Monday Watch

Weekend Headlines
Bloomberg:
- US stocks posted the biggest weekly gain since March, pushing the DJIA to within 181 points of a record, after the Fed cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percent.
- Goldman Sachs Group(GS), the world’s biggest and most profitable securities firm, has good news for its competitors: The worst credit-market shakeout since 1998 is abating.
- US oil and natural-gas output increased in the Gulf of Mexico as companies returned workers to offshore platforms following a potentially dangerous storm in the region.
- China Shenhua Energy, the nation’s largest coal producer, plans to raise $8.9 billion to fund expansion in what would be the biggest share sale this year.
- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called overhauling the US health-insurance system a “moral imperative” and said that raising taxes on the wealthy along with cost savings will be enough to pay for the proposal she unveiled last week.
- General Motors(GM) and the United Auto Workers today bargained for the ninth day past a deadline for a new contract that may reduce retiree health-care costs at the biggest US automaker.
- The Persian Gulf states, flush with cash from burgeoning oil revenues, are buying overseas assets at a record rate and countering the paucity of acquisitions hampered by the summer’s surge in corporate borrowing costs.
- Prime Minister John Howard set a target for 15% of Australia’s energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, in a bid to woo voters ahead of an election before early December.
- The activist group MoveOn.org said it will pay the NY Times $77,083 to make up the difference between what it paid for an advertisement attacking US Army General David Petraeus and the regular ad rate.
- Worldwide deliveries of business jets will climb to a record 1,300 next year amid surging demand from Asia and Europe, Honeywell International said in its annual forecast.
- Farmers are sowing the seeds for an end to the biggest rally in wheat since the Soviet Union corned the US market in the 1970s. Prices will fall 30% to $6 a bushel within a year, said James Gutman at Goldman Sachs(GS) in London and Pierre Martin, manager of a $400 million commodity fund at DWS Investment GmbH.

Wall Street Journal:
- In a bid to help a Democrat to reclaim the White House, labor unions plan to spend a record amount on next year’s election to boost its already ambitious voter-outreach program, which will include great use of email, text messaging and other technologies.
- Dell Inc. is set to announce a deal to sell its personal computers through China’s largest electronics retailer, the latest departure from its direct-sales model as it seeks to grab a larger piece of the global market.

NY Times:
- The weaker US dollar has attracted Canadian shoppers seeking more for their money when buying shoes, supplies and gasoline.
- Starbucks Corp.(SBUX), the world’s biggest coffee-shop chain, is “far from” facing saturation in its US home market and expects China to become the second-largest market for the company, citing Chairman Howard Schultz.
- Investor Known for Turnarounds Looks at Mortgages.
- Gamers, on Your Marks: Halo 3 Arrives.
- Retailers are increasingly offering ways for consumers to shop online but pick up their goods in stores, letting customers avoid shipping costs.

CNBC.com:
- Weak Dollar? Not To Worry, Many Economists Say.

MarketWatch.com:
- Top 10 US cities for business.
- It may be too late for newspapers. There are too many newspapers, says John Dvorak, and the worst is yet to come.

BusinessWeek.com
- Oracle(ORCL): What Market Malaise?

TheStreet.com:
- Google's(GOOG) Got It Going On.

CNNMoney.com:
- Top 10 Companies for Leaders.

Journal of Finance:
- Hedge Funds: Performance, Risk, and Capital Formation.

USA Today:
- Investors can cash in as demand for fiber optics takes off.
- Executive Suite: You can bet on MGM Mirage’s Lanni.

Washington Post:
- Only a fool would have stayed in the market after the dot-com collapse. To look past the stock market’s swoon and stay invested would have been a mistake, right? Perhaps, for those nearing retirement or getting ready to pay for college. But the strong returns that emerged after the dot-com slide illustrate again that it’s often wiser for long-term investors to simply stay invested.

Reuters:
- Recent accidents and spills have made the US energy industry more risk-averse in the fact of potential hurricanes, leading to more extensive precautionary shutdowns than in the past and adding to supply disruptions during hurricane season.

Financial Times:
- Online advertising spending is widely predicted to continue its strong growth even if a US economic downturn squeezes the advertising sector as a whole.
- US television networks believe they have found the business model needed to profit in the digital age – streaming their hit shows over the internet as opposed to selling them to consumers as digital downloads.

Times:
- Hedge funds may have made a $2 billion profit short-selling shares of Northern Rock Plc, citing Philip Richards, co-founder of fund manager RAB Capital Plc.
- Israeli commandos seized North Korean nuclear material during a raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israeli warplanes bombed it Sept. 6.

WirtschaftsWoche:
- Volkswagen AG may build a factory in North America as the dollar drops against the euro, citing CEO Martin Winterkorn.

AFP:
- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said “psychological warfare and economic sanction” won’t halt Iran’s nuclear drive, a day after the world powers met to discuss further measures against the nation.

Automobilwoche:
- BMW AG plans to increase its worldwide production capacity, citing Frank-Peter Arndt, the automaker’s head of production.

Der Spiegel:
- Deutsche Bank AG CEO Ackerman said he saw the “first encouraging signs” that financial markets are recovering from a global credit crisis. Ackerman said he expects investors to “return in the coming months” and financial markets to “normalize.”

Sankei Shimbun:
- Sharp Corp. is developing chips for mobile phones that can receive digital terrestrial television programs at high resolution.

Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias:
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told owners of private hospitals to lower their prices or face nationalization.

Herald Sun:
- BHP Billiton(BHP) is expected to say this week that it has uncovered what is potentially the world’s largest gold resources at its Olympic Dam mine in South Australia.

Asharq al-Awsat:
- The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, known as SAMA, may revalue the Saudi riyal against the US dollar instead of de-pegging it, if the dollar continues to decline, citing an official “close” to SAMA.

Weekend Recommendations
Barron's:
- Made positive comments on (PHH), (BWA), (TEN), (F), (PPG), (JCI) and (GM).

Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (SNDK), boosted 2H07 estimates.
- Reiterated Buy on (HGSI), target $17.
- Rated (TKR) Buy, target $43.

Night Trading
Asian indices are unch. to +1.0% on average.
S&P 500 futures +.05%.
NASDAQ 100 futures +.02%

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/Estimate
- (ALOG)/.52
- (FIF)/.49
- (LCI)/.01
- (SNX)/.46
- (THO)/.68

Upcoming Splits
- (FCSX) 3-for-2
- (LPHI) 5-for-4
- (NOV) 2-for-1

Economic Releases
- None of note

Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed’s Fisher speaking, (COL) analyst meeting, UBS Global Life Sciences Conference, JPMorgan Asia Pacific/Emerging Markets Conference and Piper Jaffray Solar Conference could also impact trading today.

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