Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Mortgage companies rallied and stock- index futures rose in extended U.S. trading after Countrywide Financial Corp.(CFC), the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, said it obtained a $2 billion investment from Bank of America Corp.(BAC).
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s(GS) Global Equity Opportunities hedge fund rose 12 percent last week after the securities firm shored up the money-losing pool with $3 billion of cash, investors said.
- The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged after a global credit rout clouded the outlook for growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
- Robert Diamond, president of Barclays Plc, sees a “sense of calm” in financial markets.
- Iran’s Nuclear Threat Aided by Fake Firms, Rome Bank, US Says.
- Central bankers from Santiago to Seol are raising interest rates to fight inflation in a bet that this month’s global financial-market turmoil won’t derail economic growth enough to contain prices at home.
- The yen is falling to a one-week low against the dollar and the euro.

Wall Street Journal:
- Bank of America(BAC) acquired a $2 billion equity stake in Countrywide Financial(CFC), a moved aimed at dispelling a crisis of confidence among creditors and investors in the nation’s largest home-mortgage lender. The stock soared 20.3% in after-hours trading.
- Seagate Technology(STX), the maker of computer disk drives, will start making products that use flash memory chips next year, citing CEO Bill Watkins.

Financial Times:
- Insight: History teaches this is just a bull market correction.
- Share buybacks by FTSE 100 companies increased by 40% during the recent market turbulence as shares fell and companies took the opportunity to buy stock at reduced prices, citing figures provided by Mergermarket.
- Dubai World plans to increase its stake in MGM Mirage to as much as 20% once the company has secured gaming licenses from US authorities in jurisdictions where the Las Vegas group has casinos.
- The median fees earned by the world’s top auditing firms increased 345% in the five years to 2006 following the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, citing a study by The Corporate Library, a US corporate governance research firm.

Reuters:
- A group of California gasoline station owners filed suit in US federal district court in San Francisco accusing three oil industry giants of fixing gasoline prices across the US from 1998 to 2001.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (BKD), target $65.
- Upgraded (TECD) to Buy, target $50.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +1.75% to +2.50% on average.
S&P 500 futures +.86%.
NASDAQ 100 futures +.68%.

Morning Preview
US AM Market Call
NASDAQ 100 Pre-Market Indicator/Heat Map
Pre-market Commentary
Pre-market Stock Quote/Chart
Before the Bell CNBC Video(bottom right)
Global Commentary
WSJ Intl Markets Performance
Commodity Movers
Top 25 Stories
Top 20 Business Stories
Today in IBD
In Play
Bond Ticker
Economic Preview/Calendar
Daily Stock Events
Macro Calls
Upgrades/Downgrades
Rasmussen Business/Economy Polling
CNBC Guest Schedule

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
- (ARO)/.18
- (BKS)/.12
- (BEBE)/.19
- (BRCD)/.11
- (PLCE)/-.94
- (BKE)/.32
- (GME)/.08
- (GPS)/.20
- (HIBB)/.15
- (HRL)/.41
- (MRVL)/.07
- (MENT)/.07
- (PSUN)/.07
- (PDCO)/.35
- (SFD)/.44
- (SSI)/.22
- (TTC)/1.00

Upcoming Splits
- (TXT) 2-for-1

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 320K versus 322K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 2555K versus 2567K the prior week.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The EnerCom Oil & Gas Conference, (DE) Analyst Meeting, (CEG) Analyst Meeting and weekly natural gas inventory report could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are sharply higher, boosted by financial 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.