Friday, June 03, 2005

Friday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Crude oil stockpiles have risen 14 of the last 16 weeks and are now 8.4% above the five-year average.
- All Nippon Airways, Asia's second-largest airline by sales, said it may use Boeing's 777-300ER aircraft to replace 53 of its largest airplanes, passing over the A380 model made by Airbus SAS.
- Wal-Mart shareholders, who have seen their shares post their biggest yearly decline in 11 years during the past twelve months, may press CEO Scott to make management changes at the company's annual meeting today.
- Google may follow the precedent of Berkshire Hathaway's chairman, Warren Buffett, and avoid splitting its shares even though the stock price is among the 10 highest in US markets.

Wall Street Journal:
- Sony's incoming CEO Howard Stringer will probably extend efforts to streamline the company's management as he seeks to revive the company.

NY Times:
- Nike has ended its endorsement agreement with NY Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi, whose name has been linked to steroid use.

China Daily:
- China may veto a proposed resolution to expand the UN Security Council and give permanent seats to Japan, Germany, India and Brazil.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on MFE.

Business Week:
- American Science and Engineering(ASEI), a maker of X-ray and imaging systems that detect explosives, illegal drugs and smuggled goods, may rise to $54 a share in a year as demand from the US and foreign governments rises.
- Peet's Coffee & Tea(PEET) shares may double in two years driven by earnings and sales growth, citing ThinkEquity Partners CEO Michael Moe.
- Alaska Airlines' parent may make a bid to buy America West Airlines(AWA), without disrupting the latter's plan to merge with US Airways.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated unch.
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)
Global Commentary
Asian Indices
European Indices
Top 20 Business Stories
In Play
Bond Ticker
Daily Stock Events
Macro Calls
Rasmussen Consumer/Investor Daily Indices
CNBC Guest Schedule

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
None of note

Splits
None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 EST:
- The Unemployment Rate for May is estimated at 5.2% versus 5.2% in April.
- Average Hourly Earnings for May is estimated to rise .2% versus a .3% gain in April.
- The Change in Non-farm Payrolls for May is estimated at 175K versus 274K in April.
- The Change in Manufacturing Payrolls for May is estimated at -5K versus -6K in April.
- Average Weekly Hours for May is estimated to fall to 33.8 versus 33.9 in April.

10:00 EST:
- ISM Non-Manufacturing for May is estimated to fall to 60.0 versus 61.7 in April.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, spurred by gains in technology shares in the region. I expect US equities to open mixed on slightly disappointing economic data. However, stocks may rise later in the day on lower energy prices and diminishing Fed worries. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

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