Wednesday Watch

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
LFB/.19
MON/.13
NDC/.06
RI/.30

Splits
None of note.

Economic Data
ISM Non-Manufacturing for December estimated at 61.0 versus 61.3 in November.

Recommendations
UBS raised DNA to Buy, target $67. Citi SmithBarney cut CHL to Sell.

Late-Night News
Asian indices are lower on worries over slowing global growth and comments from the US Fed. Samsung Electronics sees global semiconductor sales growing at a "stable" rate in 2005, on demand for chips that go into consumer electronics, the Korea Herald reported. The Bush administration is developing a Social Security proposal that would allow younger workers to invest almost two-thirds of their share of federal payroll taxes in private accounts, the AP reported. Motorola and four other companies yesterday submitted bids for the construction of CAT Telecom Plc's $332 million mobile-phone network expansion across Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported. China Southern Airlines plans to buy 20 Boeing 7E7 planes to be put into operation during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Beijing News reported. Six US congressmen will head for North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, on Jan. 11, as part of visits to nations involved in trying to persuade North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported. The four major US companies providing local telephone service asked a federal appeals court to rapidly consider their challenge to rules allowing competitors to lease networks to serve businesses, Reuters said. Bristol-Myers Squibb is in talks to sell its over-the-counter medicines business for as much as $1 billion, the NY Times reported. BMW AG used a 22% rise in December sales to top Volkswagen's namesake brand in the US for the second time since Volkswagen began its US sales in 1949, Bloomberg reported. Shares of Honda Motor rose after the company's sales in the US increased 35% last month, Bloomberg said. The Australian dollar is falling the most in almost a month after a plunge in the price of metals the country exports such as aluminum and copper, Bloomberg said. Dongfeng Motor Group, China's fourth-largest automaker, may raise as little as $500 million from its first overseas share sale, half the original goal, after auto stocks slumped, Bloomberg reported. UBS AG surpassed Citigroup as the biggest underwriter of US municipal bonds last year, Bloomberg said.

Late-Night Trading
Asian Indices are -1.25% to -.25% on average.
S&P 500 indicated unch.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.06%.

BOTTOM LINE: I expect U.S. equities to open mixed in the morning and to move higher later in the day on an oversold bounce, decline in energy prices and fall in interest rates. The Portfolio is 25% net long heading into tomorrow.