Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:                    

• End of Covid Zero Threatens to Overwhelm China With Infections.
• China’s Carbon Market Falls Far Short of Making a Climate Impact.  
• UK Rents Rose Twice as Fast as Wages in the Past Year.
  
• Asian Stocks Climb With Focus on Inflation Data: Markets Wrap.  
• Oil Set for Steep Weekly Loss as Slowdown Concerns Loom Large.  
• JPMorgan, Charles Schwab Wary of Complacency in Credit Markets.
• Tesla to Shorten Shanghai Factory Shifts, Delay New Hires.
• Tesla's Troubles Pile Up While Musk Is Distracted With Twitter.
• US Questions Automakers in Probe of Potential Air-Bag Explosions.  
• Trump Among Five Targets as Jan. 6 Panel Weighs Criminal Referrals.
• FTC Seeks to Block Microsoft’s $69 Billion Activision Deal.  
• NY Times Staffers Become News With First Walkout in Four Decades.

Wall Street Journal:

• SEC Asks Public Companies to Detail Crypto Exposure.
• Americans Are Missing Out on Billions in Interest.
• The Housing Slowdown Is Wreaking Havoc on the Short-Term Rental Market.
• Foxconn Letter Prodded China to Ease Zero-Covid Rules.
• How to Survive the Next Market Crash.
• Three New Yorkers Ordered Cocaine From the Same Delivery Service. All Died From Fentanyl.
• Sam Bankman-Fried Says He Can’t Account for Billions Sent to Alameda.
• Federal Officials Trade Stock in Companies Their Agencies Oversee.

Fox News:

• LIVE UPDATES:Twitter files part 2 drops outlining 'secret blacklists'.

CNBC.com:

• FTC sues to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
• House Financial Services doesn’t plan to subpoena Sam Bankman-Fried to testify at hearing on FTX.
• Lululemon shares fall after company offers weak holiday quarter guidance.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Lululemon, Costco and more.

MarketWatch:            

• Costco stock falls after hours as retailer’s earnings disappoint, online sales fall.
  
• Broadcom refuses to provide full-year outlook, cites limited visibility as it ‘scrubs’ backlog.

Zero Hedge:

• Ignore The Pundits, Don't Expect Big Declines In The Price Of Rent.
• Russia Releases 1st Footage Of Griner, Bout Prisoner Swap.
• House Passes Record $858 Billion Defense Policy Bill.
• Remote-Work Revolution Has Wiped Out $453 Billion In Commercial Real Estate Value.
• The Ongoing COVID Deceptions: How Ruling Elites Lied About Masks And Mask Mandates.
• Xi Inks Tens Of Billions In Deals With Saudis, From Huawei Cloud-Computing To Expanded Military Ties.
• State Attorneys General Say FedEx And UPS Help Feds Track Gun Sales.
• Project Veritas: Chicago Dean Brags About Giving Underage Students Sex Toys During Pride Month.
• Around 450,000 Homebuyers Are Now Underwater As 'Early' FHA Delinquencies Hit 2009 Levels.
• Porch Pirates Awash In Holiday Booty As Online Sales Top Records.
• Loudoun County School Board Fires Superintendent Over What Grand Jury Says Is 'Stunning Lack Of Openness'.
• DeSantis Raises $59 Million For Florida Hurricane Relief, Says Biden Denied Funds.
• US stocks gained with mild relief on a catalyst-lite session ahead of next week's plethora of key events - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open.
• Texas Issues Subpoena To BlackRock For Pushing ESG Agenda.
• The Likelihood Of "Something Bad" Happening To Elon Musk Is High, According To Musk.
• Stocks and yields recover in quiet, pre-risk event trade - Newsquawk US Market Wrap.
• Crude Crushed As Jobs Data Signals Imminent US Recession.

Newsmax: 

• Pentagon Worried Viktor Bout to Return to Arms Trafficking.
• Rep. Waltz to Newsmax: Griner-for-Bout Hostage Swap a 'Victory' for Putin.
• A Detailed Look at Russia's Viktor Bout.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Ukraine Debt Relief Included in US Defense Bill Approved by US House – 176 Republicans Vote for the Bill.
• (VIDEO) TGP’s Jordan Conradson Joins Kari Lake To Discuss HUGE 9TH CIRCUIT WIN Against Maricopa County And Upcoming Election Lawsuit.
• House Passes Bill to Codify Same-Sex Marriage – Measure Heads to Biden’s Desk.
• Katie Hobbs Directs Arizonans to “Monitor Election Speech” Less than a Week After She Was Caught Working with Twitter to Silence Conservative Speech Online.
• CORRUPTION: Biden Bailing Out Central States Pension Fund After Government Told Them Not to Cut Benefits.
• Tucker Carlson Interviews Mom Who Raised Concerns Over Sexual Poster in Elementary School, Had Police Called on Her By High Ranking Military Official.
• Biden Climate Czar John Kerry Says American Taxpayer Money Should be Used to Pay Other Countries Climate Reparations (VIDEO).
• Former Marine Still Detained In Russia “Disappointed” Biden Admin Hasn’t Done More To Secure His Release – “I Don’t Understand Why I’m Still Sitting Here”.
• Joe Biden Turns His Back on Reporters, Ignores Questions About the Griner Swap For “Merchant of Death” (VIDEO).
• 6-Year-Old Canadian Kid Suddenly Dead After Suffering “Massive Stroke” – Doctor Diagnosed her with “Myocarditis due to the Flu”.
• Sen. Ron Johnson Hosts Historic Round Table Discussion on COVID Vaccines with Prominent Doctors Including Drs. McCullough, Malone, Cole, Risch, and Others.
• Celine Dion Cancels All 2023 Shows, Reveals She Has Rare, Incurable Neurological Disease (VIDEO).
• Mattel’s “American Girl” Publishes Book Pushing Puberty Blockers, Gender Transitioning To 3-12 Year Olds.

The Epoch Times:

• ‘It’s Not About Hunter Biden—It’s About Joe,’ Says ‘Laptop From Hell’ Author.
• PREMIERING 7:30PM ET: Miranda Devine: The Concerted Cover-Up of Biden Family Scandals—From the Laptop to China.

Twitter: 

• @stoolpresidente - Rant Alert - SBF Will Not Be Subpoenaed To Testify Regarding FTX Collapse? (video) 
• @bariweiss - THREAD: THE TWITTER FILES PART TWO. TWITTER’S SECRET BLACKLISTS.

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 903,327 Reports(+2,295 from prior week) Through November 25th, 2022.

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 +.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 133.0 -1.0 basis point. 

• China Sovereign CDS 75.25 -1.0 basis point. 
• China Iron Ore Spot 109.5 USD/Metric Tonne +.4%.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 47.89 +.12%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index  46.2 -.3%. 
• Bloomberg US Financial Conditions Index -.66 +2.0 basis points.
  
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 24.7 unch.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.08%.

• S&P 500 futures -.08%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.10%  

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

 

Before the Open: 

• None of note
  

After the Close:

• None of note
  

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• PPI Final Demand MoM for Nov. is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.2% gain in Oct.
• PPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for Nov. is estimated to rise +.2% versus unch. in Oct.
• PPI Final Demand YoY for Nov. is estimated to rise +7.2% versus an +8.0% gain in Oct.
  

10:00 am EST

• Wholesale Trade Sales MoM for Oct. is estimated to rise +.3% versus a +.4% gain in Sept.
• Univ. of Mich. Consumer Sentiment for Dec. is estimated to rise to 56.9 versus 56.8 in Nov.
• Univ. of Mich. 1Y Inflation Expectations for Dec. is estimated at +4.9% versus +4.9% in Nov.
  

12:00 pm EST

• 3Q Household Change in Net Worth.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The China inflation data  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 healthcare and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.