Friday Watch

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.25% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 66.25+.75 basis point. 
• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 11.5 +.25 basis point.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 75.09 -.05%.
• FTSE 100 futures -.23%.
• S&P 500 futures -.14%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures -.13%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (BKE)/.72
• (CTRN)/.44
• (HIBB)/.45
• (PERY)/.83
• (TIF)/1.63

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• Housing Starts for February is estimated to fall to 1290K versus 1326K in January.
• Building Permits for February is estimated to fall to 1320K versus 1396K in January. 

9:15 am EST

• Industrial Production MoM for February is estimated to rise +.4% versus a -.1% decline in January.
• Manufacturing Production for February is estimated to rise +.5% versus unch. in January.
• Capacity Utilization for February is estimated to rise to 77.7% versus 77.5% in January.

10:00 am EST

• JOLTS Job Openings for January is estimated to rise to 5900 versus 5811 in December.
• Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Sentiment for March is estimated to fall to 99.2 versus 99.7 in February.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Eurozone CPI report and the (UTX) analyst meeting could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by technology and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed.  The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.