Bloomberg:
- Democratic Senators Patty Murray and Hillary Clinton said they would block confirmation of Lester Crawford as FDA chief because of delays in approving over-the-counter sales of Barr Pharmaceuticals' Plan B contraceptive.
- The NBA signed a multiyear marketing and content supply agreement with China Mobile Communications, which owns the world's largest mobile phone operator by subscribers, extending the league's reach in the most populous nation.
Wall Street Journal:
- General Motors is pressuring its suppliers in the US to lower prices so they are more in line with auto-parts markers outside the US.
Washington Post:
- The US military has accelerated the hand-off of counterinsurgency operations to Iraqi security forces since the country's Jan. 30 elections at a much faster pace than previously acknowledged.
Legal Week:
- The 50 largest American law firms had 12.3% profit growth in 2004 on $33 billion in fees.
Commercial Times:
- Taiwan's five flat-panel display makers lifted output by a combined 22% to 7 million units in March from the previous month.
Xinhua News Agency:
- China's 39 major passenger car assemblers' sales fell 8% in the first quarter from a year earlier.
Financial Times:
- Advertisers will come to rely more on mobile telephones, laptops and other wireless communications to reach customers as technology now allows viewers to increasingly avoid commercials on television.
Chinese-language Financial News:
- Bank of China, the nation's second-biggest lender, said it's in talks with Bank of America and other lenders on the sale of a stake in itself as a prelude to going public.
Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on IBM, DELL, KRB and BBBY.
Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.03%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.03%.
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/EPS Estimate
ACN/.32
STZ/.58
KKD/-.03
PIR/.26
VIP/.67
UTIW/.51
Splits
None of note
Economic Releases
8:30 EST:
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 330K versus 350K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 2625K versus 2608K prior.
10:00 EST:
- Wholesale Inventories for February are estimated to rise .7% versus a 1.0% increase in January.
3:00 EST:
- Consumer Credit for February is estimated to rise to $11.5B versus $7.5B in January.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, led by a bounce in Chinese shares. The Chinese central bank said it will allow three commercial lenders to set up fund management units, boosting optimism capital will flow into stocks. I expect US equities to open mixed on earnings reports, stubbornly high energy prices and lower long-term interest rates. The Portfolio is Market Neutral heading into tomorrow.
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