Criticize Black Lives Matter: "Benefitting Off The Blood Of Our Loved Ones".
• Lira Craters To Record Low After Erdogan Orders Central Bank To Slow Inflation By Cutting Rates.
• 117 Employees File Lawsuit Against Texas Hospital For Mandating COVID-19 Vaccine.
• Nasdaq Dips, Russell Rips As Tail-Risk Insurance Costs Soar.

Newsmax:

• Gordon Chang to Newsmax: Biden COVID Report May Conceal US Complicity.
  

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Joe Biden Appoints Kamala Harris to Lead White House Efforts on Voting Rights – Making it Easier For Democrats to Steal Elections.
• WATCH: Biden Absurdly Claims ‘White Supremacy’ is Bigger Terrorism Threat Than ISIS or Al Qaeda.
• China State Media Says Country Must Prepare for Nuclear War After Biden Agrees to Watered-Down Covid Probe.
• Woke Navy Brass Looking to Rename “Offensive” Antietam Cruiser – Named After Civil War Union Victory that Led to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
• America the Outlier: Voter Photo IDs Are the Rule in Europe and Elsewhere.

The Epoch Times: 

• Despite Opposition, Cornell Approves Partnership With CCP-Controlled Peking University.

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 85.75 -.25 basis point.

• China Sovereign CDS 37.0 unch.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 61.44 -.12%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,468.0 -2.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 21.2 -1.0%.
• FTSE 100 futures -.01%.

• S&P 500 futures +.05%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.03%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (AAP)/3.08
• (CCL)/-1.61
• (DCI)/.58
  

After the Close:

• (AI)/-.27
• (JEF)/.95
• (NTAP)/1.12
• (PVH)/.83
• (SMTC)/.52
• (SPTN)/.54
• (SPLK)-.70
  

Economic Releases

2:00 pm EST

• US Fed Beige Book release.

Afternoon:

• Wards Total Vehicle Sales for May is estimated to fall to 17.4M versus 18.51M in April.

Upcoming Splits

• (NEOG) 2-for-1
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Australia GDP report, weekly US retail sales reports, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, Stifel Jaws/Paws Conference, RBC Consumer/Retail Conference, Wells Fargo Energy Conerence, Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, Credit Suisse Chemicals/Ag/Packaging/Cement Conference and the (TOL) analyst/investor day 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 commodity and industrial 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.