Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:                          

• Behind China’s Rising Emissions are Hundreds of Hidden Polluters.  
• Chinese Economy Risks Deeper Slowdown Than Markets Realize.
• China Expects New Covid Outbreak to Worsen in Coming Days.  
• Electric Car Revolution Crushes Japan’s Struggling Small Towns.
• Saudi Arabia to Use $110 Billion Gas Field for Blue Hydrogen.
• Lira Drops to Record After Erdogan’s Threat Against Envoys.
• Faith In Mega Tech’s Growth Is On the Line This Earnings Season.
• La Nina Threatens to Worsen Energy Crisis With Colder Winter.
  
• Yellen Expects High Inflation Through Mid-2022 Before Easing.  
• Pelosi Open for Democrats to Raise Debt Ceiling Without GOP.  
• Biden-Manchin Meeting Makes ‘Progress’ in Bid to Break Deadlock.  
• U.S. Losing Steam Foretells Europe’s Future Headwinds: Eco Week.

Wall Street Journal:

• Solar and Wind Force Poverty on Africa.
• Energy-Stock Surge Tests Investors’ Focus on Climate.
• Tax on Billionaires’ Unrealized Gains Will Likely Be in Budget Package, Democrats Say.
• U.S. Companies Bet Shoppers Will Keep Paying Higher Prices.
• It’s Madness to Quarantine Schoolchildren.
• Home Prices Rise, and Single People Run Out of Options.
• Millions of Workers Stay Home to Watch Young Children as Daycares Stay Dark.
• Inspired by Trump, French Far-Right TV Host Surges in Polls.
• Endemic Covid-19 Has Arrived in Portugal. This Is What It Looks Like.

Barron's:

• Had bullish commentary on (CHK), (HPQ) and (WE).

Fox News: 

• Biden gets some bad news from a 2024 poll out of a crucial primary state.

CNBC: 

• Top analysts see upside in these stocks as earnings season continues.
• Chinese EV maker Xpeng launches upgraded semi-autonomous driving features in a challenge to Tesla.

Zero Hedge: 

• EcoHealth Throws NIH Under The Bus Over Wuhan Gain-Of-Function Report; Researcher Claims 'Massive Cover-Up'
• "Euphoria Is Increasing": Goldman Doubles Down On Market Meltup Call, Sees $90BN In New Stock Buying This Week.
• This Shows Why The Yuan Is Defying Economic Slowdown.
• "Welcome To The Hunger Games": More Chicago Officers 'Summoned' As City Council Mulls Vax Mandate Reversal.
• "RV Capital Of The World" Sees Influx Of New Residents As Americans Abandon Big-City Living.
• 'The Richest He's Ever Been': Trump Set To Gain Billions In Net Worth On Moonshot SPAC.
• Shadow Inflation: Shipping Costs Are Up Way More Than You Think.
• Majority Of Maryland Parents Oppose Vaccine Mandates For Students, Teachers, Survey Says.
• Port Congestion Could Be Worse Than "Lehman Crash", Flexport CEO Warns .
• Tesla Bumps Model S And Model X Prices Higher By $5,000 Each.
• Martin Armstrong: Are The US Supply Chain Disruptions Deliberate?
• "Emergency Mode" - China Warns Covid Outbreak To Worsen In Coming Days.
• Edible Oil Prices Hit Record High As Food Inflation Treat Soars.
• Physicians & The Vaccine Tyranny. 
• Gordon Chang: Joe Biden's Taiwan Policy Is Now A Total Disaster.

MarketWatch.com:                

• Apple faces supply-chain issues, but can its buying power keep earnings on track?  
• Holiday earnings forecasts have been lumps of coal so far, and here come the biggest ones.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• WOW! UK School Director Admits on National TV that 30 Kids Are Out with COVID and 14 Are Out with Vaccine Side Effects — WTH?
• Concerned Mother Wants to Air TV Ad on Pfizer’s Dangerous Vaccine After Daughter Is Severely and Permanently Damaged — But Comcast Refuses Ad at Last Minute.
• FINALLY MAKING HEADLINES: As TGP Reported in August — Dr. Fauci Used Taxpayer Money to Have Dogs Tortured and Eaten Alive By Parasite-Infected Flies (PHOTOS).
• Gov. DeSantis Announces $5,000 Proposed Bonus to Abused Police Officers from Liberal Cities to Move to Florida (VIDEO).
• Biden Gang Supports Reelection of WHO Director General Tedros Despite His Connections to Terrorists and China and Terrible COVID Performance.
• Sen. Josh Hawley Calls on AG Merrick Garland to Resign After Mobilizing FBI Against Parents Without Legal Basis and Premised on Complete Lies.
  

The Epoch Times:

• Chinese Agent Accused of Recruiting Spies to Steal US Aircraft Tech Stands Trial.
• China’s Debt-Ridden Evergrande Resumes Work on More Than 10 Property Projects.

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 83.5 -1.0  basis point.
• China Sovereign CDS 46.75 -1.25 basis points.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 58.16 +.03%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,553.0 -83.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 19.4 +1.3%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures -.09%.
• S&P 500 futures -.24%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures -.23%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (KMB)/1.65
• (LII)/3.62
• (OTIS)/.73
  

After the Close:

• (BXS)/.66
• (CDNS)/.75
• (CLS)/.32
• (CCK)/1.97
• (FB)/3.17
• (LOGI)/.92
• (PKG)/2.34
• (UHS)/2.76
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for Sept.
  

10:30 am EST

• The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Index for Oct. is estimated to rise to 6.5 versus 4.6 in Jan.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The European Import/Export Prices 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 consumer 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.