Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:            

• Huarong Shares Resume Trading After Bailout: Evergrande Update.
• WHO Official Downplays Coronavirus Variant Found in France.
• North Korea Apparently Fires Missile After Kim Dismisses Talks.
• Asian Stocks Steady as Fed Rate Outlook Mulled: Markets Wrap.  
• Oil Holds Gain After OPEC+ Adds More Output as Market Tightens.   
  
• At CES, Chipmakers Show Off Plans to Go After Each Other’s Turf.  
• California Adopts Water Restrictions as Drought Drags on.  
• Jerome Powell’s Confirmation Hearing for Second Term Set for Jan. 11.  
• Drubbing in Tech Marks Biggest New-Year Stock Rotation Since ’95.  
• Treasury Yield Curve Steepens on Bet Fed Sticks to Hawkish Path.   
• NYC Economic Recovery to Lag Until 2025 Despite Revenue Growth.

Wall Street Journal:

• In Elizabeth Holmes Trial, U.S. Gave Patients a Small Stage.
• Manchin Deflates Democrats’ Hopes of Changing Filibuster, Passing Election Bills.
• Evergrande Told to Tear Down 39 Buildings on Man-Made Island.
• Lockdown of Chinese City Leaves 13 Million Stranded.
• Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith Steps Down to Found News Startup.
• Oil Jumps as OPEC Sees Limited Omicron Impact.

Fox News:

• Social media explodes after VP Harris sends 'tone-deaf' tweet about American infrastructure.
• State officials lay blame for travel disaster that stranded drivers overnight.
  

CNBC.com:

• CDC declines to add Covid testing recommendation to updated isolation guidance despite criticism.
• Global supply chain pressures may have peaked, a new index suggests.
• KFC to launch plant-based fried chicken made with Beyond Meat nationwide.
• Alphabet grants tens of millions of dollars in stock awards to top execs.

MarketWatch                   

• Dow set for best ‘Santa Claus’ rally in 13 years as blue-chip gauge extends record run.  
• 23 dividend stocks that can pass this strict quality screen.

Zero Hedge:

• Governments Admit Using 'Mass Formation Psychosis' As Tool of Population Control.
• CDC Director Walensky Flip-Flops On PCR Testing Guidance.
• Ron Paul: Taking Back Our Liberty In 2022.
• State Of Emergency Declared In Kazakhstan's Largest City After Fuel Price Riots, Internet Cut.
• Democrats Face Brutal Reckoning With Hispanic Voters.
• US Launches Preemptive Strike On "Rocket Sites" Near Occupied Syrian Oil Fields.
• Google Manipulates Results As "Mass Formation Psychosis' Searches Explode Due To Collapsing COVID Narrative.
• CDC Changes Booster Guidelines (Again) As US Reports Record Cases.
• 2021 Auto Sales Are In: Ford Shares Surge On F-150 Demand, Toyota Overtakes GM In U.S.
• Rand Paul Vows To Bring Fauci To Justice If GOP Wins Back Senate In Midterms.
• WTI Shrugs Off Major Product Builds Last Week, Big Crude Inventory Draw.
• They Said They Would Slow The Spread.
• Veteran Journo Resigns From CBC, Pens Scathing Indictment Of Canadian Narrative-Shaping Industry.
• Bond Bloodbath Batters Big-Tech, Sparks Bid For Banks.

Newsmax:

• Newsmax to Air 'Day of Outrage' for Jan. 6 Anniversary.
• Rep. McCarthy: Dems Using Jan. 6 Event to 'Divide' Country.
• Rep. Buck: Expect GOP to Take Over 25 House Seats in 2022.

TheGatewayPundit.com:  

• BREAKING: Georgia Investigators have ‘Ballot Trafficker’ Who Is Talking — Admits to Being Paid THOUSANDS in 2020 Election Ballot Boxes Ballot Harvesting Scheme — Via True the Vote.
• Kachelman: If Schumer and the Democrats Pass HR1 – The Democracy is Over.
• “The Associated Press” Releases Trashy Smear Piece on Veteran Ashli Babbitt in Honor of January 6th.
• Biden Looks Horrible After His Talk Yesterday – Sits and Ignores Questions with a Creepy Look on His Face.
• Joe Biden Instructs Parents to Not Let Their Children Play with Kids Who Aren’t Vaccinated (VIDEO).
• 25-Year-Old Guatemalan Soccer Star Dies After Suffering Heart Attack in Training.
• Biden Disapproval Hits New High; Voters Unhappy with Handling of Economy, Covid.
• Joe Biden’s America: Record 4.5 Million Americans Quit Their Jobs in November.

The Epoch Times: 

• China’s Harshest Lockdown Yet Tests Its ‘Zero-COVID’ Playbook.

Twitter:

•  @DiscloseTV - NEW Emmanuel Macron denounced France's 5 million unvaccinated as "non-citizens" and vows: "I really want to piss them off. And so we will continue to do so, to the bitter end. That's the strategy." (Le Parisien) German Health Minister demands more Covid restrictions and faster progress on compulsory vaccinations before they "become obsolete" due to "dirty" natural infections.

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 equity indices are -.25% to +.5% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 75.0 -1.75 basis points. 

• China Sovereign CDS 39.25 unch.
  

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 53.68 -.17%. 
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,441.0 -9.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 21.4 +.4%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.17%.

• S&P 500 futures -.12%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.21%. 

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (RPM)/.83
• (SMPL)/.34
  

After the Close:

• (RGP)/.38

Economic Releases

8:15 am EST

• The ADP Employment Change for Dec. is estimated to fall to 400K versus 534K in Nov.

2:00 pm EST

• Dec 15th FOMC meeting minutes.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Eurozone Services PMI report, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, CES 2022,  Goldman Energy/Clean Tech Conference, (FDS) investor call and the Morgan Stanley Auto Conference 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 industrial and commodity 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 day.