Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

Small-cap Growth (+.24%)

Sector Outperformers:

Airlines (+3.38%), Retail (+2.23%) and I-Banks (+1.03%)

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

NSR, CME, IAT, UTI, LH, ENS, KCE, ICE, POWI, DBTK, HUBG, PLCE, NSIT, TICC, MKSI, RTSX, ANDE, AKAM, ADVS, ECOL, ELON, JJSF, OSIS, MFLO, PPDI, EMKR, URBN, MWIV, CTRN, JCP, GAIA, PEP, KSS, ACL, FTE, IIT, MET, ELP and PFG

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
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Chart Toppers
Intraday Chart/Quote
Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes

Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The euro fell for a third day against the US dollar and the yen on speculation European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will signal borrowing costs may need to be cut to bolster growth.
- MBIA Inc.(MBI), plans to raise an additional $750 million by selling about 50.3 million common shares, bolstering capital in an attempt to retail its AAA rating.
- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank is “closely monitoring developments” with bond insurers, including the potential effects of ratings downgrades for banks.
- Cisco Systems(CSCO) forecast third-quarter sales that fell short of analysts’ estimates, spurring a 7.4% drop in the stock.
- Fadel Gheit, Managing Director of Oppenheimer, Says Oil Market ‘Bubble’ May End.
- Robert Toll Says Housing Market ‘Might Be Bottoming’: (video).
- US mortgage servicers helped 545,000 subprime borrowers stay in their homes in the second half of last year by modifying loans or setting up repayment plans.
- Ethanol in Chicago and three sport markets declined after a government report showed that gasoline inventories rose to a nine-year high.

Wall Street Journal:
- Airlines Merger Talks May Lead to Double Wedding.
- Candidates Mobilize As Race Grinds On.

MarketWatch.com:
- Investment banks say capital is still available. Merrill, Lehman give update on exposure to bond insurers.
- AT&T(T) expanding high-speed wireless network. Move likely foreshadows introduction of updated iPhone.

CNBC.com:
- Recession Nerves = Great Buying Opportunity.

NY Times:
- Clinton Lent Campaign $5 Million, May Lend More.

IBD:
- EBay(EBAY) Could gain In A Yahoo Acquisition.

Financial Times:
- The SEC is looking at whether Societe Generale violated US securities laws as it unwound and revealed its loss from Jerome Kerviel’s allegedly rogue derivatives trades.
- S&P unveils ratings overhaul.

National Post:
- Buffett ‘Huge Bull’ on US Economy.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Maintained Buy on (WXS), target $49.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -1.0% to unch. on average.
S&P 500 futures -.65%.
NASDAQ 100 futures -1.53%.

Morning Preview
US AM Market Call
NASDAQ 100 Pre-Market Indicator/Heat Map
Pre-market Commentary
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Before the Bell CNBC Video(bottom right)
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WSJ Intl Markets Performance
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Today in IBD
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Rasmussen Business/Economy Polling
CNBC Guest Schedule

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
- (DO)/1.67
- (ASF)/.48
- (MDC)/-.65
- (MLNM)/.13
- (TBL)/.50
- (DHI)/-.45
- (EXPE)/.32
- (IP)/.64
- (LH)/1.00
- (AN)/.32
- (ENER)//-.13
- (COV)/.56
- (MCO)/.47
- (IT)/.36
- (AET)/.88
- (PEP)/.80
- (APA)/2.48
- (PBI)/.69
- (GNW)/.68
- (MFE)/.44
- (BMC)/.50
- (SINA)/.32
- (OMTR)/.08
- (AG)/.61
- (BWA)/.70
- (TRA)/.66

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims for this week are estimated to fall to 342K versus 375K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 2715K versus 2716K prior.

10:00 am EST
- Pending Home Sales for December are estimated to fall 1.0% versus a 2.6% decline in November.

3:00 pm EST
- Consumer Credit for December is estimated at $7.4 billion versus $15.4 billion in November.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed’s Fisher speaking, Fed’s Lockhart speaking, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, (ELY) analyst meeting, (PETD) analyst meeting, Thomas Weisel Tech/Telecom/Internet Conference, CSFB Energy Conference, CSFB Financial Services Forum and Merrill Global Pharma/Biotech/Medical Device Conference could also impact trading today.

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

Stocks Finish at Session Lows, Weighed Down by Tech, Financial and Homebuilding Shares

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

Stocks Lower into Final Hour, Weighed Down by Tech, Financial and Homebuilding Shares

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is lower into the final hour on losses in my Computer longs, Medical longs and Semi longs. I added to my (IWM)/(QQQQ) hedges and added to my (EEM) short today, thus leaving the Portfolio 50% net long. The overall tone of the market is negative as the advance/decline line is lower, most sectors are declining and volume is above average. Investor anxiety is above average. Today’s overall market action is bearish. The VIX is rising 2.5% today to a high 29.0. The ISE Sentiment Index is a very low 84.0 and the total put/call is hitting an above average 1.02. Finally, the NYSE Arms is above-average at 1.4. The ongoing weakness in many large-cap growth leaders is worrisome. I will closely monitor the market’s reaction to Cisco’s report after the close before lifting market exposure. Nikkei futures indicate a -10 open in Japan and DAX futures indicate a -50 open in Germany. I expect US stocks to trade mixed into the close from current levels as bargain-hunting, falling energy prices and short-covering offsets ongoing economic pessimism.

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Mortgage applications in the US increased for a fifth consecutive week, led by a rebound in purchases.
- A storm unleashed tornadoes across the southern US late yesterday, killing at least 48 people, sparking a pipeline explosion in Tennessee and destroying homes and businesses from Alabama to Kentucky.
- US credit markets are trading as if the economy is in a recession because investors’ “fear has overwhelmed greed,” Goldman Sachs(GS) CFO Viniar said.
- Polo Ralph Lauren(RL) said third-quarter profit rose more than analysts estimated and increased its earnings forecast.
- Iran Sex Changes Get Mullahs’ Money as Regime Persecutes Gays.
- Crude oil is falling more than $1 a barrel after the government reported that US inventories surged the most in almost four years as refineries slowed operating rates and imports climbed.
- Copper is rising over 2% as inventories monitored by the LME dropped for a fourth-straight session.
- Plosser Says ‘Aggressive’ Rate Cuts Were Appropriate.
- US derivatives exchanges including CME Group(CME) tumbled in NY trading after the Dept. of Justice said their trade-processing practices may be anti-competitive.

Wall Street Journal:
- Icahn Set to Host Blog on Corporate Abuses.
- The Big Four accounting firms plan to hire roughly the same number – or more – of interns and entry-level employees for 2008 as they did last year.
- Credit Agricole SA’s Calyon unit is leading talks to bail out Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., a NYC-based bond insurer that was downgraded by ratings firms.

Morningstar:
- Goldman(GS) Hungry To Buy Distressed Mortgage Debt.

Forbes:
- After dominating the US wireless spectrum auction for months, from influencing the terms of the auction to bidding, it looks like Google(GOOG) is off the hook.

Washington Times:
- US and Iraqi negotiators will begin meeting later this month and hope to conclude a strategic compact on long-term economic, political and military cooperation by midsummer, Iraq’s US ambassador said yesterday. The agreement would not endorse permanent US military bases in his country or “tie the hands” of future US or Iraqi leaders. “We also believe that any future American president would see the benefits to the US national interest of keeping an alliance with Iraq,” said Iraq’s US ambassador.

Dagens Industri:
- Ericsson AB sees no decline in demand from operators who want the Swedish company to manage their networks, citing Jan Frykhammar, head of Ericsson’s global services division.

Ethiopian News Agency:
- MIDROC Gold Mine Ltd. will almost double production over the next decade, citing CEO Arega Yirdaw. The company plans to increase output to as much as 6.52 metric tons a year, from 3.5 tons currently and expects to produce more than 70 tons of gold over the next 13 years.