Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:           

• China Buys More Sanctioned Oil From Iran, Venezuela at a Bargain.  
• Airbus CEO Sounds Alarm Over China Market as Omicron Wave Hits Country.
• China Tightens in Tech Hub; Mexico’s AMLO Infected: Virus Update.  
• Hong Kong’s Brain Drain Worsens as Expats, Locals Flee City.
  
• North Korea Fires Second Ballistic Missile in Less Than a Week.
• Asia Stocks Trade Lower; Treasuries, Dollar Steady: Markets Wrap.
  
• Biden Seeks Chicago Schools Opening as Democrats See Risk.
• Powell Says Fed to Ensure Inflation Doesn’t Take Root in Economy.  
• The Cryptocurrency Behind the Popular (3, 3) Meme Is Getting Clobbered.  
• Tiger Global Lost 7% Last Year, First Annual Drop Since 2016.  
• How NYC Is Opening the Voting Booth to Non-U.S. Citizens.
• Bitcoin Is Off to Its Worst Annual Start Since the Dawn of Crypto.

Wall Street Journal:

• SEC Pushes for More Transparency From Big Private Companies.
• Space Heater, Faulty Door Played Roles in Deadly Bronx Fire.
• Microsoft Hit by Defections as Tech Giants Seek Talent to Build Metaverse.
• McConnell Issues Threat to Democrats on Filibuster Changes.
• Workers Sick With Omicron Add to Manufacturing Woes. ‘The Hope Was That 2022 Would Get Better.’
• Biden Has Met the Enemy, and He Is Us. What if Kamala Harris believed it when she likened the Capitol riot to Pearl Harbor and 9/11?

Fox News:

• Viewers demand apology from MSNBC, Rachel Maddow for previous COVID vaccine comments.
• DeSantis campaign cashes in on liberal lawmakers fleeing to freedom.
  

CNBC.com:

• Rivian shares decline on 2021 production and executive departure.
• Abercrombie & Fitch shares rise despite retailer trimming holiday-quarter outlook.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Intel, Micron, Wynn Resorts and more.
• Bitcoin briefly tumbles below $40,000 to the lowest since September as investors shed risk.

MarketWatch: 

• Buy the dip, says JPMorgan. ‘Markets can handle higher yields’.

Zero Hedge:

• New York Port Hit With Rare Vessel Congestion Amid COVID-Induced Labor Shortage.
• Rep. Jordan Indicates He Won't Cooperate With Jan. 6 Committee As It Is Not "Fair-Minded And Objective".
• Australian Police Tear-Gas Angry Crowd Of Djokovic Supporters.
• It's Time To Drop The Hysteria And Learn To Live With COVID.
• 100 "Fringe" Predictions For 2022.
• California Law Enforcement Continues To Fight Against Early Release For Violent Criminals.
• American Airlines Investigates Pilot With "Let's Go Brandon" Sticker.
• NASDAQ - enough is enough?
• Will Justice Sotomayor Be Banned On Twitter? Don't Bet On It.
• NASDAQ survived (again)...
• Real Wages Plummet As Inflation Hits The US Recovery.
• Jamie Dimon One-Ups Goldman: Says He Would Be "Surprised" With Just 4 Rate-Hikes.
• Fed Vice Chair Clarida Abandons Ship Two Weeks Early.
• Citius, Altius, Debilius: Dip-Buyers Rescue Tech-Wreck As Rate-Hike-Odds Soar.

Newsmax:

• Italy Bans Unvaxxed From Public Transit, Hotels, Outdoor Dining and More. 
  
• #BareShelvesBiden Trending on Twitter as Economic Worries Surge.

TheGatewayPundit.com:  

• White House Refuses to Criticize Justice Sotomayor For Spreading Covid Misinformation (VIDEO).
• “It’s RINOs Like This That Are Allowing Democrats to Destroy Our Nation” – President Trump Blasts RINO Mike Rounds on His Pathetic Sunday Show Display.
• California Governor Newsom Wants Health Coverage For All Illegal Aliens.
• New York Times Blocks Ad for “The Real Anthony Fauci” Book — Says It’s ‘Misinformation’ Because It Opposes Their Leftist Dogma (VIDEO).
• Pfizer CEO: Omicron Specific Covid Vaccine will be Ready by March (VIDEO).
• They’re Just Ignoring Everything and Living Their Lives’ – CNN Worried People Are Tuning Out Covid Fear Porn Being Churned Out by Fake News (VIDEO).
• BREAKING…Recent Podcast Shows Bob Saget Telling Fan: “I went to the pharmacy the other day and I got my booster shot” [VIDEO].
• FINALLY: CDC Director Walensky Admits the Vast Majority of COVID Deaths Had Not One, Not Two, Not Three – But “At Least FOUR” Comorbidities.

The Epoch Times:

• Another ‘Affront Against Universal Rights’: Blinken Criticizes Beijing for Using Sanctions to ‘Intimidate’ US Critics
• Omicron Spreads to Another Region in China, Raising Fears for Beijing Olympics.
• All Countries Need to Rethink Their Relationship With China: Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister.

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 715,856 Reports(+6,773 from prior week) Through December 31, 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 unch. on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 80.25 +.25 basis point. 

• China Sovereign CDS 44.0 +1.5 basis points.
  

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 53.64 -.01%. 
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,434.0 -55.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 21.8 +.44%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.59%.

• S&P 500 futures -.05%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.04%. 

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (ACI)/.59
• (INFO)/.84
• (SNX)/2.68
  

After the Close:

• None of note
  

Economic Releases

6:00 am EST

• The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for Dec. is estimated to rise to 98.7 versus 98.4 in Nov.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Powell confirmation hearings, Australia retail sales report, 3Y T-Note auction and the weekly US retail sales reports could also impact global trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

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