Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Wednesday Watch

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
ARRO/.35
BBBY/.25
FDX/1.33
MLHR/.17
MU/.09
OVTI/.31
WOR/.76

Splits
None of note.

Economic Data
None of note.

Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on MERQ, AMGN and ADP. Goldman reiterated Attractive view on Energy sector seeing 30-50% upside, favorites are XOM, AHC, NFX, MUR, DVN and PXD.

Late-Night News
Asian indices are mixed as strength in Taiwan is being offset by weakness in China. Over 100 Goldman Sachs bankers may be able to sell stock worth $4.8 billion as the shares they were awarded at the securities firm's IPO are unlocked, the London-based Times said. Shanghai General Motors, which earned $965 million in net income last year, was the most profitable vehicle maker in China, the Shanghai Morning Post said. The U.S. won't repatriate Chinese citizens held at Guantanamo Bay because it's concerned they will be tortured or executed on their return, the Financial Times said. Salesforce.com, the maker of Internet-based sales software, raised $110 million in an IPO as it prepares to escalate its battle with business-software leaders including Siebel Systems, Bloomberg reported. Merrill Lynch plans to set up an investment banking venture in China that would manage share sales and trade bonds in the world's fastest growing major economy, Bloomberg said. U.S. Commerce Secretary Evans told China it will gave to cut barriers to American investment and trade, including cracking down on software piracy, to shore up support for free trade with the U.S., Bloomberg reported. Iran may release three U.K. navy vessels and eight crew members in the event an investigation shows they strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters, the Islamic Republic News Agency said. The Bank of Japan's Tankan survey, released next week, will show the number of executives at large manufacturers who are optimistic about business conditions has reached the highest level since 1991, Nikkei English News reported.

Late-Night Trading
Asian Indices -.50% to +1.0% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.05%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.17%.

BOTTOM LINE: I expect U.S. stocks to open modestly higher in the morning on strength in technology shares and falling energy prices. I continue to believe the U.S. markets will embark upon an outsized upwards move within the next few weeks. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into tomorrow.

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