Links of Interest

Links of Interest
Market Snapshot Commentary
Market Performance Summary
Style Performance
Sector Performance
WSJ Data Center
Top 20 Biz Stories
IBD Breaking News
Movers & Shakers
Upgrades/Downgrades
In Play
NYSE Unusual Volume
NASDAQ Unusual Volume
Hot Spots
Option Dragon
NASDAQ 100 Heatmap
DJIA Quick Charts
Chart Toppers
Intraday Chart/Quote
Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes

Friday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Hewlett-Packard’s(HPQ) third-quarter profit rose 29% after the world’s largest personal-computer market took share from Dell Inc.(DELL). The company also forecast earnings that topped estimates, driving up the shares.
- Whole Foods Market’s(WFMI) $565 million purchase of Wild Oats(OATS) doesn’t violate federal antitrust law and can proceed, a federal judge ruled, allowing the two largest US natural foods grocers to combine.
- Bear Stearns(BSC) shares surged the most since October 1998 amid speculation the nation’s fifth-biggest securities firm may raise money from an outside investor.
- JC Penney(JCP), Kohl’s(KSS) and Nordstrom(JWN) posted second-quarter profit gains and forecast higher annual earnings on rising apparel sales.
- Countrywide Financial(CFC) credit default swaps fell 100 basis points, as bankruptcy speculation eased.
- MBIA Inc.(MBI) and Ambac Financial Group(ABK) shares rose today after a Morgan Stanley analyst estimated that the bond insurers’ losses on securities backed by subprime mortgages will be less than what many investors anticipated.
- The Fed should reduce interest rates “pretty soon” because mortgage market losses have created a “credit crunch,” Barton Biggs of Traxis Partners said. “Absolutely, I am positive on the market,” he said during an interview. “Senile, delusional, maybe both. But positive on the market.”

Wall Street Journal:
- Speculation intensified that the Federal Reserve is going to cut interest rates soon – or even has already in effect done so – without any clear signal from the Fed to encourage it.

CNNMoney.com:
- Paulson sees more bad news ahead. But the Treasury Secretary tells Fortune’s Nina Easton that the economy is strong enough to withstand the volatility.

Forbes.com:
- With Wall Street under pressure for most of the past five sessions, investors – most likely hedge funds – threw in the towel on Thursday and began to liquidate commodities holdings, apparently to raise cash.
- The Sunshine Economy. Solar power is the ultimate alchemy, using what’s free to create something valuable. Over the next 25 years solar is expected to be the fastest-growing alternative source of electric energy.

Financial Times:
- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, PAI Partners and Carlyle Group are among more than 50 private-equity firms seeking to raise at least $52 billion of European leveraged buy-out funds, as they shrug off recent difficulties in the credit markets.

Reuters:
- A remarkable end-of-day rally pushed the benchmark S&P 500 higher on Thursday after investors snatched up financial stocks that looked cheap after weeks of pummeling by global credit market turmoil.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Hewlett Packard(HPQ), a primary customer of PC-related semiconductor companies, reported strong 3Q07 (Aug) revenues and earnings and guided for above consensus 4Q07 (Oct) revenues and earnings. While share gain was an element to HP’s success, the company’s report underscores our view of a strong underlying PC market. Importantly, HP indicated that they have seen non deterioration in sales, indeed suggesting the quarter ended strongly. With OEM inventories under control, we reiterate our view that the industry inventory environment in solid. Despite recent reports of component tightness, HP suggested they were comfortable with current component availability. Nonetheless, the company did suggest that advantageous component pricing in 3Q07 would not be repeated in 4Q07. We note that y/y ASP trends for microprocessors continue to show improvement after bottoming in 3Q06. DRAM contract prices have increased 32% from their bottom. HP’s strong notebook performance(+71% y/y) bodes well for Intel(INTC), the dominant player in notebook MPU’s.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -2.0% to -.75% on average.
S&P 500 futures -.20%.
NASDAQ 100 futures -.20%

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
- (CCUR)/-.02
- (SJM)/.67
- (LANC)/.62

Upcoming Splits
- (RIMM) 3-for-1
- (FFIV) 2-for-1
- (AAON) 3-for-2
- (ARO) 3-for-2

Economic Releases
10:00 am EST
- Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence for August is estimated to fall to 88.0 versus 90.4 in July.

Other Potential Market Movers
- None of note

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

Stocks Stage Heavy Volume Reversal, Finish at Session Highs

Evening Review
Market Performance Summary
WSJ Data Center
Sector Performance
ETF Performance
Style Performance
Commodity Movers
Market Wrap CNBC Video(bottom right)
S&P 500 Gallery View
Timely Economic Charts
GuruFocus.com
PM Market Call
After-hours Commentary
After-hours Movers
After-hours Stock Quote
In Play

Stocks Lower on Emerging Market Worries, Credit Fears

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is slightly lower into the final hour as losses in my Computer longs, Medical longs and Internet longs are more than offsetting my gains in my emerging market and commodity shorts. I took profits in a few of my (IWM)/(QQQQ) hedges, added to my (GOOG) long and took some profits in my (EEM) short today, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. The overall tone of the market is negative today as the advance/decline line is lower, most sectors are declining and volume is very heavy. My intraday gauge of investor angst is very elevated. The CBOE total put/call hit the fourth highest level on record today and the VIX is at levels last seen in 2002. I am watching the financials closely. Their relative strength today bodes well for the possibility of a more positive finish to the day. I expect US stocks to trade modestly higher into the close from current levels on short-covering and bargain hunting.

Links of Interest

Market Snapshot Commentary
Market Performance Summary
Style Performance
Sector Performance
WSJ Data Center
Top 20 Biz Stories
IBD Breaking News
Movers & Shakers
Upgrades/Downgrades
In Play
NYSE Unusual Volume
NASDAQ Unusual Volume
Hot Spots
Option Dragon
NASDAQ 100 Heatmap
DJIA Quick Charts
Chart Toppers
Intraday Chart/Quote
Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes

Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Goldman Sachs Group(GS) blamed its $3 billion in hedge-fund losses this month on too many quantitative managers making the same trades and said it needed to develop new investing strategies.
- China’s spending on factories, equipment and property rose 26.6% in the first seven months of 2007 from a year earlier, maintaining pressure for an interest-rate increase to cool the economy.
- Hong Kong’s stocks are falling 3.6%, pushing the Hang Seng Index to its steepest two-day loss in six years.
- Crude oil is falling $.48/bbl. in NY as forecasters altered the likely track of a storm approaching the Gulf of Mexico.
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will unveil a plan today to rewrite the constitution to allow him to seek indefinite re-election and to deepen the transformation of the country’s political structure.
- HFA Holdings Ltd, an Australian hedge fund manager than manages more than $3 billion, said its funds have benefited from the turmoil in the US subprime mortgage market.

NY Times:
- US-Made Toys Benefit From China’s Troubles.
- China Plans Greater Scrutiny of Food Exports.

CNBC:
- Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway(BRK/A), said some stocks could be cheaper and worth buying as US markets are dragged down by bad bets on subprime mortgages.

Financial Times:
- A unit of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the powerful US private equity group, became the latest victim of the mortgage crisis on Wednesday, casting a cloud over its plans to raise $1.25 billion in an IPO.
- Asian stocks slumped on Thursday, pushing Japan’s Nikkei to 8-month lows, while the yen held firm, as appetite for risky assets waned amid persistent fears about a global credit crisis.

Reuters:
- Investigators from major US stock exchanges and the SEC have formed an elite unit to investigate suspicious trades and tackle insider trading.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (DE), target $149.
- Upgraded (SOV) to Buy, target $22.

CSFB:
- Raised (INTC) to Buy, target $35.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -5.5% to -2.25% on average.
S&P 500 futures -.91%.
NASDAQ 100 futures -.87%

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
- (ADSK)/.43
- (BEAS)/.13
- (RDEN)/.19
- (EL)/.50
- (FLO)/.24
- (GBE)/.12
- (HPQ)/.66
- (JCP)/.78
- (KSS)/.82
- (JWN)/.69
- (RRGB)/.43
- (RGLD)/.19

Upcoming Splits
- (SHEN) 3-for-1

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Housing Starts for July are estimated to fall to 1400K versus 1467K in June.
- Building Permits for July are estimated to fall to 1400K versus 1413K in June.
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 315K versus 316K prior.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 2550K versus 2559K prior.

12:00 pm EST
- The Philly Fed for August is estimated to fall to 8.6 versus 9.2 in July.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, (IVGN) Investor Day, (GNW) meeting with investors and CSFB Communications Conference could also impact trading today.

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