Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and Illinois Representative Rahm Emanuel said they plan to introduce legislation to tax the deferred compensation that hedge-fund managers place in offshore accounts.
- Farmers in India, the world’s third-biggest wheat importer last year, may plant the crop on a record area to take advantage of higher prices after supplies dwindled and demand increased.
- Lead fell to a two-week low after inventories tracked by the London Metal Exchange jumped 15%. Copper and nickel also declined.
- Chinese stocks trading in the US rose the most in more than six years after Beijing regulators said they may allow arbitrage between shares traded on the mainland and in Hong Kong.
- Turkey’s rage over a US congressional resolution accusing it of genocide against Armenians nearly a century ago is being felt in quarters far removed from Washington: its own Jewish community.

Wall Street Journal:
- Why Consolidation Storm Is Brewing in Beer Industry.

New York Times:
- Silicon Valley Start-Ups Awash in Dollars, Again.

CNNMoney.com:
- Facebook CEO hints that deal to sell stake is near.
- Americans turn off the TV in droves.

CNBC.com:
- Most S&P Companies Topping Earnings Estimates.

IBD:
- Slow RFID Market Gets Microsoft Push.

Reuters:
- Fed’s Hoenig says “wait and see” on rates.

USA Today.com:
- WiMax rides wave of surfing technology.
- Free TV shows may air on cellphones.

Financial Times:
- JPMorgan Chase(JPM) withstood the credit market turmoil better than its rival Citigroup, reporting record third-quarter earnings of $3.4 billion, up 2% on last year.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (UTX), target $86.
- Reiterated Buy on (PCLN), target raised to $111.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 futures -.09%.
NASDAQ 100 futures -.16%.

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
- (ASD)/.69
- (BAC)/1.06
- (BAX)/.65
- (BBT)/.84
- (LLY)/.88
- (FCS)/.20
- (MHP)/1.24
- (NUE)/1.15
- (PH)/1.23
- (PFE)/.52
- (PNC)/1.35
- (RS)/1.34
- (LUV)/.21
- (STI)/1.29
- (UNP)/1.77
- (UNH)/.92
- (WYE)/.89
- (BK)/.61
- (CAL)/2.18
- (STJ)/.45
- (RHI)/.46
- (COF)/-.28
- (GILD)/.41
- (AMD)/-.62
- (CERN)/.45
- (GOOG)/3.77
- (ISRG)/.79
- (SNDK)/.31
- (XLNX)/.28
- (HCA)/.82
- (HSY)/.71
- (MHK)/1.64
- (MEL)/.60
- (PPG)/1.37
- (SPWR)/.28

Upcoming Splits
- (DKS) 2-for-1

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to rise to 312K versus 308K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 2525K versus 2521K prior.

10:00 am EST
- Leading Indicators for September are estimated to rise .3% versus a .6% decline in August.

12:00 pm EST
- The Philly Fed for October is estimated to fall 7.0 versus 10.9 in September.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed’s Bernanke speaking, Fed’s Pianalto speaking, Fed’s Plosser speaking, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, (GM) Q3 Global Sales Conference Call, Wachovia Consumer Growth Conference, Needham Shareholder Conference and the Bear Stearns Retail Investor Outing could also impact trading today.

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