Monday, September 06, 2004

Tuesday Watch

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
CEN/.19
UTIW/.44
NMG/B/.36
HOV/1.35

Splits
RIO 3-for-1
TCB 2-for-1
GILD 2-for-1

Economic Data
None of note.

Weekend Recommendations
Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street had guests that were positive on HAL, NE, MSFT, RIG, GS, LXK, DNR, MNT, ISCA, YDNT and DRCT. Wall St. Week w/Fortune had guests that were positive on EDMC, BAC, PFE and WAT. Barron's had positive columns on IGT, VSEA, SMMX, LF, IMAX and negative columns on CAKE and CDN. Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on UDR, EBAY, SYMC, MERQ and ASN. Goldman reiterated Underperform on PBG. Byte and Switch has a positive article on Storage Networking.

Weekend News
Bank of China, the country's second-biggest lender, may choose Citibank and JP Morgan Chase as its strategic investors ahead of an IPO to overseas investors, the 21st Century Business Herald reported. OPEC is pumping at near capacity and providing oil that exceeds oil market demand, the Qatari Oil Minister told al-Hayat. Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, Iraq's second in command under former President Saddam Hussein, was captured by Iraqi defense officials, al-Arabiya reported. Netflix and TiVo plan to announce an agreement where customers can download Netflix movies onto TiVo recorders, Newsweek reported. China's annual demand for gold may triple after the country deregulates its market of the precious metal, China Daily said. Saddam Hussein and other leaders of his ousted regime will face trial within a matter of weeks, the AP said. The online gambling industry is growing rapidly, fueled by the popularity of televised poker tournaments, the Washington Post reported. 9 in 10 American workers find their job at least somewhat satisfying, according to an AP survey. U.S. tv networks such as CBS and NBC are working to increase product-placement advertising in shows to counter falling ratings and new technology that allows viewers to skip commercials, the NY Times reported. U.S. companies are ranked first in a global survey of corporate governance standards, beating Canada and the U.K. for the first time, the Financial Times reported. Afghanistan's presidential election campaign begins today in preparation for voting Oct. 9 when 17 candidates will challenge President Karzai in the country's first nationwide election, the BBC reported. President Bush leads Senator Kerry by 11 percentage points, receiving a 13 point bounce, according to a poll conducted after the Republican National Convention, Newsweek reported. Tradesports.com is now showing a 61% chance of Bush's re-election versus 49% during the Democratic Convention. Russian President Putin vowed to strengthen his security forces to combat terrorism, as the number of dead from the school siege increased to at least 323, almost half of them children, Bloomberg reported. Capital spending in Japan rose 10.7% from a year earlier, prompting economists to raise their estimates for growth in the world's second-largest economy, Bloomberg reported. Former President Clinton, in a 90-minute telephone call from his hospital bed, gave Senator Kerry advice on how to revive his campaign, the NY Times reported. Wal-Mart said September sales are rising 2% to 4% as consumers bought more food, health and beauty products last week, Bloomberg said. Former President Clinton is recovering after undergoing successful heart bypass surgery at a NY hospital, Bloomberg reported. Crude oil futures are falling in New York after tropical storm Frances passed east of the main U.S. oil and natural gas-producing region in the Gulf of Mexico, Bloomberg said. Intel President Otellini today will outline plans for computer chips due next year that simultaneously run tasks such as burning CDs and playing video games as he seeks to allay concerns about product delays, Bloomberg said. Allstate, Ace and other insurers face $3 billion to $6 billion in losses from Hurricane Frances, a fraction of earlier estimates, after the storm weakened as it crossed Florida, storm modelers said.

Late-Night Trading
Asian indices are mixed, -.50% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.28%.
NASDAQ indicated +.18%.

BOTTOM LINE: I expect U.S. stocks to open higher in the morning on diminishing domestic terrorism fears, falling energy prices, pro-business political rhetoric and short-covering. The Portfolio is 125% net long heading into tomorrow.

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