Links of Interest

Market Snapshot
Detailed Market Summary
Market Internals
Economic Commentary
Movers & Shakers
IBD New America
NYSE OrderTrac
I-Watch Sector Overview
NYSE Unusual Volume
NASDAQ Unusual Volume
Hot Spots
NASDAQ 100 Heatmap
DJIA Quick Charts
Chart Toppers
Option Dragon
Real-time Intraday Chart/Quote

Tuesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The SEC said it will allow drug makers to record immediately sales of life-saving vaccines stockpiled by the federal government for future pandemics such as avian flu.
- Confidence among CEOs of small- and medium-sized US companies rebounded from a two-year low as energy prices ebbed, according to a private survey by TEC Intl.

Financial Times:
- Coca-Cola will start its $25 million bottling plan in Afghanistan this week after an absence of more than 15 years.

South China Morning Post:
- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he’s “very concerned” about the political situation in Hong Kong after a pro-democracy march drew more than 80,000 people in the city.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on USB, WFC, KO, EBAY, BAC and AMP.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.07%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.03%.

Morning Preview
US AM Market Call
NASDAQ 100 Pre-Market Indicator/Heat Map
Pre-market Commentary
Before the Bell CNBC Video(bottom right)
Global Commentary
Asian Indices
European Indices
Top 20 Business Stories
In Play
Bond Ticker
Daily Stock Events
Macro Calls
Rasmussen Consumer/Investor Daily Indices
CNBC Guest Schedule

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
AZO/1.54
BRCD/.05
CMTL/.42
CMVT/.15
FLS/.28
KEGS/.20
KR/.25
PLL.21
SAFM/.68
SHLD/.28

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Final 3Q Non-farm Productivity is estimated to rise 4.5% versus a prior estimate of a 4.1% increase.
- Final 3QUnit Labor Costs are estimated to fall .9% versus a prior estimate of a .5% decline.
- Factory Orders for October are estimated to rise 2.3% versus a 1.7% decline in September.
- Pending Home Sales for October are estimated to fall 1.2% versus a .3% decline in September.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mixed as strength in energy shares is offsetting weakness in exporting shares in the region. I expect US equities open mixed and to rally modestly into the afternoon. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

Stocks Finish Lower on Rising Long-term Rates

Indices
S&P 500 1,262.09 -.24%
DJIA 10,835.01 -.39%
NASDAQ 2,257.64 -.69%
Russell 2000 686.57 -.58%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,629.10 -.29%
S&P Barra Growth 604.09 -.31%
S&P Barra Value 653.62 -.16%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 592.64 -.37%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 779.25 -.27%
Morgan Stanley Technology 531.30 -1.07%
Transports 4,086.81 -1.25%
Utilities 404.24 +.30%
Put/Call .85 unch.
NYSE Arms .93 -24.54%
Volatility(VIX) 11.60 +5.36%
ISE Sentiment 190.00 -18.10%
US Dollar 91.49 -.48%
CRB 325.59 +.68%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 59.93 +.03%
Unleaded Gasoline 159.25 +.17%
Natural Gas 13.54 -.87%
Heating Oil 179.20 +.13%
Gold 513.00 +.08%
Base Metals 151.59 +1.55%
Copper 200.45 -.15%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.56% +1.18%

Leading Sectors
Steel +1.49%
Energy +.67%
I-Banks +.63%

Lagging Sectors
Oil Tankers -1.23%
Computer Services -1.50%
Semis -1.57%

Evening Review
Detailed Market Summary
Market Gauges
Daily ETF Performance
Style Performance
Market Wrap CNBC Video(bottom right)
S&P 500 Gallery View
Economic Calendar
Timely Economic Charts
GuruFocus.com
PM Market Call
After-hours Movers
Real-time/After-hours Stock Quote
In Play

Afternoon Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- None of note

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- KB Home, the fifth-largest US homebuilder by stock market value, formed a joint venture with a Louisiana contractor to build houses in areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
- ABC News named Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff to co-anchor “World News Tonight” and said the pair also will host an Internet show as the US television network seeks a formula to stem a decline in viewers.
- Defense Secretary Rumsfeld today said press coverage of Iraq focuses too much on sensationalism and misses “the full story.”
- Natural gas prices reversed 7% lower intra-day as traders “sold the news” of colder weather.

AP:
- The organization that overseas the Internet approved a “.asia” Internet domain for the Asia-Pacific region and put off a decision on “.xxx” designation for pornography.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished lower today on losses in my Internet longs, Semi longs, Airline longs and Medical Information Systems longs. I took profits in my SNDK short in the afternoon and added to a few existing shorts, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market was negative today as the advance/decline line finished lower, most sectors fell and volume was average. Measures of investor anxiety were mostly higher into the close. Overall, today was a pretty good day for the bears as the major averages failed to mount much of a rally even as energy prices reversed and long-term rates stabilized higher. However, I still believe stocks will mount another push higher this week. Given two-thirds of inflation is comprised from unit labor costs, tomorrow's report should be monitored closely.

Stocks Lower Mid-day on Rising Long-term Rates

Indices
S&P 500 1,262.31 -.23%
DJIA 10,833.49 -.41%
NASDAQ 2,257.28 -.71%
Russell 2000 685.58 -.72%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,627.11 -.31%
S&P Barra Growth 604.01 -.33%
S&P Barra Value 653.57 -.17%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 592.66 -.37%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 779.03 -.30%
Morgan Stanley Technology 532.00 -.94%
Transports 4,088.52 -1.22%
Utilities 403.66 +.16%
Put/Call .85 unch.
NYSE Arms .98 -20.45%
Volatility(VIX) 11.59 +5.27%
ISE Sentiment 203.00 -12.50%
US Dollar 91.42 -.55%
CRB 326.45 +.96%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 60.15 +1.40%
Unleaded Gasoline 159.70 -.86%
Natural Gas 13.92 -.08%
Heating Oil 179.75 +1.44%
Gold 512.70 +1.12%
Base Metals 151.59%
Copper 200.70 +1.31%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.56% +1.18%

Leading Sectors
Steel +1.64%
Energy +.69%
I-Banks +.28%

Lagging Sectors
Airlines -1.48%
Computer Services -1.48%
Semis -1.59%

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is lower mid-day on losses in my Internet longs, Semi longs, Airline longs and Medical Information Systems longs. I have not traded this morning, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market is negative as the advance/decline line is lower, most sectors are lower and volume is about average. Measures of investor anxiety are mostly higher. Overall, today’s market action is negative considering more positive economic data and lack of follow-through from late last week. According to the Hedge Fund Center, the number of hedge funds trading commodity-related securities has risen 125% in just the past year. As well, $15 billion has flowed into investment funds that track commodity indices over the past 5 months, according to Barclays Capital. It is interesting to note that the CRB Index has barely risen over this time frame, notwithstanding the historical disruptions related to the hurricanes. I expect US stocks to trade modestly higher into the close on short-covering, more optimism and a reversal lower in energy prices from morning highs.

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- GM CEO Wagoner will keep intact a spending plan for information technology, even as he slashes $7 billion in costs at the world’s largest automaker.
- Mergers and acquisitions may provide a record $18 billion in fees to the financial industry next year as corporations use their burgeoning stockpiles of cash for the biggest spending spree since the Internet bubble burst in 2000.
- Verizon Communications may sell the domestic operations of its directory publishing unit as it tries to exit that business to focus on selling telephone service and high-speed Internet connections.
- A four-year rally that enabled platinum to more than double in price may be over now that carmakers led by GM are switching to less costly palladium.
- Boston Scientific said it is proposing to acquire all the outstanding shares of Guidant for a combination of cash and stock worth $72 for each Guidant share.
- US newspaper companies may reduce their forecasts for 2006 advertising growth this week as circulation declines and ad spending moves to the Internet.
- Sears Holdings offered to buy the publicly traded shares in its Canadian unit for about $719 million, giving Chairman Ed Lampert more control over the struggling retailer.
- US Treasuries are falling as a private report showed the services industry, the largest part of the US economy, expanded in November.
- Crude oil and natural gas are surging as freezing temperatures gripped the US Midwest and the first snowstorm reached the Northeast.

Wall Street Journal:
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans plan to charter a joint bank to manage more of the growing deposits into health savings accounts.
- Morningstar is modifying its mutual-fund ratings to reflect the rapid accumulation of cash in retirement plans.
- Global investors have become more exuberant in the past month, pushing up the prices of assets that are often seen as bets on rapid growth.

USA Today:
- Starwood Hotels’ Westin Hotels chain will say today that it will ban smoking at its 77 US Canadian and Caribbean outlets in all rooms, restaurants and pubic areas starting in January.
- NY, Texas, Ohio and at least nine other states are considering major highway projects as state revenue increases more than it has since 2001.

LA Times:
- Intel is trying to become a central figure in the expanding world of digital media with its Viiv platform.

AP:
- RealNetworks is starting a new version of it Rhapsody music service that lets users listen to tracks over the Internet without downloading software.
- Iran plans to build a second nuclear power plant amid international concern about its nuclear program, citing Iranian state television.

Washington Post:
- Six of the Democratic Party’s most prominent foreign-policy scholars, including five who served in the top ranks of government, are divided on the Bush administration’s Iraq war policy.

San Jose Mercury News:
- WJ Communications’ CEO and three directors bought shares last month in the communications network equipment maker, citing data from Thomson Financial.

JANA:
- Libya plans to raise its crude-oil production by 17% to 2 million barrels a day by mid-2006, citing the top Libyan oil official.

AFP:
- The trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein resumed in Baghdad today after a one-week break.

Service Sector Still Strong, Prices Paid Decelerates

- ISM Non-manufacturing for November fell to 58.5 versus estimates of 59.0 and a reading of 60.0 in October.

BOTTOM LINE: Growth in US service industries slowed in November after accelerating the prior month by the most in more than three years, Bloomberg reported. The Prices Paid component of the index fell to 74.2 from 78 in October. The export orders component of the index rose to 57 from 54.5. The employment component of the index rose to 57 from 52.9. I continue to expect the service sector, which accounts for two-thirds of the US economy, to remain healthy over the intermediate-term as consumer sentiment improves, energy prices continue to fall, stocks rise, the job market stays healthy and interest rates remain low by historical standards.