Thursday, January 05, 2006

Friday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in an induced coma after brain surgery while his new party prepares for a successor who can win the national election in March and advance Sharon’s efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict.

Edaily:
- Samsung Electronics plans to begin mass production at a new liquid-crystal display factory geared for 52-inch televisions next year.

China Daily:
- Casino revenue in Asia will increase 20% this year to $13 billion, driven by growth of Macau’s gaming industry, citing Las Vegas-based consultant Globalysis.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on (ENTG), (IBM) and (SBUX).
- Reiterated Outperform on (GOOG), raised 05, 06 and 07 estimates with aggressive valuation target boosted to $556.
- Reiterated Outperform on (YHOO), raised 06 and 07 estimates with new implied value of $50.
- Reiterated Underperform on (DRI).

Business Week:
- Shares of Genesee & Wyoming(GWR) may surge almost 60% in 18 months because of increased earnings from acquisitions.
- The shares of Anadarko Petroleum(APC) may rise because the company may be a takeover target, citing Oppenheimer’s Fadel Gheit.
- The shares of Cogent(COGT) may rise on increased sales.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.02%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.06%.

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
(DLP).13
(GAP)-.49
(SGR).36

Upcoming Splits
(PTC) 3-for-2

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- The Change in Non-farm Payrolls for December is estimated at 200K versus 215K in November.
- The Change in Manufacturing Payrolls for December is estimated at 0K versus 11K in November.
- The Unemployment Rate for December is estimated at 5.0% versus a 5.0% rate in November.
- Average Hourly Earnings for December are estimated to rise .2% versus a .2% gain in November.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mixed as losses in commodity producing companies in the region are being offset by gains in technology shares. I expect US equities to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

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