Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The US dollar traded near an almost two-month high versus the pound as traders increased bets the Bank of England will cut its benchmark interest rate today.
- BP Plc(BP), the world’s third-largest oil refiner, and Calgary-based Husky Energy agreed to form partnerships for production and processing of crude from Alberta’s oil sands.
- Prudential Financial(PRU) may have its credit rating upgraded by Moody’s Investors Service.
- Crude oil fell for a third day in NY, touching a six-week low, on worries over slowing global demand and a rally in the US dollar.
- Jeffrey Davis, chief investment officer at Lee Munder Capital Group, is ‘bearish’ on oil prices.
- The risk of companies and governments in the Asia-Pacific region defaulting on their debt declined the most this week after US regulators and banks agreed to freeze interest rates on subprime mortgages for five years.
- The yen declined for a second day against the dollar after US employment and factory reports signaled the world’s biggest economy may avoid recession.
- Elpida Memory, Japan’s largest maker of computer memory chips, rose the most in almost two years in Tokyo trading, leading Asian semiconductor shares higher, on optimism prices are recovering.
- General Motors(GM), the world’s largest automaker, plans to invest as much as $5 billion in China over the next five years to expand its share of the world’s fastest-growing major car market.

Wall Street Journal:
- Bush to Unveil Aid to Homeowners. ‘Starter’ Mortgage Rates Will Be Frozen for 5 Years.

NY Times:
- Ethanol Advocates Push for More in Regular Cars.

MarketWatch.com:
- In 2004, short sellers made money betting against the stock of Cal-Maine Foods, the largest US egg producer. Short sellers – those who bet a stock will fall, not rise – are looking for another pay off.

BusinessWeek.com:
- Ticketmaster’s Hail Mary Pass. Amid IAC’s breakup drama, the ticketing giant wants to be the NFL’s official reseller.
- Open Networks Could Spark a Gadget Boom. As wireless providers increasingly let outside devices run on their networks, a slew of new Web-enabled electronics could hit the market.

CNNMoney.com:
- Saudis may supply more oil on sly.

IBD:
- Unknown Alt Energy Field Heats Up.

USA Today.com:
- Thinking of switching to a Mac? Here’s why you might.
- Adobe’s(ADBE) new CEO zeroes in on Web.
- AT&T(T) flings cellphone network wide open. Starting immediately, AT&T customers can ditch their AT&T phones and use any wireless phone, device and software application from any maker – think smartphones, e-mail and music downloading. And they don’t have to sign a contract.
- A performance shift is underway in the stock market, where growth stocks that have what it takes to post steady streams of profits in tough times are posting better gains than value stocks for the first time in years. Many Wall Street strategists say the trend is likely to persist into the new year and beyond. Historically, when major shifts like this in the market occur, they tend to last three to seven years, says Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial Services.

Reuters:
- “Opportunistic” BlackRock thrives in credit turmoil.
- The SEC, which recently stepped up probes of hedge funds, is looking at whether banks and others are investing in hedge funds to share inside information, an SEC official and securities lawyers said on Wednesday.

Financial Times:
- The number of computer attacks from China – some of which use Chinese government websites to download malicious code – has risen sharply in recent months, say private cyber-security specialists.
- US pressure on Beijing to impose financial sanctions of Tehran over its nuclear program is showing signs of yielding results, with Iranians who import goods from China complaining about restrictions on trade.

South China Morning Post:
- Casino revenue in Macau increased 56% to a monthly record of $1.1 billion in October, helped by a surge in visitors from China, citing Macau Statistics.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Maintain Buy on (WDC), target $33.
- Reiterated (GILD) Top Pick in large-cap biotech arena.
- Reiterated Buy on (EBAY) and raised estimates, target $49

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +.25% to +1.25% on average.
S&P 500 futures +.34%.
NASDAQ 100 futures +.44%.

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
- (UTIW)/.34
- (KFI)/.33
- (MOV)/.66
- (TOL)/-.70
- (TTC)/.14
- (NSM)/.31
- (SNPS)/.36
- (ESL)/.78
- (PAY)/.39

Upcoming Splits
- (CAM) 2-for-1

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims for this week are estimated to fall to 335K versus 352K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 2620K versus 2665K prior.

10:00 am EST
- ICSC Chain Store Sales for November are estimated to rise 2.4% versus a 1.6% increase in October.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The BOE Policy Meeting, ECB Policy Meeting, 3Q Mortgage Delinquencies, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, (PHG) analysts’ day, (FE) analyst meeting, (PRS) analyst meeting, (PH) investor day, (KNXA) analyst meeting, (SCUR) investor day, (SVVS) analyst meeting, (SFI) investor day, Deutsche Bank Healthcare Tech Day, Stifel Nicolaus Financial Institutions Conference, CIBC Communications Software Conference, Citigroup ePayments Day, ThinkEquity Alternative Energy Forum and Lehman Brothers Global Tech Conference could also impact trading today.

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