Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Holiday sales in the US climbed 4.5%, ahead of ShopperTrak RCT’s forecast, as retailers lured customers with discounts on clothing and electronics.
- Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani proposed a new tax plan that would cut capital gains and corporate tax rates while simplifying the tax form most Americans fill out. Giuliani said that if all of his tax proposals were enacted, “it would be the biggest tax cut in American history.”
- Target Corp.(TGT) said CEO Bob Ulrich will retire effective May 1 and be replaced by President Gregg Steinhafel.
- United Parcel Service(UPS) will boost its stock buyback plan fivefold to $10 billion.
- Alcoa Inc.(AA) said fourth quarter profit roes 76% as a $323 gain from the sale of a packaging unit more than offset declining metal prices and higher raw-material costs. The stock gained 4.2% in after-hours trading.
- A US panel created to recommend ways to fund road construction plans to propose that federal gasoline taxes rise as much as 40 cents per gallon over five years.
- General Electric(GE), the world’s biggest maker of electricity generation equipment, will take a majority stake in a $350 million wind-turbine project that will supply power to Austin, Texas. Closely held developer Renewable Energy Systems Americas will begin construction of the Hackberry wind farm 30 miles northeast of Abilene this month.

MarketWatch.com:
- Reading the Nasdaq tea leaves. There’s a good chance that the key US benchmark will rebound later this year.
- New crop of Internet-based retailers is gaining traction.
- ‘Shortsighted’ investment pros blew it: Poole Economy strong enough to avoid recession, St. Louis Fed chief says.

CNBC:
- Bear Stearns(BSC) won’t take more wirtedowns because the firm is “adequately marked” to market on its investments, CEO Alan Schwartz said in an interview. Schwartz said the company is “comfortable” with its positions and isn’t looking to raise capital.

NY Times:
- The Consumer Electronics Show has always been a hardware-focused, but his year software, information and entertainment content edged toward center stage.

CNNMoney.com:
- Green energy’s hottest stocks for 2008.
- Lawmakers are considering a host of options to stimulate the economy, and some may mean more for your bottom line.

SmartMoney.com:
- Chico’s Managers Betting on Comeback.

IBD:
- BlackRock’s Doll Sees ’08 Bright Spots.
- Today’s young people might be called the wired generation, but judging from this year’s Consumer Electronics Show they might not have to deal with actual wire for much longer.

USA Today.com:
- ‘Pimp my ride’ turns into ‘tech my ride’
- Race is on for Mobile Web’s pot of gold.
- Mortgage rates lowest since 2005, refinancing jumps.

Financial Times:
- Tony Blair takes advisory position at JPMorgan(JPM).
- Bear Stearns(BSC) held preliminary talks with Fortress Investments, a listed alternative asset management firm, regarding a possible combination in the weeks before Jimmy Cayne stepped down as chief executive of the investment bank.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Maintain Buy on (CELG), target $82.
- Maintain Buy on (GILD), raised target to $56.
- Reiterated Buy on (UNH), target $83.
- Reiterated Buy on (UPS), target $85

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.50% to +.25% on average.
S&P 500 futures +.10%.
NASDAQ 100 futures +.18%.

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
- (MSM)/.70
- (SHFL)/.10
- (IHS)/.43
- (CRAI)/.75

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims for this week are estimated to rise to 340K versus 336K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 2730K versus 2761K prior.

10:00 am EST
- Wholesales Inventories for November are estimated to rise .4% versus unch. in October.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed's Bernanke speaking, Fed’s Hoenig speaking, ICSC Chain Store Sales, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, (MMSI) Investor Meeting, Needham Growth Conference, Consumer Electronics Show, JPMorgan Healthcare Conference and the Citigroup Entertainment Conference could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by commodity and real estate stocks in the region. I expect US equities to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.