Thursday, August 17, 2006

Friday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- A diesel glut in Asia, the result of falling imports by China, Australia and Indonesia, may ease as traders including Morgan Stanly and Vitol Group ship the fuel to Europe and the US.
- The yuan dropped, erasing a weekly gain, on speculation China is allowing wider swings in the currency to deter traders betting on faster appreaciation.

Financial Times:
- US regulators are investigating possible price manipulation at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s(CME) daily cheddar cheese auction, which sets the benchmark price for the multi-billion dairy industry.

Apple Daily:
- Microsoft(MSFT) has asked computer makers including Acer Inc. to pay $5 to $7 for each upgrade of consumers’ operating systems to Windows Vista.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Smith Barney:
- Rated (SUG) Buy, target $31.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.25% to +.25% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.05%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.17%.

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
- (ANN)/.45
- (SJM)/.58

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- The Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence reading for August is estimated to fall to 83.8 versus 84.7 in July.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mixed as gains in technology stocks are offsetting losses in commodity stocks in the region. I expect US equities to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

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