“Always something new, always something I didn’t expect, and sometimes it isn’t horrible.” – Robert Jordan

1. U.S. LNG Deliveries to Germany by 2022 — U.S. companies expect to begin delivering LNG to Germany in four years at the latest, according to deputy U.S. energy secretary Dan Brouillette, and will challenge Russia which now accounts for 60% of German gas imports. In July, President Trump accused Germany of being a “captive” of Russia due to its energy reliance and urged it to halt work on the $11B, Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
2. Aurora Cannabis(OTCQX:ACBFF) on talks with Coca-Cola on CBD drinks — Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) said it was closely watching the fast-growing marijuana drinks market for a possible entry. Molson Coors (NYSE:TAP) has already announced a joint venture with Hydropothecary to develop cannabis drinks, while Diageo (NYSE:DEO) is in talks with at least three Canadian cannabis producers about a possible deal.
3. SEC subpoenas Goldman, Silver Lake in Tesla probe — the tension continues to build at Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) as a DOJ probe runs alongside a wide-ranging SEC investigation. Subpoenas have already been received by Goldman Sachs and Silver Lake, the two firms hired by Tesla to help the company explore Elon Musk’s go-private plan.
4. US/China Tarriff Escalate — President Trump ordered another $200 billion in 10% tariffs on Chinese goods, which could rise to 25% by year end. China retaliated with $60 billion in tariffs at 5% to 10% and Trump threatened $267 billion more.
5. AAII Weekly Investor Sentiment — in the latest survey of individual investor sentiment from AAII, bullish sentiment declined (ever so slightly) for the third straight week, dropping from 32.09% down to 32.04%.

Meanwhile, bearish sentiment came in at the exact same level as bullish sentiment this week, dropping from 32.84% down to 32.04%. The last time both gauges of sentiment were at the exact same level was in June 2016.

6. Dow Theory Generates Buy Signal for the Dow Theorist Followers — this occurs when the Dow Industrials sets a new high following a new high for Dow Transports. This happened over the last two weeks as industrials set their high on September 21 following transports on September 14. This signal did not work in 2008 as Dow Transports was the last average to peak when it topped out in May 2008 while Dow Industrials peaked in October 2007.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

“A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful,” Warren Buffett

1. Trump Says Apple Should Shift Production to U.S. to Avoid China Tariffs — President Trump tweeted that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) should make more of its products in the U.S. if it wants to avoid tariffs on Chinese imports. In the filing, Apple said the new proposed tariffs would affect prices for a “wide range” of products, including the Watch, AirPods headphones and Beats headphones. China has warned it will match any U.S. tariffs.
2. Trump Readies New Tariffs on Chinese Imports — the Trump administration reportedly set to announce a new round of tariffs on as much as $200B in Chinese goods, while Beijing considers scrapping upcoming trade talks in response. The duties will be set at 10%, below the 25% level announced in early August, to diminish the impact on U.S. consumers ahead of the holiday shopping season and before midterm elections. Global shares are edging down on the news, while the Shanghai Composite closed at its lowest level since 2014. former finance minister Lou Jiwei told a forum, besides retaliating with tariffs, China could also restrict export of goods, raw materials and components core to U.S. manufacturing supply chains.
3. EPA Set to Ease Rules On Methane Leaks for Oil and Gas Companies — the Environmental Protection Agency will reportedly announce a rollback of Obama-era methane emission rules. The EPA proposal wants to give oil and gas companies more time to assess and safely repair infrastructure that’s often found in remote areas. The changes would give drillers a year to perform leak inspections and 60 days to make repairs, double the current time frames.
4. Apple’s iPhone Launch — AAPL unveiled its biggest and most expensive iPhone at its fall launch event, with most of the buzz swirling around a rumored phablet (iPhone Xs Max?) that’s supposed to boast a 6.5-inch OLED screen. Two other models will likely be called the iPhone Xs (5.8-inch OLED) and Xr (6.1-inch LCD). the iPhone XR starting at $749, iPhone Xs starting at $999 and iPhone Xs Max starting at $1,099. More products anticipated include the Watch Series 4, third-gen iPad Pro, budget MacBook, and updated AirPods with a long-delayed charging mat.
5. More Strikes Entertainment Deals — Twitter has struck a host of new media partnerships, bringing “hundreds of hours” of entertainment to audiences in the Asia Pacific region. The deal includes game highlights from the UEFA Champions League, live-streaming from Formula One and live Red Carpet events. Twitter (TWTR) has seen double-digit audience growth in Asia Pacific and is “projecting by about 2020, we’ll be at about a billion views here in (Asia Pacific) alone.”
6. Gas explosions near Boston — NiSource’s (NYSE:NI) Columbia Gas explosions killed at least one person, injured 12 more and forced thousands to evacuate from three communities north of Boston. Some 70 fires, explosions or investigations of gas odor were reported, according to Massachusetts State Police. NiSource’s (NYSE:NI) Columbia Gas unit had said earlier that it would be upgrading gas lines in neighborhoods across the state.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: