Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said Democrats are likely to reach an agreement with President Bush on an economic stimulus plan that may be passed early this year.
- The risk of Citigroup Inc.(C) defaulting fell after the biggest US bank wrote down the value of subprime mortgage investments by $18 billion, less than some analysts had anticipated. Credit-default swaps on NY-based Citigroup fell 2 basis points to 83 basis points.
- Stacy Smith, chief financial officer of Intel Corp.(INTC) sees no slowdown in computer business. (video)

Wall Street Journal:
- Toxic Factories Take Toll On China’s Labor Force.
- Romney Wins Michigan Primary After Tight Contest With McCain.
- John Paulson Bet Big on Drop in Housing Values; Greenspan Gets a New Gig, Soros Does Lunch.

MarketWatch.com:
- Rising oil prices meet silence on the campaign trail.
- Three Wall Street firms cut ratings across energy sector.

CNBC:
- Bank of America(BAC) said on Tuesday it would eliminate 650 corporate and investment banking jobs and sell its equity prime brokerage business.

NY Times:
- Bloomberg Hires Quadrangle to Manage His Wealth.

SmartMoney.com:
- Luxury Stocks at a Discount.
- Apple’s(AAPL) slim new laptop promises to pump up Mac sales.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Upgraded (TIN) to Buy, target $26.
- Reiterated Buy on (MER), target $75.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -3.0% to -2.0% on average.
S&P 500 futures -.65%.
NASDAQ 100 futures -1.56%.

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
- (AMR)/-.76
- (PGR)/.33
- (JPM)/.92
- (WFC)/.40
- (KMP)/.45
- (CLC)/.51
- (FIG)/.20

Upcoming Splits
- (STAN) 2-for-1

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- The Consumer Price Index for December is estimated to rise .2% versus a .8% gain in November.
- The CPI Ex Food & Energy for December is estimated to rise .2% versus a .3% gain in November.

9:00 am EST
- Net Long-term TIC Flows for November are estimated to fall to $50.0B versus $114.0B in October.

9:15 am EST
- Industrial Production for December is estimated to fall .2% versus a .3% gain in November.
- Capacity Utilization for December is estimated to fall to 81.2% versus 81.5% in November.

1:00 pm EST
- The NAHB Housing Market Index for January is estimated at 19.0 versus 19.0 in December.

2:00 pm EST
- Fed’s Beige Book

Other Potential Market Movers
- The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, weekly EIA energy inventory report, Cowen Consumer Conference and Goldman Sachs Energy Conference could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are sharply lower, weighed down 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 75% net long heading into the day.