Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- China unexpectedly increased fuel prices by as much as 10% in an “’urgent step” to help the nation’s oil refiners cover surging costs. To “guarantee domestic refined oil supply and promote energy conservation,” gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices will rise $67 a metric ton starting today, the National Development and Reform Commission said.
- The dollar snapped seven days of losses against the euro on speculation the currency’s 1.6% decline over the past month was too fast as the Federal Reserve signaled it may be done with cutting interest rates.
- The US has destroyed as much as 80% of the al-Qaeda in Iraq group’s propaganda network since the deployment of additional American troops in the country, a spokesman for coalition forces said.
- Australia’s retail sales increased more than expected in September as higher wages and job gains boosted spending on furniture, electronics and food.
- A team of US nuclear inspectors travels to North Korea today to witness the communist nation start dismantling its nuclear program, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said.

Wall Street Journal:
- A report on the competitiveness of economies around the world released yesterday puts the US out front and highlights the growing potential of energy-producing countries awash in oil and natural gas revenue.

TheStreet.com:
- Barton Biggs, of hedge fund Traxis Partners, said last night on CNBC’s “Fast Money” that the Fed did what it should have done and the market is being set up for a big surge higher. He also mentioned that he is hearing from the prime brokers that hedge funds are at their lowest levels of being net long in 4 years. He expects a stampede into year end in big cap multinationals, tech, Asia and emerging markets.

BusinessWeek.com:
- Why Delta Should Buy Northwest. With a new CEO and a clean balance sheet, Delta is pondering expansion. Here’s why Northwest is the logical choice.

Financial Times:
- Google(GOOG) plans network to rival Facebook.
- Goldman(GS) shares at new highs.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Upgraded (IACI) to Buy, target $37.
- We believe conservative expectations are appropriately factored into current retail stock prices & retailers could deliver upside to our +1% comp est. driving the stocks higher given 1) pent-up demand from weak Fall sales, 2) cooler weather, 3) easier comparisons, 4) negative investor sentiment, and 5) the end of tax loss selling(Oct.31). Our top picks for Holiday sales are 1) GPS and 2) TJX, as we believe both retailers are best positioned to deliver upside to current 4Q sales and EPS expectations given conservative inventory management and cost reductions.

CSFB:
- Reiterated Outperform on (MA), raised estimates and boosted target to $160.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.25% to +.75% on average.
S&P 500 futures -.18%.
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/EPS Estimate
- (BBI)/-.18
- (CLI)/.26
- (PTEN)/.55
- (RDN)/.38
- (D)/1.68
- (ATK)/.39
- (CVS)/.44
- (RDC)/1.14
- (NMX)/.64
- (BDX)/.97
- (PDE)/.80
- (MHS)/.69
- (ED)/1.06
- (ABC)/.64
- (TBL)/.49
- (AMSC)/.13
- (ASF)/.43
- (KBR)/.31
- (S)/.22
- (EK)/.28
- (VCLK)/.16
- (GGC)/.15
- (OII)/.85
- (EDS)/.41
- (FLS)/.92
- (CLF)/1.51
- (PSYS)/.38
- (ERTS)/.20
- (LVS)/.29
- (CA)/.26
- (VRSN)/.27
- (XOM)/1.74
- (IGT)/.38
- (OMX)/.63
- (TSO)/.84
- (SINA)/.27

Upcoming Splits
- (ATU) 2-for-1

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Personal Income for September is estimated to rise .4% versus a .3% gain in August.
- Personal Spending for September is estimated to rise .4% versus a .6% gain in August.
- The PCE Core for September is estimated to rise .2% versus a .1% gain in August.
- Initial Jobless Claims for this week are estimated to fall to 330K versus 331K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 2534K versus 2530K prior.

10:00 am EST
- ISM Manufacturing for October is estimated to fall to 51.5 versus 52.0 in September.
- ISM Prices Paid for October is estimated to rise to 63.0 versus a reading of 59.0 in September.

Afternoon:
- Total Vehicle Sales for October is estimated to fall to 16.0M versus 16.2M in September.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The Challenger Job Cuts report, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report and Oppenheimer Restaurant Conference could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and commodity 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.