Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- New Zealand’s central bank raised the benchmark interest rate to a record 7.75%, the second increase in seven weeks.
- Nigeria’s president-elect Umaru Yar-Adua said he’s ready to run in fresh elections if the courts annul his victory in the April 21 polls because of fraud.
- Apple Inc.(AAPL) said second-quarter profit rose 88% after demand soared for its iPod media players and Macintosh computers. The company’s shares surged 6.3% in extended trading.
- Congress can limit violent television programming without violating the free-speech rights of broadcasters, according to an FCC report.
- The House of Representatives approved a war spending bill tonight that requires US troops to withdraw from Iraq, beginning Oct. 1.

Dow Jones:
- The International Monetary Fund is more closely monitoring the impact of yen carry trades on markets in developing countries and may raise the issue in annual talks with some countries.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
HSBC:
- Rated (URBN), (ANN), (ANF) Overweight.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +.50% to +.75% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.03%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.38%.

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
Conference Calendar
Daily Stock Events
Macro Calls
Rasmussen Consumer/Investor Daily Indices
CNBC Guest Schedule

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
- (MMM)/1.11
- (AET)/.77
- (DOX)/.50
- (AMT)/.06
- (APA)/1.60
- (APPB)/.33
- (AN)/.40
- (AVID)/.20
- (BIDU)/.37
- (BZH)/.12
- (BYD)/.53
- (BMY)/.23
- (BRCM)/.27
- (CAH)/.91
- (CCU)/.15
- (CMCSA)/.17
- (CFC)/.79
- (DECK)/.51
- (DO)/1.47
- (DRIV)/.53
- (DOW)/1.00
- (XOM)/1.52
- (FII)/.50
- (FLEX)/.19
- (F)/-.60
- (FO)/.86
- (HAL)/.52
- (IMCL)/.32
- (IM)/.39
- (KLAC)/.78
- (LVLT)/-.22
- (MBI)/1.47
- (MFE)/.33
- (MDC)/-.24
- (WFR)/.69
- (MCHP)/.34
- (MSFT)/.46
- (MNST)/.34
- (NEM)/.24
- (NYX)/.50
- (ODP)/.59
- (SNDK)/.17
- (SOHU)/.17
- (HOT)/.38
- (TDW)/1.46
- (VLO)/1.82
- (WDC)/.47
- (XMSR)/-.39
- (ZOLL)/.14

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 330K versus 339K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 2523K versus 2531K prior.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are higher, boosted by technology and commodity stocks in the region. I expect US equities to open modestly higher and to maintain gains into the afternoon. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.