Thursday Watch

Earnings Announcements
Company/Estimate
AMZN/.19
AXP/.62
AIG/1.06
AMGN/.56
APA/1.05
ABX/.07
BRCM/.27
CAH/.99
CAT/.70
GLW/.05
GDT/.55
HCA/.70
IGT/.32
MSFT/.29
PSFT/.18

Splits
None of note.

Economic Data
Producer Price Index for March estimated +.4% vs. +.1% in February.
PPI Ex Food & Energy for March estimated +.1% vs. +.1% in February.
Initial Jobless Claims last week estimated at 340K vs. 360K prior week.
Continuing Claims estimated at 2998K vs. 2980K the prior week.

Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on AGI, FE, X, KLAC, CDL, AMR, TLAB, KMI, KMR, CVD and Underperform on EK and AZR.

Late-Night News
Asian indices are quietly mixed as strength in Japan is offset by a falling Taiwanese market. China will allow the yuan to fluctuate in a wider range against a basket of currencies, the Financial Times reported. Scotch whisky exports rose to a six-year high last year, boosted by sales to the U.S., the Financial Times said. Spending on advertising may increase 5.5% in the U.S. this year, the most in over three years, the FT said. SAP AG, the world's largest maker of business-management software, said profit increased 23% in the first quarter as license revenue rose for the first time in almost 3 years, boosted by U.S. spending. SAP's CEO Kagermann said orders in the U.S. look very good compared with last year.

Late-Night Trading
Asian Indices -1.25% to +.50%.
S&P 500 indicated -.09%.
NASDAQ indicated +.03%.

BOTTOM LINE: The bond market's reaction to the PPI and Initial Jobless Claims reports tomorrow will likely dictate the direction of the stock market. Corporate earnings are coming in significantly above expectations once again, however many stocks are selling off on good news, thus the P/E on the S&P 500 is contracting further. Tech stocks appear as though they are headed lower in the short-run, however I would use any weakness over the next couple of months to build long positions as I think tech will outperform in the second half of the year. I also continue to believe 04 will be a good year for stocks. Double-digit gains should be expected in the major U.S. indices, on top of last year's strong performances.