Thursday Watch

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.25% to +1.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 90.75 -.25 basis point. 

• China Sovereign CDS 50.0 unch.
  

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 54.44 -.08%. 
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 3,385.0 +3.0 points.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 24.8 +4.7%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures -.27%.

• S&P 500 futures -1.0%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -2.3%. 

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• (ABB)/.35
• (ABMD)/.97
• (APTV)/.56
• (BDX)/2.85
• (BIIB)/3.38
• (CAH)/1.23
• (CI)/4.71
• (COP)/2.18
• (CMI)/3.14
• (LLY)/2.51
• (EL)/2.64
• (HSY)/1.61
• (HON)/2.08
• (ITW)/1.91
• (ICE)/1.32
• (MRK)/1.52
• (PH)/3.93
• (PENN)/.52
• (DGX)/3.18
• (RL)/2.18
• (SNA)/3.29
  

After the Close:

• (ATVI)/1.32
• (AMZN)/3.54
• (BILL)/-.18
• (BYD)/1.25
• (CLX)/.18
• (CUZ)/.69
• (DECK)/8.15
• (F)/.41
• (FTNT)/1.15
• (MCHP)/1.17
• (NWSA)/.30
• (PRU)/2.35
• (SKYW)/-.02
• (SWKS)/3.11
• (SNAP)/.10
• (SYNA)/3.12
• (U)/-.07
• (WERN)/.97
  

Economic Releases

7:30 am EST

• Challenger Job Cuts YoY for Jan.
  

8:30 am EST

• 4Q Non-Farm Productivity is estimated to rise +3.9% versus a -5.2% decline in 3Q.
• 4Q Unit Labor Costs are estimated to rise +1.0% versus a +9.6% gain in 3Q.
• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 245K versus 260K the prior week.
• Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 1620K versus 1675K prior.
  

10:00 am EST

• ISM Services Index for Jan. is estimated to fall to 59.6 versus 62.0 in Dec.
• Factory Orders for Dec. is estimated to fall -.4% versus a +1.6$% gain in Nov.
• Factory Orders Ex Transports for Dec. is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.8% gain in Nov.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The ECB meeting, BofE rate decision, Eurozone Services PMI report and the weekly EIA natural gas inventory report could also impact global trading today.

US Equity Market Hours

• 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by consumer and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open lower and to maintain losses into the afternoon. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.