Tuesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Moody’s Investors Service(MCO) is considering a new ratings system based on numbers for structured-finance securities that would abandon the letter grades created by founder John Moody about a century ago.
- Seagate Technology(STX), the world’s largest maker of hard-disk drives, raised its quarterly dividend by 20% and announced plans to buy back as much as $2.5 billion of stock over the next two years.
- Investors should sell the Australian dollar, according to BNP Paribas SA, France’s biggest bank. The currency, known as the Aussie, will fall to 77 US cents by year-end and 65 cents by the end of 2009, according to Hans-Guenter Redeker, global head of currency strategy at BNP.
- Billionaire real estate developer Sam Zell bought a 7.7% stake in Starwood Hotels & Resorts(HOT) to become the company’s second-biggest shareholder, causing the shares to rise 4.8%.
- Iran’s new space center built to send a research satellite into orbit is a “troubling development” because it employs the same technology used for producing long-range ballistic missiles, the US state Dept. said.
- Australia Raises Interest Rate to 7% to Curb Prices.

Wall Street Journal:
- If credible bidders don’t emerge to challenge Microsoft’s(MSFT) $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo!(YHOO), the Web titan will likely have to resort to a tried-and-true method for securing a higher price: playing hard to get.
- Issues Recede in ’08 Contest As Voters Focus on Character.
- Obama Closes In on Clinton As McCain Lengthens Lead.
- Actively Traded ETFs: A Step Closer to Reality.

BusinessWeek.com:
- The World’s Most Influential Headhunters.
- Teradyne(TER): A Tempting Tech Pick.

Forbes.com:
- Prominent new hedge funds pulled in slightly more money last year than in 2006 largely because savvy bets on the housing market pumped up assets at a small handful of funds.

IBD:
- Q4 Earnings Really Weren’t Too Bad – Except For Banking.

USA Today.com:
- Senate calls timeout on economic stimulus plan.

Reuters:
- News Corp.(NWS/A) lifts outlook, sees no ad slowdown.

Financial Times:
- China ‘on course for growth slowdown’.
- Microsoft(MSFT) hits back at Google(GOOG).

TimesOnline:
- The West’s biggest oil companies are in talks with the Government of Iraq to boost the country’s oil and gas output.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (RIMM), target $140.
- Rated (AKAM) Buy, target $51.
- Reiterated Buy on (ADM), target $52.
- Maintained Buy on (NWS/A), target $26.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -1.25% to -.25% on average.
S&P 500 futures -.19%.
NASDAQ 100 futures -.21%.

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
- (CME)/3.58
- (AVP)/.29
- (EMR)/.64
- (LPX)/-.33
- (TYC)/.61
- (NYX)/.66
- (WHR)/2.15
- (DUK)/.24
- (DIS)/.52
- (THQI)/.35
- (JDSU)/.11
- (NBR)/.73
- (CBG)/.73
- (CAKE)/.26
- (INSP)/.24
- (FORM)/.40

Upcoming Splits
- (CJR) 2-for-1
- (JASO) 3-for-1

Economic Releases
10:00 am EST
- The ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite for January is estimated to fall to 52.4 versus 53.2 in December.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed’s Lacker speaking, weekly retail sales report, (UAUA) analyst meeting, (STT) analyst meeting, (JAVA) analyst meeting, Cowen & Co. Aerospace/Defense Conference, Thomas Weisel Tech/Telecom/Internet Conference, Merrill Lynch Global Pharma/Biotech/Medical Device Conference and CSFB Energy Conference could also impact trading today.

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