Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Lehman Brothers Holdings(LEH) CEO Richard Fuld considers the current debt market rout less than half as severe as the turmoil in 1998, according to a report by UBS AG.
- Russia tested the world’s most powerful air-delivered vacuum bomb that generates a shockwave similar to a nuclear blast, the armed forces said, as the country moves to reassert its global military power.
- Australian consumer confidence rose in September after the central bank left interest rates unchanged and the employers hired more workers than expected last month.
- London has overtaken Tokyo as the most expensive city in the world for dining out, with a meal now costing more than twice as much as in NYC, according to Tim Zagat, whose guide to London restaurants is published today.

MarketWatch.com:
- China’s product safety agency has agreed to immediately start work on eliminating lead paint from toys shipped to the US, government officials said Tuesday.
- Don’t overreact. Commentary: Markets learned lessons from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, too.

NY Times:
- Technology investors and entrepreneurs, long obsessed with connecting to teenagers and 20-somethings, are starting a host of new social networking sites aimed at baby boomers and graying computer users.

CNNMoney.com:
- Car companies show off new Euro models and ‘green’ concept cars. Some could be for sale here soon.

ABCNews.com:
- Despite six years of promises, US officials say Saudi Arabia continues to look the other way at wealthy individuals identified as sending millions of dollars to al Qaeda.

Financial Times:
- Goldman Sachs(GS) is seeking to cash in on demand for alternative research by helping investors gain access to companies that provide niche information, such as data gleaned from “deep mining” the internet.

Reuters:
- The Manhattan office market in August was its strongest since before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, despite the upheaval in the credit markets, according to a report by real estate services company Colliers ABR.

Commercial Times:
- AU Optronics’(AUO) profit will exceed $1.2 billion this year on better-than-expected demand for liquid-crystal displays used in televisions.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (ISIL), target $40.

CSFB:
- Upgraded (ASML) to Outperform.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.50% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 futures -.20%.
NASDAQ 100 futures -.15%.

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
- (AZPN)/.22
- (BRC)/.56
- (GRB)/.08
- (JOSB)/.42

Upcoming Splits
- (FMC) 2-for-1

Economic Releases
10:30 am EST
- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil drawdown of -2,700,000 barrels versus a -3,972,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are expected to fall by -500,000 barrels versus a -1,481,000 barrel decline the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to rise by 2,000,000 barrels versus a 2,256,000 barrel increase the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to fall -.10% versus a 1.82% increase the prior week.

Other Potential Market Movers
- Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, (TMA) mid-quarter update, (KMT) analyst meeting, (ILMN) analyst day, (XRAY) analyst meeting, (BDK) analyst meeting, Lehman Brothers Financial Services Conference, BMO E&P/Oil Services Tour and CFSB Technology Summit could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by automaker and industrial stocks 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.