Thursday Watch

Evening Recommendations
Citigroup:

• Reiterated Buy on (VECO), target $52.
• Reiterated Buy on (GOOG), target $620.
• Upgraded (CE) to Buy, target $620.
  

Night Trading

• Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.75% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 121.0 -4.0 basis points.
  
• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 117.50 +.5 basis point.
  
• S&P 500 futures -.19%.
  
• NASDAQ 100 futures -.09%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST

• The Trade Balance for July is estimated at -$47.0 Billion versus -$49.9 Billion in June.
• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated at 470K versus 472K the prior week.
• Continuing Claims are estimated at 4450K versus 4456K prior.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The $13 Billion 30-year Treasury Bond Auction, CSFB Transport Conference and (TXN) Mid-quarter update could also impact trading today.
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and automaker shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.