Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• China’s Foreign Debt Edges Up to $2.7 Trillion at End-September.
• Shares Suspended From Trading in Hong Kong: Evergrande Update.
• Singapore Growth Rebounds to Fastest in More Than a Decade.
• Record Wave of Emerging-Market IPOs Meets Investors Wary of Risk.
• Peso Goes From EM Asia’s Best to Worst Currency in a Week.
• U.S. Defense Secretary Positive; Singapore Party: Virus Update.
• Late Order Flurry Vaults Airbus Past Boeing for 2021 Crown.  
• Airlines Ask FCC to Delay 5G Wireless Rollout in Emergency Bid.  
• Why 5G Mobile Is Arriving With a Subplot of Espionage.

Wall Street Journal:

• Schools Press to Reopen.
• Stocks Face Rockier Path in 2022 as Rate Increases Loom.
• Omicron Takes Toll on Businesses, From Airports to Supermarkets.
• Democrats Seek Filibuster Changes to Pass Elections Bills.
• It’s China vs. Walmart, Latest Western Brand Entangled in Human Rights Dispute.
• China and Russia Military Cooperation Raises Prospect of New Challenge to U.S. Power.
• A Booming Startup Market Prompts an Investment Rush.
• Twitter Permanently Suspends One of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Accounts.
• Millennials Are the Silencing Generation. Baby boomers were carefree and exuberant; our children are dour and anxious. 
• CES 2022: Five Tech Trends to Watch in an Unusual Year.
• Metaverse Needs More Than VR Christmas Bump.
• Chip Makers Contend for Scarce Talent.

Fox News:     

• AOC parties it up maskless in packed drag bar while flaunting rules for thee, not for me: 'Hypocrite'.
• Fully vaccinated Biden cabinet member tests positive for COVID.
• You may be wasting your time wearing a mask to help fight Omicron, here's why.

CNBC:

• Chip sales are set to grow nearly 10% in 2022 as risks rise, predicts new report.

Zero Hedge: 

• Malone: Do Not Take Part In The Lie.
• Glenn Greenwald Slams 'Dystopian' MTG Twitter Ban In Epic Thread.
• COVID, Ivermectin, And 'Mass Formation Psychosis': Dr. Robert Malone Gives Blistering Interview To Joe Rogan.
• Cost Of Building A Home Headed Back Up As Lumber Rips Higher To Finish 2021.
• CNN Story Perfectly Captures The Mass Covid Neuroticism Of 2021. 
• Greenwald: NBC News Uses Ex-FBI Official Frank Figliuzzi To Urge Assange's Extradition, Hiding His Key Role.
• Mid-Atlantic States Brace For Quick-Hitting Snowstorm.
• Senator AOC? Dem Insiders Insist NY Sen Kirsten Gillibrand Would Lose If Primaried By "Squad" Leader.
• Leaving Illinois: Another Wealthy Chicago Entrepreneur Votes With His Feet.
• "A Scandal-Free Biden Administration": The Media Celebrates A Year Free From Political Scandal And Press Scrutiny.
• The Ungracious... And Their Demonization Of The Past.
• Chicago Reports 797 Murders For 2021, Most Of Any US City.
• Biden Wants To 'Woke' Up Your Doctor.
• Could This Be Source Of Catastrophic Colorado Wildfire? 
• AT&T, Verizon Reject Biden Admin's Request To Delay 5G Launch Due To Flight Safety Concerns.
• Only The Most Brainwashed 'True Believers' Will Cling To The Failed Narrative. 
• Reflections On Another Year Of Covidian Lies & How The Truth Will Ultimately Prevail.

MarketWatch.com:       

• The S&P 500 beat both Dow, and Nasdaq in 2021 by the widest margin in 24 years. Here’s what history says happens in 2022.
  
• Tesla smashes quarterly delivery record, sees sales surge 87% in 2021.
  
• Goldman joins other big banks in urging employees to work from home amid omicron surge.

NewsMax:

• Experts Warn Pfizer Antiviral Pills May Pose Risks With Other Medications.  
• Gov. DeSantis' 6 Big Achievements of 2021.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Video: Conservative Ezra Levant Denied Mortgage Due to Political Views.
• Serial Killer Who Targeted Women Now Being Housed in Women’s Prison Because They Are ‘Transgender’.
• Just Like Soviet Russia: T-Mobile Is Erasing Links to Gateway Pundit Articles if You Send Them by Text Message — MORE UPDATES…
• Travel Hell: More Than 4,000 Flights Canceled New Year’s Weekend Due to Staffing Shortages Caused by Omicron and Mandates.
• Los Angeles Public Schools Cancelled Their Vaccine Mandate After 30,000 Kids Were Not Complying.
• FDIC Chair Resigns, Warns Democrats Launching ‘Hostile Takeover’.
• Biden Nominee Works For SPLC, Claimed Requiring Proof of Citizenship is ‘Voter Suppression’.
• Dr. Gottlieb Now Admits Cloth Masks Don’t Provide Protection Against Covid-19 (VIDEO).
• Here’s the Powerful Pfizer Video that Got mRNA Vaccine Inventor Kicked Off Twitter.
• WATCH: Former FDA Commissioner Gottlieb Stands Against Mandated Boosters for Kids.
• Confirmed: Failed WHO Leader and China-Phile Dr. Tedros Will Run Unopposed for Top Post at the WHO.
• MUST SEE: Italians Light Up The Sky With EPIC Storm of Fireworks In Defiance of Mayor’s Ban – Happy New Year, Worldwide Resistance.

The Epoch Times:

• Chinese Researchers Built AI ‘Prosecutor’ That Can File Charges by Itself.

Twitter:

• @DiscloseTV - NOW - People mauled by police dogs, beaten with batons at unauthorized protest against Covid restrictions in #Amsterdam. Hardly any confidence left in Germany: Only 32% believe that the Covid figures provided by the government are correct.

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 709,083 Reports(+7,757 from prior week) Through December 24, 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 +.5% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 78.0 -2.0 basis points.
• China Sovereign CDS 40.0 -.25 basis point.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 53.9 +.09%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,157.0 +2.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 21.8 -.78%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures -.17%.
• S&P 500 futures +.40%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.49%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• None of note
  

After the Close:

• None of note
  

Economic Releases

10:00 am EST

• Construction Spending MoM for Nov. is estimated to rise +.7% versus a +.2% gain in Oct.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The China Manufacturing PMI report could also impact trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by financial and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing mixed.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.