Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Lehman Brothers(LEH) won the top spot in US stock research for a fourth straight year in Institutional Investor magazine’s money-manager survey. Morgan Stanley(MS) dropped to ninth from third a year ago.
- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said that Syria could join forces with Iran to end violence in Iraq. Such a partnership might end terrorism in the country within months.
- The yen rose after the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported the Bank of Japan plans to scrutinize transactions where hedge funds and other investors borrow funds cheaply in Japan to invest in higher-yielding assets overseas.

Economic Daily News:
- Taiwan may impose a new tax on oil and gas products to promote energy conservation and increase government revenue.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (TSCO), target $61.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.75% to unch. on average.
S&P 500 indicated unch.
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
- (ABT)/.58
- (AMD)/.24
- (ALL)/1.77
- (AMR)/.44
- (APOL)/.66
- (AAPL)/.51
- (BSX)/.09
- (COF)/1.80
- (CDWC)/.93
- (ET)/.36
- (EBAY)/.24
- (GD)/1.06
- (GILD)/.56
- (ITW)/.80
- (JPM)/.86
- (JNPR)/.18
- (MEL)/.52
- (OXY)/1.34
- (RYL)/1.77
- (STJ)/.37
- (TER)/.20
- (WM)/.93

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST:
- The Consumer Price Index for September is estimated to fall .3% versus a .2% rise in August.
- The CPI Ex Food & Energy for September is estimated to rise .2% versus a .2% increase in August.
- Housing Starts for September are estimated to fall to 1640K versus 1665K in August.
- Building Permits for September are estimated to fall to 1710K versus 1727K in August.

10:30 am EST:
- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil build of 1,500,000 barrels versus an increase of 2,408,000 barrels the prior week. Gasoline supplies are expected to fall 200,000 barrels versus a 345,000 barrel build the prior week. Distillate inventories are expected to fall by 800,000 barrels versus a 1,520,000 barrel drawdown the prior week. Finally, refinery utilization is expected decline .39%.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by automaker and technology shares 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.

No comments: