Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:                 

• Hawkish Fed, Dovish PBOC Diverge in New Phase of Pandemic Policy.  
• Drones Take Center Stage in U.S.-China War on Data Harvesting.  
• Singapore’s Economy Faces Multiple Threats as Growth Slows.
• Europe Braces for Energy Crunch This Week as Deep Freeze Sets in.
• Fossil Fuels to Drive Record Australian Resources Revenue.  
• European Power Prices for Monday Rise to Record on Cold Snap.   
• Stocks Drop With Oil on Manchin Shock, Omicron: Markets Wrap.  
• Brent Crude Extends Decline With Bearish Headwinds Mounting.
• Manchin Says No to Biden Agenda, Killing Momentum for Bill.
  
• Democrats Limp to 2022 Fighting History, Biden’s Low Ratings.
• GM’s Barra Dismissed Cruise CEO Ammann Over Mission, IPO Timing.  
• Crypto Attracts More Money in 2021 Than All Previous Years Combined.  
• Fauci Doesn’t Expect Lockdowns; Hospitals Likely Stressed.  
• Falling Corporate Bond Sales Are One of the Debt’s Few Positives. 
• Biden Climate Agenda Now Hinges on Rules Vulnerable to a Rewrite.
• SALT-Cap Expansion Has Nowhere to Go as Biden Agenda Stalled.
• Psaki Slams Manchin for ‘Inexplicable Reversal’ on Spending Plan.  
• GM’s Barra Dismissed Cruise CEO Ammann Over Mission, IPO Timing.

Wall Street Journal:

• Supply-Chain Mess Threatens Holiday Sales.
• Central Banks Worry Omicron Could Sustain Inflation.
• Inflation Adds to Cost of Clean Energy Transition.
• Super-Shoppers’ Secrets: How to Buy Anything Online, Even a PS5.
• Sky-High Lumber Prices Are Back.
• Tech-Savvy Kids Defeat Parental-Control Features.
• China Job Cuts Mount in Sectors Hit by Tighter Rules.
• Shipping and Logistics Costs Are Expected to Keep Rising in 2022.
• The Fickle ‘Science’ of Lockdowns. Experts foresaw before Covid that the strategy would fail. The authorities embraced it anyway.
• The Americans Stuck in Afghanistan. Months after its retreat, the White House admits some are still left behind.
• The Biden Stagflation Is Coming. His approach to the economy is already causing prices to rise. It will soon stifle growth as well.

Fox News:    

• Fauci severely contradicts Harris on a major COVID issue as omicron surges.   
• Fauci's controversial boss opens fire on COVID lab-leak possibility on last day in job: 'I'm really sorry...'.
• Elite university considers using 'woke score' system, campus backlash erupts.
• Former President Trump absolutely UNLOADS on Mitch McConnell.

CNBC:

• After homebuilders close out worst week since January, four traders weigh in on the weakness.
• The U.S. government has a massive, secret stockpile of bitcoin — Here’s what happens to it.
• Sen. Joe Manchin likely just killed Biden’s Build Back Better Act.
• Market turbulence may be a theme in the holiday week as investors fret over omicron, the Fed.

Zero Hedge:

• Emails Expose Fauci, Collins Collusion To 'Smear' Anti-Lockdown Scientists.
• Why Don't People "Trust The Science?" Because Scientists Are Often Caught Lying.
• Amazon Bowed To Beijing's Propaganda Arm To Keep Chinese Sales Secured, New Report Reveals.
• Senator Elizabeth Warren Tests Positive For COVID-19.
• Navarro: Biden, Democrats, & China Are To Blame For America's Stagflation Mess.
• Pfizer Pushes Third Vaccine Dose For Kids 5 And Under.
• Rickards: The Great Supply Chain Collapse.
• NFL, In Major Shift, To Test Vaccinated Players Less Frequently.
• It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Pravda... Everywhere You Turn.
• London Mayor Says Lockdowns "Inevitable" As NHS Struggles With Surging Cases.
• "This Is A No": Manchin Announces He Won't Vote For Build Back Better.
• Exactly Which Dystopian Novel Are We Living In?
• Poll Finds Trump Is More Admired Than Biden Or The Pope.
• One Chart Traders Might Want To Ponder.
• Africa's Biggest Economies.
• Finding Strength Along A Post-COVID Fury Road.
• Escobar: Putin, Xi Running Circles Around Biden's Hybrid War.
• Meet The Scientists Hunting For The Next Variant Of Concern.
• Shellenberger: Why Democrats Self-Destruct On Crime.
• Parents Erupt At California School Board Meeting Over Alleged 'Coaching' Of Students Into LGBTQ Club.
• A Delusional AOC Provides The Tweet Irony Of The Day.
• The 16 US Cities That Hit All-Time Homicide Records This Year.
• Pandemic Could Be Solved Quickly If Politics Thrown Out: Dr. Ben Carson.

MarketWatch.com:     

• Stock buybacks can keep surging next year after a potential record for 2021, analysts say.

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:

• OSHA Vaccine Mandate Penalties to Start Jan. 10.  
• Biden Agenda Collapses as Manchin Torpedoes Massive $2T Spending Plan.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Far-Left Mainstream Media Crashes and Burns – Loses as Much as 48% of Their Readership in 2021. 
• “I Don’t Think So” – Dr. Fauci Asked If He Ever Thinks Americans Will Be Able to Fly Without Face Masks Again (VIDEO).
• Not Making Headlines: Omicron Variant So Weak that South Africa will Stop Tracing and Quarantining of Contacts.
• Rep. Jim Jordan RIPS Adam Schiff After He Doctored His Text Message and Lied Again at Committee Hearing (VIDEO). 
• ABSOLUTE PANIC: Pennsylvania Democrat Secretary of State Sues to Prevent State Senate Audit from Examining Dominion Voting Machines.
• Fauci Says Not to Go to Christmas Gatherings Where You Don’t Know Everyone’s Vaccination Status (VIDEO).
• “A Global Coup Has Been Carried Out Across the World – Has Destroyed the Very Foundations of the Rule of Law” – Archbishop Vigano’s Message to America (Transcript and Audio).
• Robert Kennedy Jr. on The War Room: US Intelligence Agencies and Military Were Involved With The Wuhan Lab Research (VIDEO).
• Rep. Ramthun Lays Out Evidence of Undeniable Voter Fraud in Wisconsin 2020 Election — Calls for Forensic Audit in State (VIDEO).
• Ghislaine Maxwell Trial: Evidence from Jeffrey Epstein’s Safe Went Missing Following FBI Raid.
• Can’t Make This Up… Newsweek Mocks Trump for Having 200 Tickets Left Unsold in Arena That Holds 21,000 — But Say NOTHING About Joe Biden’s 20 Circle Crowds.
• BOMBSHELL: Revolver Investigation Exposes Massive Web Of Unindicted Operatives Who Coordinated Alongside Ray Epps To Turn January 6th Into a Riot.
• NY Governor Hochul Says Forcing Young Children to Wear Masks For Nearly 2 Years “is Not That Big a Deal” (VIDEO).

The Epoch Times:

• CCP’s Suppression of Hong Kong Is ‘Wake-Up Call’ to Free World: Democracy Activist Nathan Law.

The Sun:

• MAXWELL CAMERAS. Why is the Ghislaine Maxwell trial not being televised live?

TruthLion:

• Spanish Professional Basketball Match Suspended Due to Sudden Collapse of Óscar Cabrera. (video)
  

Twitter:

• @DiscloseTV - South Africa hospitalization rate plunges to only 1.7% in #Omicron wave, compared with 19% in previous "Delta-driven" wave - Health Minister. (graph) Massive protests against Covid restrictions and mandates are ongoing in Germany, Sweden, Austria and England. JUST IN - New York reports the highest one-day increase of #COVID19 cases on record. NY has the highest vaccination rate among the most populous states in the U.S.
• @ProtestNews_EN - Also, huge Covid restrictions/mandate protesting in Australia and New Zealand.

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 691,883 (US) Reports Through December 10, 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 indices are -.25% to -.75% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 82.0 -1.0 basis point.
• China Sovereign CDS 42.5 +.5 basis point.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 51.05 -.29%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 2,396.0 -39.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 24.0 +1.8%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures -1.21%.
• S&P 500 futures -.47%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures -.50%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• None of note
  

After the Close:

• (MU)/2.11
• (NKE)/.63
  

Economic Releases

10:00 am EST

• The Leading Index for Nov. is estimated to rise +.9% versus a +.9% gain in Oct.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Germany Consumer Confidence report could also impact trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower, weighed down by industrial and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to maintain losses into the afternoon.  The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the week.