Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Morgan Stanley(MS), the biggest real estate investor among Wall Street banks, agreed to buy Crescent Real Estate Equities(CEI), an investment trust founded by Texas billionaire Richard Rainwater, for $2.78 billion.
- Wyeth(WYE) won US approval for its contraceptive Lybrel, the first birth control pill designed to completely eliminate monthly periods.
- Nintendo Co. expects to sell as many as 35 million Wii video-game consoles in the US, close to the record 38.2 million PlayStation 2 players sold by Sony Corp.
- The yen weakened to a three-month low against the US dollar on speculation Japanese investors will snap up new investment trusts that buy higher-yielding overseas assets.
- Fletcher Building Ltd., New Zealand’s largest construction company, agreed to buy US-based Formica Corp. for $700 million, creating the world’s biggest maker of laminated board.
- A farm-bill plan that calls for $400 million a year in loan guarantees for ethanol plants that use crops other than corn got the backing of the House subcommittee that oversees Agriculture Department energy programs.
- The Fed’s Lacker said after a speech to the Money Marketeers of NYU tonight that the Fed’s benchmark rate “has us on track to achieve what we want.”

Financial Times:
- Google’s(GOOG) desire to make best use of the personal information it retains about users is such that the company sees a time when it may be able to advise people on careers or leisure activities, citing Google CEO Schmidt.
- The Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones(DJ), plans to hold a private meeting to discuss its options following a $5 billion bid for the company from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.(NWS/A).
- US regulators are poised on Wednesday to approve the first changes to the implementations of the Sarbanes-Oxley law since its passage five years ago, hoping to make compliance with its controversial provisions easier for top company executives.

Xinhua News Agency:
- US labor unions agreed to cooperate with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, ending a decades-long boycott.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (KYPH).
- Reiterated Buy on (PLCE), target $78.

Morgan Stanley:
- Reiterated Overweight on (ADI), target $48. With ADI significantly outperforming YTD we would buy the stock aggressively if some investor’s aggressive near-term expectations were not met and the stock comes under near-term pressure.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +.25% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.08%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.03%.

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
- (ANF)/.65
- (CA)/.20
- (DKS)/.37
- (DDS)/.72
- (EV)/.16
- (FL)/.13
- (GME)/.16
- (GYMB)/.63
- (LTD)/.13
- (NTAP)/.29
- (ROST)/.47
- (SNPS)/.28
- (TLB)/.09
- (TGT)/.71
- (ZUMZ)/.06

Upcoming Splits
- (ATLS) 3-for-2
- (GIL) 2-for-1

Economic Releases
10:30 am EST
- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil build of 600,000 barrels versus a 1,061,000 barrel increase the prior week. Gasoline supplies are expected to rise by 1,200,000 barrels versus a 1,764,000 barrel build the prior week. Distillate inventories are expected to rise by 1,300,000 barrels versus a 992,000 barrel increase the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to rise by .45% versus a .47% the prior week.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed board meeting on Truth-in-Lending regulations, Fed’s Kroszner speaking, weekly EIA energy inventory report, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, Citigroup Healthcare Conference, Thomas Weisel RFID Conference, Robinson Humphrey Financial Services Conference, Goldman Sachs Internet Conference, JPMorgan Tech Conference and UBS Oil&Gas Conference could also impact trading today.

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