Thursday, December 01, 2005

Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Apple Computer’s iPod portable music player topped the list of the most sought after digital consumer electronic items that Japanese want to buy with their year-end bonuses, according to a survey by the Nikkei Business Daily.
- China’s economic growth is likely to slow to 6.7% in 2006, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a Morgan Stanley report.
- Japan’s proportion of total funding for the UN is too large and should be more balanced, said Shinzo Abe, chief Cabinet secretary.
- Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company by output, plans to expand its refineries in the US, South Korea and the Philippines to alleviate a shortage of processing capacity and meet rising demand for fuels, a company official said today.

AP:
- The Justice Department’s lead lawyer in its racketeering trial against cigarette makers will no longer serve in the case.

Reuters:
- Clear Channel Communications may sign distribution agreements next year with Yahoo! or Apple Computer for its programs.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on T and MAR.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.50% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.23%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.24%.

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
CENT/.30
DLM/.19
FRE/1.05
GHCI/.63
JTX/-.33
NOVL/.03
OVTI/.31
WWE/.07

Upcoming Splits
WTR 4-for-3
BBD 2-for-1

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Personal Income for October is estimated to rise .5% versus a 1.7% gain in September.
- Personal Spending for October is estimated to rise .2% versus a .5% increase in September.
- PCE Deflator for October is estimated to rise 3.3% versus a 3.8% gain in September.
- PCE Core for October is estimated to rise 1.9% versus a 2.0% gain in September.
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 325K versus 335K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 2780K versus 2824K prior.

10:00 am EST
- Construction spending for October is estimated to rise .5% versus a .5% increase in September.
- ISM Manufacturing for November is estimated to fall to 58.0 versus a reading of 59.1 in October.
- ISM Prices Paid for November is estimated to fall to 77.5 versus a reading of 84.0 in October.

Afternoon
- Total Vehicle Sales for November are estimated to rise to 15.8 million versus 14.7 million in October.
- Domestic Vehicle Sales for November are estimated to rise to 12.4 million versus 11.4 million in October.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher on strength in exporters in the region after more strong US economic reports. I expect US equities to trade mixed-to-higher ahead of Friday’s employment report. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.

No comments: