Bloomberg:
- Toshiba Corp. won the reversal of a $465.4 million verdict awarded to Lexar Media in a trade secrets dispute over flash-memory technology.
- Voters is Kazakhstan, the second-largest oil producer in the former Soviet Union after Russia, are going to the polls today to choose who will rule the country through 2012 and oversee a near tripling of crude oil output.
- US Treasury yields show investors are the most confident about the outlook for inflation since Hurricane Katrina sent oil prices to a record high.
- The US dollar, buoyed by international demand for US assets and a surging economy, is on the verge of having its biggest annual gain against the yen since 1979.
- Investment funds tracking commodity indexes drew $15 billion more cash in the past five months as investors chased alternatives to stocks and bonds.
- Japan’s third-quarter capital spending climbed more than expected as investment by manufacturers surged, signaling that the economy will keep expanding in the final three months of the year.
Wall Street Journal:
- Wal-Mart Stores added about 70,000 workers to its health-care plans for next year.
- Gap Inc. said Jeff Jones, head of marketing for its Gap store, will leave at month’s end.
- Donald Trump is considering starting a “Trump Shopping Network.”
Financial Times:
- Companies are spending $23 billion on market research amid concern that traditional advertising channels are losing their effectiveness, citing a report by ZenithOptimedia, a UK buyer of advertising space.
NY Times:
- Medicare, the US government health insurance program for the elderly, won’t cover the cost of some used of Johnson & Johnson’s heart drug Natrecor.
- Payless ShoeSource plans to change the way it designs shoes and remake its stores to reverse a market-share decline, the discount chain’s CEO said.
- US Lieutenant General Martin Dempsey said the Iraqi military and security forces will achieve their 2006 and 2007 headcount goals.
- Health-care coverage for US children has steadily improved during the past few years.
- Sales of impotence drugs have declined as fewer men are willing to use the medications and as oft-televised commercials for the products become less effective.
Chicago Tribune:
- A federal judge on Friday ruled that an Illinois law that would ban the sale of sexually explicit and violent video games to minors violates constitutional protections on freedom of speech.
LA Times:
- MoveOn.org, known for its opposition to the war in Iraq and its support of liberal Democratic politicians, is protesting job cuts at newspapers owned by Tribune Co.
Washington Post:
- GM and Ford are requesting tens of billions of dollars in assistance from the federal government, ranging from catastrophic health insurance coverage for their workers to tax write-offs.
Rocky Mountain News:
- Wells Fargo, the fifth biggest US bank by assets, is being dropped by Christian group Focus on the Family, because of the bank’s “pro-homosexual agenda.”
Sunday Telegraph:
- Richard Branson plans to take control of NTL Group to add its cable TV and telephone businesses to his Virgin Mobile Holdings Plc, in a combination worth $7.8 billion.
De Telegraaf:
- The Netherlands and other countries like Germany and France are being targets by al-Qaeda as locations for a terrorist attack, citing a document by imprisoned terrorist Abu Musab al-Suri.
Nihon Keizai:
- Japan and the US agreed to cooperate on United Nations reforms and Japan’s financial contributions to the organization.
Finanz & Wirtschaft:
- Medtronic is winning market share in the stent business and expects to control more of the market than analysts are estimating, CEO Collins said.
the Business:
- Boeing may win the largest share of a $15 billion order from Qantas Airways Ltd.
Xinhua News Agency:
- China plans to ease over-capacity in some industries next year, citing National Development and Reform Commission Minister Ma Kai.
- A pair of surveys released Thursday pointed to excess capacity as a growing problem in China's economy, although they gave mixed signals about the overall health of the manufacturing sector.
Middle East Economic Digest:
- Foster Wheeler Ltd., Technip SA and JGC Corp. are among companies that will be invited to bid for contracts worth $11 billion to boost output from Saudi Aramco’s Khurais oil field.
Weekend Recommendations
Barron's:
- Had positive comments on CVS, COH and FOSL.
- Had negative comments on GPS.
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on IDIX, BSX and DHR.
Night Trading
Asian indices are -.25% to +.75% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.02%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.12%.
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
BSG/.17
JOSB/.31
URI/.66
Upcoming Splits
- None of note
Economic Releases
10:00 am EST
- ISM Non-Manufacturing for November is estimated to fall to 59.0 versus a reading of 60.0 in October.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian Indices are mostly higher, led by energy-related shares in the region after oil climbed for a fourth day. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and maintain gains throughout the day. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.
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