Monday, August 07, 2006

Tuesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The US dollar may gain in the next month should the Fed leave borrowing costs unchanged today and hint that it will lift rates again to restrain inflation, according to UBS Securities.
- China’s M2 money supply rose 18.4% in July.
- A US appeals court reversed a ruling that an IBM(IBM) pension plan discriminated against older workers, saving the company more than $1 billion that it agreed to pay had it lost the decision.
- Japanese stocks rose after bank lending climbed at the fastest pace in a decade, suggesting an expanding economy will sustain profit growth.

Financial Times:
- Viacom Inc.(VIA) is considering a bid for Bebo, the social networking site that competes with News Corp.’s(NWS/A) MySpace.com.

China Securities Journal:
- China needs further interest rate hikes and more issues of central bank bills to curb liquidity and investment growth.

Australian:
- The Australian government is speeding plans to subsidize the use of ethanol in response to public anger about high gas prices.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
- None of note

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +.75% to +1.25% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.19%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.20%.

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
- (ALKS)/.00
- (ADRX)/.17
- (BMC)/.26
- (CVC)/-.14
- (CMX)/.55
- (CHD)/.47
- (CSCO)/.28
- (CCU)/.41
- (DRC)/.26
- (ETR)/1.25
- (FDRY)/.11
- (JBX)/.66
- (LAMR)/.18
- (LNC)/1.14
- (NWS/A)/.23
- (OSG)/1.52
- (RL)/.67
- (RRI)/-.20
- (SLE)/.29
- (STX)/.41

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Preliminary 2Q Non-farm Productivity is estimated to rise .8% versus a 3.7% gain in 1Q.
- Preliminary 2Q Unit Labor Costs are estimated to rise 3.7% versus a 1.6% increase in 1Q.

2:15 pm EST
- The FOMC is expected to leave the benchmark Fed Funds Rate at 5.25%.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by financial and commodity stocks in the region. I expect US equities to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing higher. I expect the Fed to leave the Fed Funds rate at 5.25% and make "hawkish" policy statements regarding the potential for future actions. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.

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