Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• China’s Economic Woes Deepen With Housing Market Slump. 
• China Stocks Set to Erase Politburo Gains as Economy Struggles.
• SoftBank Is in Talks to Buy Vision Fund’s Stake in Arm, Reuters Says.
• Bond Traders Fear ECB Hawks as Energy Jitters Return to Europe.
  
• Live: Early Reports in Argentina Suggest Milei Outperforming.
• Argentina’s Next President Is on a Collision Course With Hyperinflation.
• Ukraine Recap: Russia Vows Retaliation as Kerch Bridge Targeted. 
• Gas Market Ructions Fuel Concerns About Energy Bills This Winter.
• Bond Market Sees No End to Tumult as Fed Casts a Hawkish Shadow.
• Walmart Leads Retailers Shining Spotlight on Key Market Signal.
• U.S. Steel Explores Strategic Alternatives After Getting Unsolicited Bids.
• US Agency Probes Near-Collision of Southwest, Cessna Planes.
• America’s Fastest Growing City Is Embracing ‘Yellowstone’ Mania.
• Hackers Trick AI With ‘Bad Math’ to Expose Flaws and Biases.
• Even Celebrity Realtors Feel the Pinch as LA Mansion Sales Fall.
• Look to the Options Market for Signs of Stock Market Trouble.
• Zoom Ends No-Meeting Wednesday Policy, Calling It ‘Barrier to Collaboration’.
• Amazon Cracks Down on Employees Who Stay Away From the Office. 
• US Steel Starts Review as It Spurns $7.25 Billion Cliffs Bid.
• The Fed Is Playing a Waiting Game to Try to Avoid a Recession. 
• Charting the Global Economy: US Stays on Moderate-Inflation Path.

Zero Hedge:

• Ukrainians Begin To Despair As Bloody Counteroffensive Yields Small Gains
• Study Reveals Which AI Chatbot Most Woke, While Hackers Trick LLMs Into 'Bad Math'.
• Rising Crime Sinks All Boats.
• Will America's Anti-Obesity Craze Lead To A Food Revolution.
• Sometimes, Only Satire Does The Job...
• Sen. Ron Johnson Says Pandemic "Preplanned By An Elite Group Of People" Who Conducted "Event 201".
• COVID Victims' Families Sue EcoHealth Alliance For 'Funding, Releasing' Virus.
• "This Country Has Already Become A Banana Republic" - Holter Warns 'Mad Max' Scenario Imminent.
• Re-grossing again. Positioning at the 99th percentile.
• Morgan Stanley: Why We Are Skeptical Banking Sector Turmoil Is Behind Us.
• Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open.
• The US Is Still Vexed By High Inflation.
• The Next Squeeze: Hedge Funds Sprint Into Energy Shorts Just As Oil Hits 2023 Highs.
• Greenwald: It's Not Left Vs Right Anymore, "It's Anti-Establishment Versus Pro-Establishment".
• A Weird Little August Week: "Who Keeps Selling The Nasdaq Into the Close". 
• What Really Happened On January 6.
• Watch: Thieves In Lawless California Use Forklift To Steal ATM
• TME Weekend: Extremely many "extremes".
• "Rich Men North Of Richmond" Tops iTunes As Voice Of Working-Class Goes Viral.
• 'Dear Joe'...
• Why Rome Collapsed: Lessons For The Present.
• Will Walmart Still Top Aramco As The World's Highest-Grossing Company?
• Macleod: Beware The Great Unwind.
• Life In 2033: Monetary Apartheid.
• Which World Region Has The Most Gamers?
• School District Blames 'Rogue' Principal For Anti-White Discrimination, But Documents Suggest It Was Official Policy.
• The Rise and Rhetoric Of The Climate Chicken Littles.
• America's Favorite Music Genres.
• Radioactive Fish Discovered Near Fukushima Renews Concerns Over Plans To Dump Nuclear Wastewater Into Ocean.
• "David Weiss Can’t Be Trusted": Comer, Jordan Slam Hunter Biden Special Counsel 'Coverup'.  
• A "Global Inflationary Depression" Is Very Possible.
• McDonald's Scrubs Mentions Of "ESG" From Its Website.
• The Alliance.
• Future Headline: Oakland Police Advise Residents To "Appear As Poor As Possible".
• Downtown San Fran Office Tower Sells At 66% Off As CRE Crisis Claims Another Victim.
• Judge Lets Starbucks Keep Its Race-Based Hiring Quotas.
• Exposing The Mirage Of "Equal Pay" In Sports.
• Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs Secretly Sought The Censorship Of Political Critics.
• 'Not-So Veiled Threats': Judge Compares Biden Regime To Mafia For 'Strong-Arming' Social Media Companies.
• Democrats Say It'll Take A Lot More Than Eyewitness Testimony, Bank Records, Audio, Video, & Complete Confessions For Them To Believe Biden Did Anything Wrong.
• Goldman: There Has Been A Material Shift In Market Dynamics And Sentiment.
• New California Gas Czar Will Boost Prices Even Higher.
• The 'Not-Insane' Cohort Of Americans Is Suddenly Asking The 'Difficult' Questions.
• GOP Critics Call Appointment Of David Weiss To Special Counsel An Attempt To "Whitewash" Biden Family Corruption.
• Twin Crises Rattle America: Suicides And Drug Overdoses Hit Record Highs.
• Tax Receipts. Another Leading Recession Indicator?
• 'The World Has Moved Too Far To The Left', Warns Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten.
• Who Is Delivering Tanks To Ukraine?
• 'Scientist' Wants To Catch An Asteroid And Block Out The Sun With It...
• NATO Member Poland Now Says 10,000 More Troops To Bolster Belarus Border.
• FDA Drops Ivermectin Bombshell.
• The US Military Suicide Crisis.
• India Consumes 11x More Crude Oil From Russia, Exposing Ineffectiveness Of Western Sanctions.
• 'On The Verge Of The Abyss' - No US Presidential Election In 2024?
• Seniors Told To Brace For Far Lower Social Security Payment Boost In 2024. 
• Is It Time To Fact-Check Corporate Media's 'Climate Hysteria' Over "Hottest Day Ever"?

Wall Street Journal:

• The Scary Math Behind the World’s Safest Assets.
• Georgia Is Ground Zero for Trump Exhaustion as Another Indictment Looms.
• Second Thoughts on ‘Gender-Affirming Care’. The American Academy of Pediatrics orders a scientific review. Will it be conducted honestly?
• Can San Francisco Save Itself From the Doom Loop?
• What Wall Street’s Top Recession Gauge Says Now.
• Labor Goes Fishing for Discrimination. Government contractors now face endless probes without a clear charge.
• Gasoline and Food Threaten to Nudge Inflation Up Again.
• Disney Makes a Mickey Mouse Mistake. The company is raising prices as consumers choose to cut cable and skip park visits.
• Police Raid Small Kansas Newspaper, Owners’ Home.
• Officials Search for Maui Victims—and Answers to How the Fire Turned So Deadly.
• Stock Rally Stalls Despite Better-Than-Expected Earnings.
• DuPont China Deal Reveals Cracks in U.S. National-Security Screening.
• Green Power Gets Pricier After Years of Declines.
• Restaurants and Supermarkets Are Brawling Over Your Dollar.
• Teens Are Taking Over Gyms. The Adults Aren’t Pumped.
• If They Don’t Go Extreme, No One Will Watch Their Video.
• How U.S. and China Are Breaking Up, in Charts. Americans keep buying less from China, dropping its share of imports to a 20-year low.

Barron's:

• Had bullish commentary on (PLMR), (NEE), (CMCSA) and (CRD/B).

CNBC:

• How Amazon is racing to catch Microsoft and Google in generative A.I. with custom AWS chips
• Airlines can’t add high-end seats fast enough as travelers treat themselves to first class
• 56% of student loan borrowers will have to choose between loans and necessities.
• China condemns visit of ‘troublemaker’ Taiwan vice president to U.S.
• India is a rising force in Southeast Asia as region seeks to counter China’s dominance.
• CBS News chief Neeraj Khemlani reportedly stepping down.
• Zuckerberg dismisses Musk for avoiding cage fight: ‘It’s time to move on’.
• U.S. judge sends FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried to jail over witness tampering.

MarketWatch.com:

• Recession worries are fading. When Walmart and Target report, we’ll see how shoppers feel about that.
• The market needs a lot more to worry about for stocks to rise from here
• Want companies to lower their prices? Stop buying stuff from them. 
• Opinion: Market bears are on the prowl and stocks are in danger.
• Guess who’s been selling the stock-market rally. 
• The shrinking American home: As demand rises, builders go smaller.

NewsMax:

• Trump: Fulton County DA Willis Should Focus on Atlanta Murders, Crime.
• Whitaker to Newsmax: Weiss Pick Is a 'Chess Move' Even US Attorney in Mueller Probe Slams AG for Weiss Pick Comer,
• Rasmussen Poll: Plurality Dissatisfied With AG.
• Georgia Grand Jury Set to Convene for Anticipated Indictment. 
• Leavitt: Biden, Garland Interfering in Election.

 Fox News:

• Nordstrom ransacked in huge smash and grab, get away with tens of thousands in merchandise.
• Rand Paul reveals 'smoking gun' showing Fauci lied to Congress during COVID testimony.
• Articles of impeachment introduced against President Joe Biden.
• New study reveals the true effect the COVID vaccine can have on pregnant women.
  

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• CT Family Suing Snapchat and Instagram After 15-Year-Old Was Raped and Assaulted By Two Sex Offenders Who Contacted Her on Apps.
• Why They Fear Him: The People LOVE This Man – Massive Crowd Shows Up to See President Trump at the Iowa State Fair. 
• Peter Navarro Obliterates Kevin McCarthy of Undermining Bill Before to Thwart Chinese Influence in US Infrastructure: “HYPOCRITE BLOWDRIED CCP B*TCH”.
• JAIL FAUCI: Recently Released Documents Reveal Dr. Fauci and Dr. Collins Received At Least 58 Vaccine Royalty Payments From Big Pharma and Chinese and Russian Entities. 
• Cameras Go Up to Punish Drivers in the Name of Climate Change – Then Vigilantes Strike. 
• Chinese Company CellX Launches Lab-Grown Meat Factory in Shanghai.
• Video: Up to $100,000 in Merchandise Stolen From Los Angeles Nordstrom Ransacked by Dozens of Looters Who Attacked Security Guards With Bear Spray.
• Shoplifting Threatens to Close Washington, DC Grocery Store Creating a Food Desert.
• Biden Regime to Spend $1.2 Billion to Vacuum Carbon Dioxide Out Of The Air.
• Beef Company CEO: “I’ll Shut Down the Company Before We Ship a Single Bag With mRNA-Injected Meat”.
• “Time for the Bud Light Treatment” – Social Media Erupts After Skittles Partners with Far-Left Group Which Supports Sex Procedures for Children and Places “Black Trans Lives Matter” On Its Packaging.
• Iowa Voters Leave CNN Hosts “Perplexed” After Providing Politically Incorrect Answers on the Trump Indictments, Ukraine, and More – Then CNN Snidely Insults the Voters (VIDEO).
• Former US Senator and Foreign Diplomat Threatened to “Kick the Sh*t” Out of Joe Biden for Groping His Wife.
• Muskegon County, Michigan GOP Release Report After 2020 Election-County had 30,000 Voters (30%) More Than Reasonable Expected.
• Two Thirds of Americans Believe 2020 Election was Rigged, The Feds Incited Jan 6, and the Bidens are a Crime Family.
• Kamala Harris Laughs as She Says the Solution to Gun Violence is to Elect More Anti-Second Amendment Democrats (VIDEO).
• DEVELOPING: Indictment Watch: Marxist Fulton County DA Fani Willis to Present Trump 2020 Election Case to Grand Jury Early Next Week.
• Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men From Richmond” Soars to #1 on US iTunes Charts.
• Family of Utah Man Killed by Biden’s FBI Release Statement Following His Tragic Death: “As an Elderly–and Largely Homebound–Man… He Has Never, and Would Never, Commit Any Act of Violence”.
• “I Can’t Make Sense of It” – 17-Year-Old Star Alabama Basketball Player Dies Suddenly After Collapsing During Workout, Leaving His Family Devastated and Confused.
• After 440 Reporters Purged from White House, Today News Africa Reporter Simon Ateba Files Lawsuit Against Karine Jean-Pierre. 
• Open the Books Report: The $325M Third-Party Royalty Complex at the National Institute of Health.

The Epoch Times:

• Leadership Changes in China’s Eastern Command Signal Growing Focus on Taiwan.
• [PREMIERING 7:30PM ET] Christopher Rufo: How to Recapture America’s Institutions From Neo-Marxist Revolutionaries.
• Well-Known Pro-Beijing Chinese American Arrested by FBI for Attempting to Obstruct Justice.
• ANALYSIS: China Is Heading Towards a Decade of Economic Stagnation.

Twitter:

• @OCOCWarRoom - ALERT: Fentanyl overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans age 18-49 in the United States. In June, The DEA seized enough fentanyl to KILL 25-million Americans. China remains the primary source of Fentanyl which then enters the United States through the US / Mexican border. Fentanyl is Killing our children. (video)
• @QTRResearch - Get it yet? In the face of demonstrable efficacy in dozens of clinical trials [c19ivm(.)org] ivermectin was labeled horse dewormer because it would have invalidated Emergency Use Authorization & prevented selling 50 million vaccines. (video)
• @ImMeme0 - Imagine during raging war 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐮𝐱𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. In 2023, sales of luxury car brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus will break all records from previous years, according to Ukrainian media. "If all the corrupt have left, it will be in new luxury cars," comments the "Economic Truth" portal.
• @AgentTruthTell3 - EXCLUSIVE : MILLIONS of US TAX DOLLARS STILL being SENT to 27 CHINESE LABS : RESEARCH FACILITIES BENEFITED from $15M to PERFORM DANGEROUS and CRUEL ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS - DESPITE FEARS #COVID LEAKED from WUHAN.
• @UltraDane - The number of German recipients of welfare benefits has halved since 2010, while the number of foreign nationals receiving social assistance payments has doubled, government data has revealed. This seems like a good time to bring this up again. Starting fires in Palermo, CA last month with his lighter is his way of affecting change. (video)
• @DrLoupis - Why is nobody talking about this? (video)
• @RepMTG - Doctors & Pharmacist were threatened they would lose their licenses if they prescribed Ivermectin to treat COVID, but thankfully many, like my own, chose to give life saving Ivermectin anyway. The real reason the FDA lied about Ivermectin is because the vaccines would not have been approved if a treatment for COVID existed.
• @matttttt187 - What really going on in Lahaina? Listen to this local, very troubling. (video)
• @davidcharns - We are seeing unbelievable damage from above Lahaina, Hawaii, where many lives and thousands of buildings are gone. One man here tells me it looks like a nuclear bomb exploded. (video)
• @TPostMillennial - AUSTIN PRIDE — @TaylerUSA interviews a woman with exposed breasts about being nude in front of children: “It’s perfectly legal for my breasts to be exposed.” (video)

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 975,114 Reports(+1,518 from prior week) Through July 28th, 2023.

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.

Night Trading

• Asian indices are -1.25% to -.25% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 99.75 +1.75 basis points.
  
• China Sovereign CDS 64.5 +3.0 basis points.
• China Iron Ore Spot 101.2 USD/Metric Tonne -1.5%.
  
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 42.5 -.07%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 72.0 +.6%.
• Bloomberg US Financial Conditions Index .36 -3.0 basis points. 
  
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 17.1 unch. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.12%.
• S&P 500 futures +.07%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.12%.

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are modestly lower, weighed down by technology and consumer shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower.  The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the week.