Sunday, April 08, 2018

Monday Watch

Today's Headlines
Bloomberg:
  • Trump Says ‘Price to Pay’ in Syria After Vowing to Pull Out. President Donald Trump warned of a “big price to pay” in response to reports of a chemical attack outside Syria’s capital, days after he said he wanted to quickly end the U.S. military presence in the war-torn Middle East country. Rescue workers and activists said dozens died in a chemical assault amid renewed fire by Bashar al-Assad’s government on a rebel stronghold near Damascus. The use of chemical weapons in April 2017 provoked a U.S. missile strike, the first direct American hit on Assad’s regime since the conflict in Syria began in March 2011. While Trump has said he wants U.S. troops out of Syria “very soon,” he posted tweets Sunday condemning the attack, and saying Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran “are responsible for backing Animal Assad.”
  • Trump Vows China `Will Take Down Its Trade Barriers'. President Donald Trump said China will relax its trade restrictions in response to U.S. pressure “because it’s the right thing to do,” as the world’s largest economies teeter on the brink of a trade war that’s unsettled global financial markets and sent the U.S. stock market reeling. “China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do,” Trump said on Twitter early Sunday. “Taxes will become reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property.” 
  • Asia Stocks Mixed as Trade in Focus; Dollar Steady: Markets Wrap. Benchmarks were little changed in Japan, Australia and South Korea. Chinese equity markets are due to reopen after a holiday, with traders getting their first chance to react to President Donald Trump’s order for a review of additional tariffs that prompted an aggressive response from China. The yen fluctuated ahead of remarks Monday by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda at the start of his second term. While Friday’s selloff left U.S. stocks teetering on a key support level, futures on the S&P 500 Index climbed in early trading. Japan’s Topix index fluctuated as of 9:16 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index was little changed. Hang Seng Index futures were up 0.4 percent. Futures on the S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent.  
Wall Street Journal:
MarketWatch.com:
Zero Hedge: 
Night Trading
  • Asian indices are -.25% to +.25% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 78.0 +.5 basis points.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 13.25 +.25 basis point.
  • Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 74.80 unch. 
  • FTSE 100 futures +.4%.
  • S&P 500 futures +.5%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures +.66%.

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
  • (SIGM)/-.21
Economic Releases
  • None of note
Upcoming Splits
  • None of note
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Germany Trade Balance report, (PSMT) monthly sales report and (WWE) business update call could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by commodity and industrial 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 week.

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