Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Erin Callan, the former chief financial officer of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.(LEH), was hired by Credit Suisse Group AG to head a unit that advises hedge funds.
- Copper tumbled the most in a week as falling imports in China and a weakening outlook for the global economy increased speculation that metals demand will decline. China's imports of copper and alloys plunged 19 percent last month from a year earlier, data from the nation's customs office showed.
- Representative Barney Frank, the Democrat who chairs the House panel overseeing housing, aims to include penalties for Fannie Mae(FNM) and Freddie Mac(FRE) in legislation authorizing a rescue of the beleaguered mortgage firms.
- Intel Corp.(INTC), the world's biggest chipmaker, reported a 25 percent increase in second-quarter profit and gave a sales forecast that topped analysts' estimates after demand grew worldwide for personal-computer processors. The stock gained 20 cents to $20.91 in extended trading.
- SK Telecom Co., South Korea’s largest mobile-phone operator, declined to confirm or deny a CNBC report that the company may seek to buy Sprint Nextel Corp.(S). “There is nothing we can say on the report,” Ryu Mina, a spokeswoman for Seoul-based SK Telecom, said. Separately, Sprint and SK Telecom are in talks to forge a partnership to develop new phones and services, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Wall Street Journal:
- Just a few weeks ago, Europe thought it could escape the worst of the global slowdown. Now it looks like the euro zone, the world's second-largest economy, is headed for a hard landing and perhaps recession, compounding growth troubles around the world.
- Federal regulators are stepping up efforts to ensure the banking industry's access to short-term cash, amid concerns about bank runs and worries that liquidity-conscious lenders will hoard money and stop making loans.

MarketWatch.com:
- Sony Corp.(SNE) surprised some at the annual E3 conference on Tuesday by reducing the price of its high end PlayStation 3 console, following Microsoft Corp's(MSFT) earlier move to reduce the price of its Xbox 360.
- Holders of debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac haven't broken a sweat over the mortgage agencies' financial situation, taking the mounting worries about their loan losses as a good excuse to snap up their bonds.
- Short sellers had their best month in more than seven years in June as the stock market slumped. The Strunk Short Index, which tracks a handful of managers that specialize in short selling, jumped 10.47% last month. That was the best performance since March 2001, when the index surged 12.45% during the dot-com bust.

CNBC.com:
- Lehman CEO Dick Fuld issued a memo yesterday that many people inside Lehman consider an advertisement for the firm to be bought possibly by private equity or possibly a bank — at a level above its current market price.

NY Times:
- Seeing Oil Bubble, a Contrarian Bets on an Indian Airline. Wilbur L. Ross Jr.’s latest deal, an $80 million investment in the flailing Indian airline SpiceJet, announced on Tuesday, is hardly earth shaking, but the idea behind it is typically contrarian. Mr. Ross has decided that high oil prices have hit bubble territory, a bubble that should pop in the next 12 months. “We’re looking at everything that has been hurt by fuel” for deals, he said in a phone interview.

CFO.com:
- SEC Declares War on Short-Selling, Rumors. All short-sellers of Fannie Mae(FNM) and Freddie Mac must pre-borrow stock before shorting the shares of either of the mortgage-finance giants. The Securities and Exchange Commission is issuing an emergency order aimed at reducing short-selling in the stock of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Wall Street brokerage firms and is considering extending those trading limits to the broader equity markets.

CNNMoney.com:
- iPhone 3G: Sold out in 21 states.

USA Today.com:
- Russian Coreflood Gang targets online bank accounts.

Fox Business News:
- The SEC handed out subpoenas to 50 hedge fund advisers as it investigates whether shares of Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers were manipulated by false rumors, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some of the hedge funds receiving subpoenas are SAC Capital Advisors in Stamford, Conn. and Citadel Investment Group LLC in Chicago. Some of the hedge funds have already turned information in to the SEC, while others just received subpoenas on Monday.

Reuters:
- It's a bear market for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.), too. The shares of the billionaire's insurance and investment company have dropped more than 20 percent from their most recent peak, the first time that has happened since February 2003.
- In Brazil, middle class dreams built on credit.

Financial Times:
- The past few years have been characterised by a dramatic surge in lending allied with a decline in lending standards. But this trend has not been restricted to the source of the subprime debacle: the US housing market. Some now fear that the recent rush to extend credit on any terms has set the scene for a raft of corporate defaults. Those fears are overdone.

TimesOnline:
- The Financial Services Authority (FSA) mounted a fierce defence of its regulation of the oil markets yesterday amid growing criticism that its approach may be contributing to manipulation and prices of nearly $150 a barrel.

Thestar.com:
- Royal Dutch Shell has nearly doubled its ownership in Ottawa-based cellulosic ethanol producer Iogen Energy Corp. and is "considering" investing in a full-scale commercial ethanol plant based on Iogen's proprietary technology. "This transaction sets the stage for successful large-scale cellulosic ethanol production." Officials from the ethanol industry warned against abandoning ethanol altogether, arguing that investment in first generation corn-based ethanol paves the way for second-generation cellulosic ethanol — produced by companies such as Iogen — that uses waste, not food, and is much more sustainable over the long term.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (NUAN), target $24.

RBC Capital:
- Rated (CLWR) Outperform, target $17.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -1.25% to +.25% on average.
S&P 500 futures +.33%.
NASDAQ 100 futures +.50%.

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
Upgrades/Downgrades
Rasmussen Business/Economy Polling

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
- (ABT)/.78
- (AMR)/-1.39
- (GCI)/1.04
- (NITE)/.34
- (STJ)/.55
- (WFC)/.50
- (MI)/-1.56
- (KMP)/.54
- (ADS)/1.00
- (PLCM)/.33
- (EBAY)/.41
- (YUM)/.42
- (XLNX)/.36
- (RECN)/.28
- (PJC)/-.17
- (DAL)/.10

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- The Consumer Price Index for June is estimated to rise .7% versus a .6% gain in May.
- The CPI Ex Food & Energy for June is estimated to rise .2% versus a .2% increase in May.

9:00 am EST
- Net Long-term TIC Flows for May are estimated to fall to $70.0 billion versus $115.1 billion in April.

9:15 am EST
- Industrial Production for June is estimated to rise .1% versus a -.2% decline in May.
- Capacity Utilization for June is estimated at 79.4% versus 79.4% in May.

10:30 am EST
- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil drawdown of -2,200,000 barrels versus a -5,840,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -100,000 barrels versus a 909,000 barrel increase the prior week. Distillate inventories are expected to rise by 2,000,000 barrels versus a 1,816,000 barrel increase the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to rise by .05% versus a -.07% decline the prior week.

1:00 pm EST
- The NAHB Housing Market Index for July is estimated at 18 versus 18 in June.

2:00 pm EST
- Minutes of June 24-25 FOMC Meeting.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed’s Bernanke speaking, Fed’s Hoenig speaking, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, (LDK) analyst meeting, (RTEC) analyst meeting and SEMICON West could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by financial and commodity shares in the region. I expect US equities to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.