Asian indices are lower as exporters in the region decline on worries over rising US interest rates. China's passenger car production and sales fell in the first two months of this year as automakers cut capacity to clear stockpiles, the Shanghai Morning Post said. Former President Bill Clinton is backing Superfund Asset Management, an Austrian company, that is seeking to encourage US retail investors to buy hedge fund-type products, the Financial Times reported, citing company founder Christian Baha. NYSE members want the not-for-profit organization to move more quickly toward becoming a for-profit company in preparation for a possible alliance with London Stock Exchange Plc, the London-based Times said. America West Holdings, owner of the eighth-largest US airline, needs to increase revenue to cut its losses as "there isn't anything else we can do on costs that we didn't do a long time ago," the Financial Times said. China's export growth gathered pace in the first two months, resulting in a trade surplus for the period, as companies such as Motorola shipped more mobile phones and other electronics to the US, Europe and Japan, Bloomberg reported. Shares of LG.Philips LCD Co. and AU Optronics Corp. may end a four-month rally amid concern the makers of flat screens for televisions and computers will be forced to continue cutting prices, Bloomberg said. The dollar dropped in Asia after Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi said his country "in general" needs to consider diversifying the investment of it foreign reserves, Bloomberg reported. US Treasuries pared losses after Japan's Ministry of Finance said it has no plans to alter the holdings, Bloomberg said.
Late Recommendations
- Goldman Sachs: Reiterated Outperform on GLK and Underperform on AMCC.
Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.75% to -.25% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.11%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.16%.
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
Rasmussen Consumer/Investor Daily Indices
CNBC Guest Schedule
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
ARO/.65
ANN/-.07
BGP/1.61
CLE/.58
PLCE/.86
DDS/.73
KKD/-.03
NSM/.16
PETC/.55
ZQK/.22
TSA/.93
TECD/.73
VTS/.33
Splits
None of note
Economic Data
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to remain at 310K versus 310K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 2658K versus 2672K prior.
- Wholesale Inventories for January are estimated to rise .6% versus a .4% increase in December.
BOTTOM LINE: I expect US equities to open lower in the morning on continuing worries over interest rates and losses in Asia. However, stocks may rise later in the afternoon on lower energy prices and short-covering ahead of Intel's mid-quarter update. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into tomorrow.
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