Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:                       

• Lebanon's Main State Power Plants Run Out of Fuel, Shut Down.    
• World’s Energy Chaos Turns Russia Into Top Emerging-Market Pick.  
• ‘Nothing Left But Fear’ Heightens Vietnam’s Factory Crisis.  
• BOE Officials Double Down on Signals of an Imminent Rate Hike.
• China’s Coal Hub Broadens Output Freeze Amid Heavy Rain, Floods.
• Taiwan Pushes Back After Xi Calls for Unification.  
• Iran Plans to Sell Oil in Exchange for Investment or Goods.
• In a World Fighting Climate Change, Fossil Fuels Take Revenge. 
• Stocks Set for Mixed Start Amid Inflation Risks: Markets Wrap .
  
• Oil Trades Near $80 as Global Power Crisis Set to Boost Demand.
• Vaccine Mandates Hit Amid Historic Health-Care Staff Shortage.  
• Hydropower Decline Adds Strain to Power Grids in Drought.  
• Facebook Is Willing to Open Algorithms to Regulators, Clegg Says.  
• Yellen Confident Congress Will Follow Through on Global Tax Deal.

Wall Street Journal:

• Beyond Evergrande, China’s Property Market Faces a $5 Trillion Reckoning.
• Investors Watch for Rising Costs in Earnings This Week.
• Big U.S. Retailers Charter Private Cargo Ships Amid Port Delays.
• Higher Energy Prices Raise Concerns About U.S. Inflation, Economy.
• Soaring Home Prices Are Roiling Appraisals and Upending Sales.
• Severe Drought Endangers Millions as Afghan Economy Collapses.
• Disney Meets Roadblocks to Movie Releases in China.  
• Biden’s Broadband Boondoggle.
• Fully Vaccinated and Had Covid-19? No Rush for a Booster Shot, Experts Say.
• Risky Volatility Funds Set to Make a Comeback.
  

Fox News:

• What 'Watters' World' found after an investigation into Nancy Pelosi's financial dealings in politics. 
• GOP demands Biden stop 'bullying' airlines with vaccine mandate, says taxpayers 'saved' industry.

CNBC:

• Cotton prices just hit a 10-year high. Here’s what that means for retailers and consumers.
• Disney’s shift to streaming puts ESPN in awkward position of clinging to the past. 
• ‘No Time to Die’ snares $56 million in domestic box office debut, tops $300 million globally.

Zero Hedge: 

• COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Plummet In Southern US, Rise In Northern States.
• Sickout? Southwest Airlines Cancels 1,000 More Flights As Disruptions Increase.
• How Stocks Perform During Stagflation, And Why Goldman's Clients Are Worried.
• Here's How Wall Street Defines "Stagflation" And Why "Markets Could Be Massively Mispriced".
• Staggering Number Of US Troops Remain Unvaccinated As Deadlines Approach.
• Goldman Slashes 2021, 2022 GDP Forecasts Again, Blames Fiscal Drag, Slowing Consumer Spending.
• India Faces Rolling Blackouts As Coal Shortage Forces Power Plants To Adopt Emergency Measures.
• Empty Manhattan Storefronts Double Historical Rate.
• Do We Need "F" Grades? More Schools Are Saying No.
• 871 Firefighters File Intent To Sue Over LA's COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate.
• Robinhood Insiders Speed Up Stock Sales Days After New Risk Disclosures Relating To Crypto And Payment For Order Flow.
• Merrick Garland's Problems With His Son-In Law Just Got Worse.
• Bill Maher Shocks Liberal Audience With Trump 2024 Predictions: "I Hope I Scared The Shit Out Of You".
• The 'War On Cash' Endgame Is Here.
• JPMorgan Prime Advises Institutions To Keep Shorting Even As The Bank Hikes Its S&P Price Target.
• Brits May Be Forced To Take COVID Tests On Camera To Prove To "Health Advisers" They're Not Lying.
• Forget Silver, Nevada Is Now The Lithium State.
• Is The Small Business Sector Being Deliberately Targeted For Destruction?
• China's Xi: Taiwan's "Complete Reunification" With The "Motherland" Must Be Fulfilled.

MarketWatch.com:              

• Energy stocks have perked up — here are Wall Street’s favorite sector plays.

Forbes:

• $200-Per-Ton Coal And Soaring Use Of Oil For Power Are Proving ‘The Iron Law Of Electricity’.

Fortune:

• Energy crisis is turning even ‘net zero’ countries back to coal—and prices are hitting record highs.

Medical Xpress:

• Iceland halts Moderna jabs over heart-inflammation fears. This decision owed to "the increased incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis after vaccination with the Moderna vaccine, as well as with vaccination using Pfizer/BioNTech," the chief epidemiologist said in a statement. Since Thursday, Sweden and Finland have also suspended the use of the Moderna vaccine but only for those under 30, because of a risk of inflammation of the myocardium, the heart muscle, and the pericardium, the membrane covering the heart. Denmark and Norway have formally advised against it for those under 18.

Our World in Data:

• Singapore is seeing the number of COVID-19 patients in it's ICUs hit record levels despite the 4th best vaccination rate in the world(80.8% fully vaxxed).

One Mile at a Time:

• Southwest Cancels 1,800+ Flights. It’s my understanding that a lot more pilots than usual have called in sick this weekend, and that just happens to coincide with the union having yesterday taken legal action against the airline over the vaccine mandate. Coincidence? You tell me…If you have a Southwest flight booked in the coming days, don’t expect it’ll necessarily operate as planned.

OANN:

• Sen. Paul: Biden, Fauci Continue To Ignore ‘The Science’ Of Natural Immunity.

NewsMax:

• Trump: Biden 'Has Brought Our Nation to Brink of Ruin'. 
• California Law Requires Gender-Neutral Area for Children's Products.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• An Epidemic of the Vaccinated: Latest UK Data Shows Rate of Infection Among Vaxxed Exceeds Unvaxxed in Every Age Group Over 30.
• Media Blackout: It’s Not Just Southwest Airlines – Air Traffic Controllers in Jacksonville Reportedly Walked Out Friday Night Protesting Mandatory COVID Vaccinations Too.
• CNN Publishes Explainer About How to Convince Your 5-Year-Old They Need a COVID Vaccine.
• WATCH: 16-Year-Old Wyoming Student Arrested for Not Wearing Mask, Entire School Placed on Lockdown.
• President Trump Lays Out Perfectly Joe Biden and the Democrats’ Record (VIDEO).
• Illegal Immigrant Trafficker Warns Americans: “We’re Leaving from Tapachula – We Are Ready for War” (VIDEO).
• WATCH: MSNBC Airs Tik Toks Of Illegal Immigrants And Human Smugglers Bragging About How They Are Crossing The U.S. Border (VIDEO).
• Seattle PD Braces For Mass Firing of More Than 400 Unvaccinated Officers; City Already Reeling From Understaffed Force Prompting Massive Spike In Crime.
• At Least Five REPRODUCTIONS of Hunter Biden’s ‘Art’ Pieces Sold for $75K Each at His LA Pop-Up Show. 
• THE BIG LIE: In a Blatant Disregard for the Truth, Far-Left and Mainstream Media Claim No Election ‘Irregularities’ in Arizona.
  

The Epoch Times:

• Taiwan Calls on Beijing to Abandon Its Provocations After Xi Vows ‘Reunification’.
• Beset With Crises, China’s Xi Looks to the Masses.

India Today:

• 13 units shut due to coal shortage, consumers must use power sparingly: Maharashtra govt.
  

LBC:

• Energy crisis: Warnings of blackouts in India and China and gas prices soar in Europe.

Covid-19(Data, Maps, Graphs):

• Our World in Data:  New Global Covid-19 Cases(7-day rolling average graphs). New US Covid Hospital Admissions/ICU Admissions/Deaths
  
• FT.com:  Fully Vaccinated by Country(graph). Global Lockdown Stringency Index(map).
• Bloomberg.com:  International Travel Restrictions.  Case Graphs by State.
  
• NYTimes.com:  County Trends and Clusters. Local ICU Occupancy.
  
• Brown School of Public Health:  Covid Severity by State/County(map).  US Hospital Capacity(region).
  
• CovidActNow:  Covid Severity/Infection Rate by Metro Area.
  
• KFF:  US Vaccinations by Race/Ethnicity.
  
• Carnegie Mellon: Covid-Like Symptoms in Community. Covid Symptom Searches on Google. Covid-Related Dr.Visits.  Restaurant Visits. Wearing Masks. (graphs)
  
• Safegraph.com:  Commerce Patterns(graphs).

Night Trading

• Asian indices are -.5% to +.25% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 88.75 +1.75 basis points.
• China Sovereign CDS 52.0 +3.25 basis points.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 58.62 +.01%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,303.0 -6.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 22.1 +2.0%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures n/a.
• S&P 500 futures -.53%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures -.59%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• None of note
  

After the Close:

• None of note
  

Economic Releases

• None of note 

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The China Money Supply report and the UK Industrial Production report could also impact trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by healthcare and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.