Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

Mid-cap Growth (+1.24%)

Sector Outperformers:

Steel (+5.2%), Wireless (+3.20%) and Networking (+3.05%)

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

EMM, WNS, BCA, EMG, ITB, FDG, SCX, GBX, DSG, HTZ, ESI, BRNC, MHGC, FFIV, EXPO, SASR, EURX, PLXS, PLCM, ALDN, TRMB, COIN, SMTS, MOLX, DROOY, SYMC, PRXL, RRGB, ASML, ACGY, SNCR, FDRY, COF, DLLR, BPFH, PCU, FCX, PBR, REP, BBV, TKC, PHI and DLR

Links of Interest

Market Snapshot Commentary
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Sector Performance
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Top 20 Biz Stories
IBD Breaking News
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NASDAQ Unusual Volume
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Intraday Chart/Quote
Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes

Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer, plans to start its first sovereign wealth fund with about $6 billion, channeling surplus crude-oil revenue into investments in foreign companies.
- Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold mining company, said second-quarter output of the precious metal from its mines in Australia and Indonesia rose 19%.
- The yen fell against 14 of the 16 most-active currencies after Asian stocks rose, making investors more confident to hold higher-yielding currencies funded in Japan.
- Qualcomm Inc.(QCOM), the second-biggest maker of chips that run mobile phones, said first-quarter profit rose 18% and boosted its revenue forecast for 2008, sending the shares up as much as 6.5% in after-hours trading.
- Western Digital(WDC), the second-largest maker of computer hard-disk drives, said second-quarter profit more than doubled as orders increased for notebooks and electronics. The shares rose 6.9% in late trading.
- Symantec Corp.(SYMC), the world’s biggest maker of security software, reported earnings and gave a forecast that beat analysts’ estimates, sending the shares up 9.3% in extended trading.
- F5 Networks announced revenue grew 28% from the first quarter of last year and authorized a $200 million share repurchase program. The shares soared 19% in after-hours trading.
- EBay Inc.(EBAY) fell 4.7% in US trading after it forecast 2008 sales and profit that missed some analysts’ estimates and said john Donahoe will succeed Meg Whitman as CEO.

MarketWatch.com:
- Homeowners facing resets on their adjustable-rate mortgages or hoping to refinance into less-burdensome loans may be the biggest beneficiaries of the Federal Reserve’s surprise rate cut this week as mortgages continue to get cheaper. Consider what's happened since September's rate cut for creditworthy Schwab borrowers. A 5-1 adjustable rate mortgage of $350,000 carried a 6.52% interest rate, assuming a 20% down payment, on Oct. 7. The rate this week for that same loan was 5.04%. That translates into an annual mortgage payment that's $5,100 cheaper.
- “Refinance applications are up 92% since the beginning of November and purchase applications are up 7%,” said Jay Brinkmann, the MBA’s vp of research and economics. Interest rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgage falls below 5%.

CNBC:
- Bond Insurers Soar on Report of Possible Bailout.
- Congressional Budget Office Doesn’t Foresee Recession.

BusinessWeek.com:
- Are Investors Unfairly Sour on Apple?

USA Today.com:
- Jobs, iPhone have Skyhook pointed in right dirction.

Reuters:
- Managers confront baffling array of hedge funds.
- Prominent hedge funds nurse heavy losses in 2008.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Upgraded (CNH) to Buy, target $55.
- Maintain Buy on (UTX), target $86.
- Maintain Buy on (VAR), target $61.
- Maintain Buy on (GILD), target $56.
- Maintain Buy on (SPX), target $115.

Oppenheimer:
- Rated (SCOR) Outperform, target $35.
- Rated (OMTR) Outperform, target $34.

CSFB:
- Reiterated Outperform on (GILD), target $54.
- Reiterated Outperform on (UTX), target $84.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +.75% to +2.0% on average.
S&P 500 futures +.10%.
NASDAQ 100 futures +.25%.

Morning Preview
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CNBC Guest Schedule

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
- (NOC)/1.31
- (ED)/.59
- (LEN)/-2.05
- (BDX)/1.02
- (CPS)/.41
- (KMB)/1.11
- (BTU)/.79
- (NUE)/1.21
- (BAX)/.74
- (HSY)/.55
- (ABC)/.62
- (DLX)/.78
- (LMT)/1.70
- (F)/-.24
- (T)/.71
- (BEN)/1.90
- (KLAC)/.71
- (BRCM)/.31
- (MCHP)/.37
- (WFR)/.96
- (AMGN)/.97
- (JNPR)/.24
- (JAVA)/.31
- (MSFT)/.46
- (SY)/.56
- (LRCX)/.99

Upcoming Splits
- (BTJ) 3-for-2

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims for this week are estimated to rise to 320K versus 301K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 2720K versus 2751K prior

10:00 am EST
- Existing Home Sales for December are estimated to fall to 4.95M versus 5.0M in November.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The weekly EIA energy inventory data and JPMorgan High Yield Conference could also impact trading today.

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

Stocks Finish at Session Highs on Heavy Volume

Evening Review
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Market Wrap CNBC Video(bottom right)
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GuruFocus.com
PM Market Call
After-hours Commentary
After-hours Movers
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In Play

Stocking Soaring into Final Hour on Strength in Financials, Retail, Homebuilding and Airlines

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is lower into the final hour on losses in my Computer longs, Internet longs and Biotech longs. I added (IWM)/(QQQQ) hedges on the bounce earlier today and then covered them, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The overall tone of the market is slightly positive as the advance/decline line is mildly higher, sector performance is mixed and volume is heavy. Investor anxiety is high again. Today’s overall market action is very bullish after the key reversals seen yesterday in many stocks. “Value” stocks are substantially outperforming today. The beaten-up and heavily shorted financials, retailers, airlines and homebuilders are rising significantly. The total put/call hit a very high 1.57 and the VIX hit a very high 34.42 today. The average 30-year mortgage rate plunged to 5.31% this week from 5.69% last week. About 70% of conventional mortgages are now able to be refinanced, according to CNBC. Mortgage rates are now at levels that will greatly alleviate the mortgage reset situation that has been weighing so heavily on the market. As I said yesterday, we are going to see a significant amount of stimuli in a short period of time, which will move the Fed closer to being “ahead of the curve,” rather than behind it. Moreover, there are still many other potential positive catalysts that could materialize at any time. With today’s market rebound and recent losses overseas, the S&P 500 is significantly outperforming most other global markets year-to-date. Moreover, the US market is trading again as if a meaningful bottom is now in place. I expect US stocks to trade modestly higher into the close from current levels on short-covering, lower energy prices, less economic pessimism and bargain hunting.

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

Small-cap Value (+1.89%)

Sector Outperformers:

Banks (+4.52%), Homebuilders (+3.53%) and Retail (+2.69%)

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

XSD, EMV, SGK, SMTS, CREE, CPKI, FSNM, LIHR, AVTR, CVBF, PTEC, PSMT, FULT, LSTR, CVCO, FAST, RRGB, IBKC, WTFC, HMIN, EXLS, COLB, WERN, BBT, EWBC, WFC, WB, CUZ, PPS, NSC, GWR, KSS, SHLD, GEOY, SNP and PFE