Asian indices are higher as the stocks of exporters gain in the region. Fantom Co.'s golf balls, equipped with radio transmitters for tracking, perform on par with products from Nike Inc. and rivals, Silicon Strategies reported. Taiwan's new premier won't push for controversial proposals, such as dropping references to China in the island's official name, China Times reported. Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc. may make a joint bid for Adelphia Communications Corp.'s cable assets after ruling out separate bids for other parts of the company, the Financial Times said. A new US tax law that encourages companies to repatriate profits from abroad has helped to send the US dollar to a two-month high against the euro, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a recent survey, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP found that 91% of 1,391 CEOs around the globe were "very" or "somewhat" confident about the next 12 months. Pricewaterhouse called the figure "astonishing." Global economic growth will probably reach 4.2% this year following a 5% increase in 2004, which was the best since 1976, Bloomberg reported. McDonald's Corp. must face a suit by New York teenagers who claim the company hid the health risks of Chicken McNuggets and other foods and made them obese, an appeals court ruled. Merrill Lynch will soon agree to set up a venture with Huaan Securities, a representative from the Chinese brokerage said. Rambus Inc. filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Hynix Semiconductor, Infineon Technologies AG and two other companies, Bloomberg said. SAP AG forecast license revenue will increase 10-12% this year as it wins more business in the US and focuses on taking customers from Oracle Corp., Bloomberg reported. Indonesia's National Information Agency said the number of dead and missing from the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami increased to 229,593, Bloomberg reported. SK Telecom of South Korea will form a $400 million joint venture with Earthlink to offer mobile phone services in the US, the NY Times reported.
Late Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on SYK, ZION, DD, BLS, SLB, XRX and Underperform on CR, SLG, TLAB, PBG, AAII.
Night Trading
Asian Indices are unch. to +1.0% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.17%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.33%.
Morning Preview
US AM Market Call
NASDAQ 100 Pre-Market Indicator/Heat Map
Pre-market Commentary
Before the Bell CNBC Video(bottom right)
Asian Indices
European Indices
Top 20 Business Stories
In Play
Bond Ticker
Analyst Actions
Macro Calls
CNBC Guest Schedule
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
MO/1.06
BDK/1.57
CHIR/.10
COP/3.07
DBD/.89
DRIV/.35
ET/.22
LLY/.73
EK/.65
GCI/1.47
GD/1.63
HSY/.66
IMCL/.38
JDSU/-.01
SBC/.33
SIRI/-.16
SBUX/.34
VRSN/.20
WBSN/.31
Splits
CPO 2-for-1
Economic Data
None of note.
BOTTOM LINE: I expect US equities to open modestly higher in the morning on optimism over earnings reports and gains in Asia. I will closely monitor the quality of any rally before increasing market exposure. I still believe it is likely weakness will resurface ahead of the weekend. The Portfolio is market neutral heading into tomorrow.
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