Tuesday Morning Market Prepper

Economy

Beijing will take action to defend its interests if Washington damages trade ties, the Ministry of Commerce declared, after President Trump authorized an inquiry into China's alleged theft of intellectual property. "This is just the beginning," he said, while signing the memorandum. Trump administration officials have estimated that theft of intellectual property by China could be worth as much as $600B.

Kim Jong-un has decided not to launch a threatened missile attack on Guam, but warned that he could change his mind "if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions." Signs of easing in tension on the Korean peninsula are helping stock markets rally for another day following an exchange of threats between Pyongyang and Washington.

Brexit Secretary David Davis is calling for a temporary customs union with the EU after Brexit, but also wants the country to negotiate other trade deals, which could be a sticking point in the divorce talks. The Brexit transition will most likely be two years, he added, while insisting there was no chance of the U.K. agreeing on a Brexit bill "number" by this fall.

Germany's economic growth lost a little pace in Q2, but accelerated its best year on year rate since 2014 on strong household spending, rising state expenditure and higher company investments. A first estimate of GDP rose by 0.6% quarterly pace in the three months to June, meaning the performance of the eurozone’s largest economy grew in line with bloc's average during the quarter.

Venezuela's armed forces are starting preparations for military exercises later this month after President Trump warned of possible military action. "Venezuela will not be threatened," President Maduro declared, adding that Trump "should know that threatening Venezuela is like threatening Latin America." The warning was rebuffed by the whole region, even countries opposed to Caracas.

A bigger thorn in OPEC's side? U.S. shale drillers will keep posting strong gains in August and September, with production from shale regions topping 6M barrels a day, according to the Department of Energy. The total forecast figure has expanded to include the Anadarko region, a growing and prolific shale play that has the second-most operating rigs, at 129, after the Permian's 373.

Stocks

Teva Pharmaceutical has lost its position atop Israel's corporate hierarchy for the first time in 15 years - as its market cap fell to $17.6B. Tel Aviv-based Check Point Software (NASDAQ:CHKP) has taken first place. Teva's (NYSE:TEVA) tumble was precipitated by botched acquisitions that left the company mired in debt and the drugmaker has still failed to identify a new CEO since Erez Vigodman's ouster more than six months ago.

Responding to questions from the SEC, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) has disclosed further details about the impact of an ongoing dispute with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). CDMA technology revenues from modem sales for iPhones "may continue to decline, in part depending on the extent of Apple's utilization of rivals' modems and the mix of the various versions that are sold... Apple's dual sourcing does not impact the licensing revenue."

Big hedge funds are pouring money into Alibaba (NYSE:BABA). According to the latest 13F filings, David Tepper, Dan Loeb and Stanley Druckenmiller built new stakes in the Chinese e-commerce giant, snapping up millions of shares in the second quarter. The stock is so far up over 70% in 2017, while the company will report earnings on Thursday.

Pandora is under new leadership after its founder stepped aside for the second time. Roger Lynch, who has held leadership roles at companies like Sling TV and Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH), will be CEO of the music streaming company. Pandora (NYSE:P) has faced significant pressure over the past year due to its ongoing battle against the likes of Spotify (Private:MUSIC) and Apple Music (AAPL).

Target is hiring former executives from General Mills (NYSE:GIS) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) to help bolster its food and beverage business. "Across all categories of our business, we are investing to build an even better Target (NYSE:TGT) for our guests," said Mark Tritton, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer. "We have been making positive progress with our assortment, presentation and operations."

With news that Chinese officials plan to "crack down" on multilevel marketing organizations, shares of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF), USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) and Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE:NUS) took a hit Monday, tumbling between 5% to 7%. Four government departments in China will start to "carry out special rectification activities" to "resolutely eradicate all kinds of MLM organizations."

Sources told CNBC that Apple (AAPL) and Aetna (NYSE:AET) held secret talks last week to discuss bringing the Apple Watch to the health insurer's 23M members. Aetna already offers the wearable technology to its 50K employees, but wants to extend a free or discounted wearable device as a membership perk. Apple Watch recently overtook Fitbit (NYSE:FIT) as the top selling wearable tracker.

The global push among automakers to make ever lighter vehicles, which is critical to bring electric cars into the mainstream, is leading some Japanese suppliers to turn to an unlikely substitute for steel: wood. Denso (OTCPK:DNZOY), Toyota's (NYSE:TM) component maker, and DaikyoNishikawa (OTC:DKYOF) say cellulose nanofibers made from wood pulp weigh just one fifth of steel and can be five times stronger.

The 10-week acceptance period for German industrial gases group Linde's (OTCPK:LNEGY) proposed $74B merger with U.S. peer Praxair (NYSE:PX) has officially started, and will run through Oct. 24. Linde will need 75% of its shareholders to tender their stock to the new company, while Praxair needs a simple majority vote at a shareholder meeting slated for the end of September.

Transocean -1% premarket after announcing a deal to buy competitor Songa Offshore (OTC:SGAZF) for 9.1B Norwegian crowns. The transaction, which would be mostly paid for in shares and convertible bonds, will strengthen its position in offshore drilling and increase Transocean's (NYSE:RIG) order book by $4.1B to a total of $14.3B.

Berkshire Hathaway sold its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) as of the end of June, but will still keep its hand in a legacy part of the conglomerate. Berkshire (BRK.A, BRK.B) reported a 17.5M share stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF), the financing arm of GE that was spun out in a 2014. It also boosted stakes in Store Capital (NYSE:STOR), Bank of New York (NYSE:BK), General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Apple (AAPL).