Bloomberg:
- UK Prime Minister Tony Blair warned of the need to confront the "evil ideology" behind the London bombs that killed 55 people, saying to appease Islamist terrorists would be a "misunderstanding of catastrophic proportions."
- Wal-Mart Stores said July sales at its US stores open at least a year are rising within its forecast as food sales outpaced general merchandise sales for a second straight week.
- The IMF cut its growth forecast for France this year and in 2006.
- Whirlpool said it is making a preliminary offer of $17 a share for Maytag, which has been the subject of a bidding war since May.
- The US dollar traded near a 13-month high against the yen in Asia on expectations a report will show international investors increased purchases of US assets.
- Hurricane Emily forced thousands of tourists and residents along Mexico's coastal regions to evacuate today as the storm moved in the direction of the Yucatan Peninsula and popular resorts such as Cancun.
Wall Street Journal:
- State Farm Group, MetLife and AIG are among US insurers with fast-growing banking divisions, as they find selling banking products such as certificates of deposits compatible with their own business.
New York Times:
- The SEC is investigating options trading at brokerage firms, making sure rules mandating that customers are getting the best price on option trades are being followed.
- Some Wall Street analysts say Costco Wholesale's pricing and employment polices benefit customers and employees more than shareholders.
- Many investors say growth stocks are more attractively valued than so-called value stocks, which have outperformed them in the past five years, and are set to move higher.
- Many personal-computer owners faced with virus- and spyware-ridden machines find it cheaper and easier to buy a new computer than to fix the old one.
Washington Post:
- The White House search for a successor to retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is focusing on female and minority candidates, citing unnamed Republican strategists.
Time magazine:
- Time reporter Matthew Cooper told a grand jury that he was "certain" White House adviser Karl Rove "never used" the name of the CIA operative Valerie Plame in a 2003 phone conversation or indicated that she was a covert agent.
Financial Times:
- Cendant is close to selling its marketing services unit, which analysts estimate is worth more than $2 billion.
Reuters:
- Iraq made its first criminal charges against ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, for involvement in the murder of about 140 Shiite Muslims in 1982.
Sunday Telegraph:
- UK profit warnings jumped 52% in the second quarter to their highest level in 30 months.
Xinhua News Agency:
- China's vehicle imports dropped 34% to 64,000 units in the first half from a year earlier after the government introduced new tax policies and more customers bought models locally assembled.
South China Morning Post:
- Research in Motion aims this year to double the number of service providers in Asia.
Shanghai Securities News:
- Revenue at Chinese brokerages slumped 55% in the first half from a year ago.
Weekend Recommendations
Bulls and Bears:
- Had guests that were positive on SPN, HD, HAN, CSX and mixed on LOW, MSM, ATYT.
Forbes on Fox:
- Had guests that were positive on WLS, WM and mixed on HOV, BGC, MDC, LOW.
Cashin' In:
- Had guests that were positive on EBAY, LLY, mixed on TASR, SYMC and negative on AEOS.
Cavuto on Business:
- Had guests that were positive on LQI, TLAB, TRA and ANF.
Barron's:
- Had positive comments on BA and UVN.
- Had negative comments on GD and NOC.
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on DNA and DIS.
Night Trading
Asian indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.06%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.19%.
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/Estimate
MMM/1.09
BAC/1.00
SCH/.128
C/1.02
IBM/1.03
KRB/.49
Upcoming Splits
None of note
Economic Releases
9:00 am EST
- Net Foreign Security Purchases for May are estimated to rise to $60.0B versus $47.4B in April.
1:00 pm EST
- The NAHB Housing Market Index for July is estimated at 71 versus a reading of 71 in June.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian Indices are mostly higher on optimism over recent US economic reports. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and rebound later in the day. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.
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