Friday Watch

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
CC/-.11
CCL/1.20
BMET/.35

Splits
None of note.

Economic Data
Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence for September estimated at 96.7 versus 95.9 in August.

Recommendations
Central European Distribution(CEDS), the largest distributor of vodka in Poland, will benefit as demand in the region grows for other varieties of imported alcohol, Business Week reported. ABX Air(ABXA), a provider of air cargo transportation and services, is benefiting as its largest customer, DHL Worldwide Express, boosts its business in the U.S., Business Week said.

Late-Night News
Asian indices are mixed on strength in China and weakness in Japan. The U.S. agreed with France, Germany and the U.K. on a draft resolution for the United Nations that calls on Iran to immediately suspend all uranium enrichment activities, Agence France-Presse reported. China won't raise interest rates for at least three months, official news agency Xinhua reported. Bonds sold by Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. mortgage buyer, are no riskier than those sold by the 10 largest commercial banks, Business Week said. Alcatel SA may buy Spatial Wireless, a U.S. maker of mobile-phone operator devices, to expand into the American market after years of curtailment due to slow demand, the Wall Street Journal said. Crude oil prices may fall next week as companies including Royal Dutch/Shell Group restart platforms and tankers resume shipments in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Ivan, a Bloomberg survey of traders and analysts shows. Honda Motor expects to almost double sales of so-called hybrid cars next year with the introduction of a third model, Bloomberg reported. President Bush leads Senator Kerry by 13 percentage points among likely voters, according to a Gallup poll conducted for CNN and USA Today. Dan Rather, of CBS News, is fighting to preserve his reputation after conceding misgivings about documents he used for a report attacking President Bush's military service, London's Telegraph reported.

Late-Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.75% to +.75% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.12%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.14%

BOTTOM LINE: I expect U.S. equities to open mixed in the morning as the major indices continue to consolidate after recent gains. I am not sure how much the Consumer Confidence reading will be hurt by the hurricanes and bitter political climate. However, diminishing domestic terrorism fears, falling interest rates and increasing stock prices should help. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into tomorrow.