Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:        

• U.S. May Tighten Travel Rules to Fight Omicron, CDC Head Says.  
• Chinese Banks Boost Short-Term Debt in Sign Lending to Pick Up.  
• Australia’s Economy Contracts by Less-Than-Expected 1.9%.
• EU's 'Global Gateway' Infrastructure Push Offers Counter to China's 'Belt and Road'. 
• U.S. Needs More Substantive Asia Economic Plan, Singapore Says.  
• Asian Stocks Mixed as Traders Weigh Powell’s Pivot: Markets Wrap.
• Hawkish Powell Is a Force Markets Haven’t Faced in Three Years.  
• Jerome Powell Ditches ‘Transitory’ Inflation Tag, Paves Way for Rate Hike.  
• Waves of Volatility Whipsaw Markets After Powell Tilt.
• Pfizer Seeks U.S. Clearance for Covid Boosters for Older Teens.
  
• Dr. Oz Announces Republican Bid for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.  
• Sackler Family May Have ‘Abused’ Bankruptcy Process, Purdue Pharma Judge Says.
• Investors ‘Willing to Be Patient’ With Omicron, RBC Survey Shows.

Wall Street Journal:

• Decoding the Omicron Panic. Covid overkill is bad for everybody except the politicians.  
• Powell Sets Stage for Quicker End to Stimulus as Inflation Outlook Worsens.
• Bali Was Slammed With Tourists Before Covid. Now It’s Slammed Without.
• Theranos Founder Admits Regrets, Deflects Prosecutors.
• GlobalFoundries Says Revenue Rose 56% as Chip Shortage Continues.

Fox News:  

• CNN suspends Chris Cuomo after report exposes his secret work to defend disgraced ex-governor brother.
• Judge rules on Biden's nationwide vaccine mandate for health care workers.
  

CNBC.com:

• Salesforce fourth quarter guidance misses Wall Street expectations.
• Salesforce promotes Bret Taylor to co-CEO alongside Benioff.
• Eco-friendly shoemaker Allbirds posts wider loss despite 33% gain in quarterly sales; shares fall.
• ‘Way overdue for a correction’: Long-time bull Jim Paulsen delivers a 10% to 15% pullback forecast.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Salesforce, Box, Ambarella and more.
• Expect delays on these 3 renovation projects as 85% of builders report material shortages.
• PayPal saw use of its buy now, pay later option soar nearly 400% on Black Friday, CEO says.

MarketWatch              

• ‘He’s to the left of Lenin’: Republicans fear Cordray at Fed would further ‘Biden’s federal takeover’ of U.S. banking system.
  
• These are Wall Street’s 20 favorite stocks as the Fed’s Powell jolts the market with taper talk.

Zero Hedge:

• Epstein's Pilot Names Names, Recalls Shuttling Clinton, Trump, Spacey And Prince Andrew.
• Retailers Open Pop-Up Container Yards To Bypass Savannah Port Jams.
• Michael Flynn Reportedly Calls QAnon A 'CIA Disinformation Campaign'.
• FDA Advisory Committee Narrowly Votes To Approve Merck's COVID 'Miracle Drug'.
• Los Angeles Now Enforcing Vaccine Mandates For Indoor Businesses.
• Over 7,000 Marines Unvaccinated As COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Deadline Hits.
• Black Friday Disappoints, Cyber Monday Sales Fall For The First Time Ever.
• "Team Transitory" Is Dead After Powell Says "Time To Retire Word Transitory Regarding Inflation".
• Buchanan: Return Of The "Law And Order" Issue.
• WTI Extends Losses After Smaller Than Expected Crude Draw.
• Watch: Joe Rogan Wants To Know Why "No One Is Being Held Accountable" Over 'Russian Collusion' Fake News.
• Government Handling Of COVID Has Been "A Crime", Expect More Selloffs: Trader.
• LA County Sheriff Boots China-Linked Covid Testing Firm After FBI Warns Over DNA Data.
• Powell Sparks Taper Tantrum, Bonds Scream Policy Error.

NY Post: 

• US companies riddled with members of Chinese Communist Party: Devine. Boeing(BA), Qualcomm(QCOM) and Pfizer(PFE) are just three US companies that have employed dozens of CCP members in their Chinese facilities, the database reveals.

Newsmax: 

• George P. Bush: 'Hypocrisy,' 'No Sense of Urgency' on Border Crisis.
• Rand Paul: Need a Bipartisan COVID Probe.

TheGatewayPundit.com:  

•  JUST IN: Just One Day After New CEO Announcement, Twitter Bans Sharing Images Or Videos of “Private Individuals” Without Their Consent – Including Memes and Videos of a Crime. 
• REVEALED: Fully Vaccinated Patients Show Mild Symptoms after Omicron Infection in Botswana — Non-Vaccinated Show No Symptoms at All.
• “I Was Frozen In Fear:” Epstein Victim Testifies That Ghislaine Maxwell Was Present and Participated in Sex Abuse – Heiress Allegedly Began Grooming Victim Starting at 14.
• BREAKING: Federal Judge Blocks Vaccine Mandate Nationwide – Protects Health Care Workers Across America.
• White House Cuts Biden’s Audio, Blasts Loud Music as Soon as He Starts Rambling Off-Script (VIDEO).
• BREAKING: Chris Cuomo Suspended “Indefinitely” By CNN.
• Maricopa County To Interview Seven Applicants To Replace Steve Chucri After His Resignation Following Exposed Tapes on Suspected Election Fraud.
• Ted Cruz Crowns Fauci “The Most Dangerous Bureaucrat in American History;” Says Gain of Function Lies Could Land Him in Prison For Up to 5 Years (Video).
• Sweden: Get Your Covid Vaccine Passport in a Chip in Your Hand (VIDEO).
• President Trump Calls on Democrats to Deal with Smash-and-Grab Robberies or Call in the National Guard.
• Ghislaine Maxwell Trial Begins with a Obama Judge and Jim Comey’s Daughter Prosecuting – Will Ties to FBI and US Government Be Revealed?

The Epoch Times:

• Beijing’s Organ Harvesting Crimes Must End: European Lawmakers.

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 654,412 (US) Reports Through November 12, 2021.
  

SKirsch.com:

• Using the MGH numbers with our own VAERS queries, we have 247 cases per million doses from the MGH study divided by 5.97 cases per million doses from VAERS. 247/5.97 = 41. This suggests that the VAERS under-reporting factor (URF) is 41X.

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 equity indices are -.5% to +.5% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 95.25 -4.25 basis points. 

• China Sovereign CDS 55.25 -3.5 basis points.
  

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 53.65 -.04%. 
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 2,007.0 +23.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 25.7 -3.1%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.07%.

• S&P 500 futures +.49%

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.48%. 

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (DCI)/.55
• (GIII)/1.79
• (PDCO)/.50
• (WEBR)/-.18
  

After the Close:

• (AI)/-.29
• (CRWD)/.10
• (FIVE)/.29
• (OKTA)/-.23
• (PVH)2.06
• (SMTC)/.72
• (SNOW)/-.06
• (SPLK)/-.53
• (SNPS)/1.79
  

Economic Releases 

8:15 am EST

• The ADP Employment Change for Nov. is estimated to fall to 525K versus 571K in Oct.

10:00 am EST

• Construction Spending MoM for Oct. is estimated to rise +.4% versus a -.5% decline in Sept.
• ISM Manufacturing for Nov. is estimated to rise to 61.2 versus 60.8 in Oct.
• ISM Prices Paid for Nov. is estimated to fall to 85.5 versus 85.7 in Oct.
  

2:00 pm EST

• US Fed's Beige Book release.

Afternoon:

• Wards Total Vehicle Sales for Nov. is estimated to rise to 13.4M versus 12.99M in Oct.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Treasury's Yellen speaking, Fed's Powell speaking, Eurozone PMI report, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, Credit Suisse Industrials Conference and the (GM) fireside chat could also impact global trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 1:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and consumer 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.