Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Three US Troops Killed in Attack Tied to Iran-Backed Groups.
• Biden Faces Pressure to Confront Iran After US Troops Killed.
• China to Merge Three Bad-Debt Managers Into CIC, Xinhua Says.
• US Considers Slowing Some Weapons Sales to Israel, NBC Says.
• US and Chinese Officials to Meet on Fentanyl Crackdown.
• UK Job Vacancies Fall by Most in Three Years in Sign Labor Market Is Cooling.
• UK Profit Warnings Last Year Exceeded Height of 2008 Crisis.
• Australia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Appoints Combet as New Chair.
• Goldman, JPMorgan See Euro Challenging Yen as Carry-Trade Funder. 
• Oil Jumps After Separate Attacks Escalate Middle East Tensions.
• Reddit Advised to Target at Least $5 Billion Valuation in IPO.
• Stock Market’s Fate Rests on $10 Trillion in Big Tech Earnings.
• Unhappy Workers Cost US Firms $1.9 Trillion.
• Wall Street Has a Dire Warning About Green Investments Under New ‘Endgame’ Rule.
• After Debt Sale Deluge, Early Signs of a Hangover.
• Blackstone Is Building a $25 Billion Empire of Power-Hungry Data Centers.
• Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day:  Asia.

Zero Hedge:

• Congressional Hawks Urge 'Hit Iran Hard' After 3 US Troops Killed By Tehran-Aligned Militants.
• Biden Blackmail Intensifies: Won't Shut Border Until Congress Coughs Up Ukraine, Israel Funds. 
• "Dangerous Game": Chevron Warns California That Anti-Petrol Policies Could Result In Gas Price Spikes, Shortages.
• 83 Million!?
• Why Americans Do Not See A Strong Economy.
• CA Bill Would Electronically Restrict Cars With 'Speed Governors'.
• Major Donor Calls For Cornell University President To Resign For Allegedly Promoting DEI.
• Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open.
• US Officials Believe North Korea Will Soon Launch 'Limited' Attack On South.
• FBI Official’s Anti-Trump Post Violated Federal Law: Watchdog.
• TME Weekend: Teflon bull.
• Goldman Trading Desk: Theme Of The Week Was Increased Appetite For Stocks Ex Mag 7.
• The Great Growth Hoax. 
• This Week Will Be Determined By What Powell Says Between 2:30pm And 3:00pm ET on Wednesday.
• Chicago Democrat Demands Officials Nix 'Sanctuary City' Status As Migrant Crisis Overwhelms.
• Three US Troops Killed, 25 Injured, After Drone Slams Into Base On Jordanian Border.
• Netanyahu And Sinwar's Forever War: Perpetual Conflict In Gaza.
• 'Because It Was Un-Inverted' - Goldman Trader Warns Of Yield-Curve Steepening Implications.
• RFK Jr. Campaign Collects Enough Signatures To Get On New Hampshire Ballot.
• Paul Craig Roberts: RIP, The Western World.
• Biden To Announce Billions In New Chip Subsidies.
• European Leaders Are Anxious About A Possible Trump Win.
• Border Patrol Says Agents Will Not Remove Texas Razor Wire Barriers.
• Most Airplane Accidents Happen During Landing.
• We Can't Ban Our Way To A Better World.
• The Longest General Election: Gingrich.
• DEI Priorities Interfere With FBI Hiring, Undercut National Security, Report Claims.
• Goldman: The Risk Of Pain Trades Rises As We Head Into Next Week's Barrage.
• 24 GOP Legislators In Pennsylvania Challenge Biden Over Voter Registration Executive Order.
• Lyin' Biden: Speaker Johnson Debunks 'Need' To Pass Ukraine-Israel Funds Before Securing Border.
• Fani Comes Under Immense Pressure As 22 Articles Of Impeachment Filed For "Malfeasance, Oppression, And Tyrannical Partiality".
• A Ukrainian Model's Crowning As 'Miss Japan' Shows The Spread Of Liberal-Globalism In Asia. 
• 9 Factors Driving Energy Markets In 2024. 
• Biden's Real Oil-For-Fake Democracy Plan Ruined After Venezuela Blocks Opposition Leader's Presidential Run.
• More Senate Republicans Embrace Trump As He Marches Toward GOP Nomination.

Wall Street Journal:

• Argentina’s President Promised a Free-Market Revolution, and Says He’s Delivering.
• High Interest Rates Crushed Startup Investment. Here Is What Could Revive It.
• How ‘Our Democracy’ Became Undemocratic. The word used to signify elections and self-rule. Now it means whatever progressives want.
• An EV Charger for Everyone—Courtesy of Taxpayers. Treasury rewrites subsidy rules so nearly everyone qualifies, continuing to blow open the Inflation Reduction Act.
• Israel Struggles to Destroy Hamas’s Gaza Tunnel Network.

CNBC:

• First-of-its-kind campaign fundraiser in the works with Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Biden.
• Big pharma is at a crossroads, as Merck, J&J, others prepare to lose revenue from blockbuster drugs.
• House GOP releases impeachment articles in bid to oust Homeland Security’s Mayorkas over the border.
• American Airlines’ hard landing on Maui sends 6 to hospital.

Reuters:

• China securities regulator suspends restricted share lending from Monday.

MarketWatch.com:

• The busiest and most crucial week for fourth-quarter earnings is here. These five companies will do the heavy lifting.
• More renters than ever now spend too much of their incomes on housing, Harvard study finds.

NewsMax:

• Israel Faces 'Intensive Battles' in Gaza as UN Controversy Grows.
• Dick Morris: GOP Must Prepare for Michelle Obama Run.
• Gov. Burgum: Border a 'Constitutional Crisis'.

Fox News:

• Biden admin jolted by scathing wake-up call amid allegations of betraying public trust.
• Trump blasts Biden after 3 US service members killed by Iran-backed militia.
• One of nation's most elite military branches lowers bar even more for new recruits.
• Deranged climate protesters throw soup on world's most famous painting.
• Black male voters unleash their frustrations about Biden and Dems: 'You can't dangle carrots'.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• IT WAS A UNITED FRONT… Trump’s Legal Team Reveals Shocking ‘Conflict of Interest’ in E. Jean Carroll Case: Judge Lewis Kaplan and E. Jean Carroll’s Lawyer Roberta Kaplan Worked Together at Same Law Firm — Judge Allegedly Served as Mentor
• Oklahoma GOP Passes Resolution to Condemn and Censure Sen. James Lankford for Outrageous Border Deal.
• What the Heck? New Poll Finds NEARLY A FIFTH of Voters ‘Likely’ to Back Candidate Endorsed by Taylor Swift.
• PARIS UNDER SIEGE: Farmers Block All Highways to the City – Security Forces on High Alert – Minister Vows ‘No Tractor Will Enter the Capital’ (VIDEOS).
• Is Nikki Haley a Soros Plant?… Haley Tells Meet the Press: “I Absolutely Trust the Jury” in Crazy E. Jean Carroll’s Disgusting Lawfare Case Against Trump.
• Ultra-Woke Alaska Airlines Sued by Christian Former Employees Over Religious Discrimination.
• Snoop Dogg Reverses Stance on Trump, Expresses ‘Nothing But Love and Respect’ for Former President.
• EXCLUSIVE: Proposed Bills to Florida Legislature Will Address Hundreds of Missing Controls in State’s Election Process.
• “This Is a Movement, People are Tired of the Overreach – And We’re Pushing Back!” – Rep. Keith Self: 700,000 Vehicles Predicted to Join “Take Our Border Back” Convoy This Coming Week.
• North Carolina GOP District Calls for Vote of No Confidence for Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel ahead of RNC Winter Meeting.
• Biden Family Associate Testifies Joe Met with Chinese Industry Leader – Then Hunter Was Given a $3 Million ‘Thank You’.
• Maryland Democrat Introduces Bill That Would Require Gun Owners to Have at Least $300K in Liability Insurance to Carry.
• Left Wing ‘Fact Checker’ Snopes Forced to Admit Biden Was Wearing a Hard Hat Backwards After Being ‘Flooded’ With Comments.
• Crazy E. Jean Carroll Accused Several Men of Sexual Abuse Including CBS CEO Les Moonves – Who Also Emphatically Denies Her Accusation.
• Black Voters in South Carolina Turn on Joe Biden Ahead of Democrat Primary (VIDEO).
• Who is Bill Clinton-Appointed Judge Lewis Kaplan, the Judge in the E. Jean Carroll Case?
• WATCH: Microsoft CEO Says AI Needs ‘Guardrails’ After Pornographic Deepfake Images of Taylor Swift Go Viral.
• Victor Reacts: We Are Witnessing Justice Die (VIDEO).

The Epoch Times:

• China: Spooked Stock Investors Turn to US, Japan, and Crypto.
• CCP May Force Women to Have Babies as Birth Rate Hit Record Low: Demographer.

X:

• @VigilantFox - ALARMING: “Sudden” and “unexpected” deaths have almost DOUBLED since the rollout of the so-called COVID-19 vaccines, according to obituary database. “At this point, a young person dying unexpectedly, to me, unfortunately, it is the vaccine until proven otherwise,” says Dr. @PierreKory. (video)
• @JimFergusonUK - Mass Scale protests across the European Continent as millions begin to push back against the Globalists and their attacks on the farmers. Climate scam, Net Zero and Carbon and Nitrogen reducing hoaxes are being used to bankrupt farmers so the globalists can control the food supplies. Obey or you don't eat. Its time to resist. (pic)
• @wendyp4545 - Breaking News: $40 million is probably the tip of the iceberg FIVE Ukrainian officials charged with stealing $40M in war funds: ‘Most corrupt country in the world!’
• @wideawake_media - Australian broadcaster, Alan Jones, utterly schools a panel of climate zealots on the reality of the #ClimateScam. "CO2 is 0.04% of the atmosphere, and human beings are responsible for 3% of that 0.04%... It's like saying: 'There's a granule of sugar on the Harbour Bridge. Clean the bridge up, it's dirty'." (video) "What happens when you exceed your carbon limit, and you discover that your ability to buy and sell is suddenly cut off?" Australian senator, Ralph Babet, implores all freedom-loving people to resist the imposition of CBDC and digital ID. (video)
• @BGatesIsaPsycho - Significantly important Speech “Woke is Marxism - evolved to attack the West”. Please please please listen - it’s important to understand Wokeism in order to defeat it. (video)
• @TonyClimate - China is planning on building 655 new coal fired power plants, while Americans are cutting back on the thickness of their plastic bags by a few microns. (map)
  
• @goddeketal - THREAD: Remember when they cancelled millions of cancer screening appointments, leading to a significant increase in avoidable cancer deaths, while they performed ridiculous dance routines instead? Let me show you 25 more pieces of evidence proving that Covid was a big hoax. (video)
• @EndWokeness - Primary any Republican that signs onto this Senate Amnesty Deal. This "deal" allows 5,000-8,500 illegals to cross per day before DHS starts turning people back. 8,500 x 365 = 3,102,500 per year. This is on top of the 8 million illegals who crossed already under Biden. If DHS can enforce border security after 8,500 illegals cross per day, it can do enforcement after 1 illegal crosses.
• @PierreKory - Something about the COVID vaccines is causing them to sicken people in direct proximity to recently vaccinated individuals. This article has the science on how that could be possible and covers what people are doing to protect themselves.

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 1,000,725 Reports(+2,808 from prior week) Through December 29th, 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 +.25% to +1.25% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 100.75 +2.0 basis points.
  
• China Sovereign CDS 65.25 +1.25 basis points.
• China Iron Ore Spot 136.0 USD/Metric Tonne +.7%.
  
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 40.8 unch.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 61.5 +.1%.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 14.2 +.6%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures -.17%.
• S&P 500 futures -.08%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.04%.

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are modestly higher, boosted by industrial and technology 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 week.