Stocks Higher into Final Hour on Less Financial Sector Pessimism, Lower Energy Prices, Diminishing Credit Angst

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is higher into the final hour on gains in my Technology longs, Healthcare longs and Medical longs. I have not traded today, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market is positive as the advance/decline line is higher, most sectors are rising and volume is below average. Investor anxiety is above average. Today’s overall market action is mildly bullish. The VIX is falling 7.59% and is very high at 42.23. The ISE Sentiment Index is below average at 106.0 and the total put/call is below average at .73. Finally, the NYSE Arms has been running around average most of the day, hitting 1.21 at its intraday peak, and is currently .88. The Euro Financial Sector Credit Default Swap Index is falling .90% today to 111.0 basis points. This index is up from a low of 52.66 on May 5^th, but down from 157.81 on Sept. 16^th. The North American Investment Grade Credit Default Swap Index is falling 2.49% to 199.0 basis points. The TED spread is falling 3.02% to 105 basis points. The TED spread is now down 361 basis points in over three months. The 2-year swap spread is falling 3.58% to 64.0 basis points. The Libor-OIS spread is rising 1.50% to 96 basis points. The 10-year TIPS spread, a good gauge of inflation expectations, is up 5 basis points to .82%, which is down 188 basis points in over six months and near the lowest level since Bloomberg record-keeping began in August 1998. The 10-year TIPS spread bottomed at .65% in October 1998 during the Asian financial crisis and at 1.24% in October 2001 during the technology bubble-bursting meltdown. The 3-month T-Bill is yielding .13%, which is up 3 basis points today. The 10-year T-note is trading as if it is forming another bottom around current levels. As well, the CRB Index appears to be rolling over again at its 50-day moving average. The (XLF) is trading much better now that the majority of earnings’ releases are out of the way. Healthcare-related stocks are top performers today. I continue to overweight these shares. Nikkei futures indicate an +60 open in Japan and DAX futures indicate an +26 open in Germany tomorrow. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-higher into the close from current levels on short-covering, lower energy prices, bargain-hunting and declining credit market angst.

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

- The worst U.S. housing recession since the Great Depression may end this year as the inventory of homes declines on a drop in new construction, said Karl Case, co-creator of the S&P Case/Shiller home price indexes. U.S. builders broke ground in December on 550,000 houses, the fewest in five decades of government statistics, the Commerce Department said last week.

- House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said he would consider expanding the $700 billion financial-rescue fund, and expects the Obama administration will soon address banks’ toxic assets.

- The cost to protect North American corporate bonds from default fell as companies including Texas Instruments(TXN) and Verizon Communications(VZ) posted profit that exceeded or met analysts’ estimates. Credit-default swaps on the Markit CDX North America Investment-Grade index of 125 companies in the US and Canada, which fall as sentiment improves, dropped 7 basis points to 199 basis points at 8:55 am in NY, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group.

- California mortgage defaults dropped 7.7% in the fourth quarter, MDA DataQuick said. Fourth-quarter defaults were down 20% form the previous three months.

- State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the investment management arm of

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), today announced the launch of the

SPDR^® Barclays Capital Short Term International Treasury Bond ETF

(Symbol: BWZ) and the SPDR Barclays Capital Mortgage Backed Bond ETF

(Symbol: MBG)¹. Designed to provide investors with cost-efficient exposure

to precise segments of the fixed income market, the two new SPDR exchange

traded funds (ETFs) will begin trading on the NYSE Arca on January 27,

2009.

- Copper prices plunged, heading for the largest drop in almost eight weeks, as the slumping global economy slashed metal demand and led to surging warehouse inventories. Copper stockpiles in storage facilities monitored by the London Metal Exchange jumped 2.8 percent today to 451,800 metric tons, the most in five years. Since June 30, supplies have more than tripled, helping to drive prices down by 61 percent.

- Crude oil for March delivery fell $2.31, or 5.1 percent, to $43.42 a barrel at 1:19 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the biggest decline since Jan. 12. Prices are down 2.6 percent this year and are 52 percent lower than a year ago. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release its weekly report on oil inventories at about 4:30 p.m. in Washington today.

- Brazilian loan defaults surged last month to the highest since September 2002 as Latin America’s largest economy slowed and the credit crisis increased borrowing costs, making it more difficult for consumers to repay debt.

- William Dudley, named president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York today, kept up his stamina during last year’s all-night talks on the financial crisis by napping on the carpet of his office at the bank. For two years Dudley was a top lieutenant to former New York Fed chief Timothy Geithner, who was sworn in yesterday as U.S. Treasury secretary. Now, the central bank is relying on Dudley’s frontline crisis experience, financial expertise and capacity for long hours to guide the Fed’s biggest district bank and coordinate policies toward Wall Street firms including his former employer, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Goldman Sachs, where Dudley worked for more than two decades and in 1995 became head U.S. economist, has long contributed top policy makers. Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin both headed the bank before becoming Treasury secretaries. While “too many from Goldman have their hand in this thing, on balance I like and trust Dudley,” said Robert Brusca, a former chief of the New York Fed’s international division and now president of Fact & Opinion Economics. Stephen Friedman, a former Goldman Sachs chairman who was also director of the National Economic Council from 2002 to 2004, headed the panel to find a successor to Geithner, 47.

- India’s central bank lowered its growth forecast and signaled further cuts in interest rates from record lows to encourage lending and spur economic expansion.

Wall Street Journal:

- The House version of the economic stimulus package includes more than $1 billion in spending for the Department of Homeland Security. The biggest single chunk of that is $500 million for the Transportation Security Administration to spend on what the bill calls “explosive detection systems and emerging checkpoint technologies.” A Senate source said that chamber’s plan is very similar. So what does that language mean?

- This week, GM(GM) leaders told Saturn dealers that funding has been allocated to build Saturn vehicles through 2012 and in some cases 2013. But they stopped short of saying Saturn would get new products and won’t be killed.

CNBC.com:
- Now On Sale: Once-Great Stocks For Less Than $10.

NY Times:

- Facing intense criticism for his handling of the appointment of a new United States senator, Gov. David A. Paterson tried to distance himself on Monday from the tarnishing of Caroline Kennedy, and abruptly canceled a trip to Switzerland he had planned for this week.

- President Obama is moving quickly to act on the environmental promises that were a centerpiece of his campaign. But tackling global warming will be far more difficult — and more costly — than the new emissions standards for automobiles he ordered with the stroke of a pen on Monday. Already, the Congressional Democrats Mr. Obama will need to carry out his mandate are feuding with one another. By coincidence or design, most of the policy makers on Capitol Hill and in the administration charged with shaping legislation to address global warming come from California or the East Coast, regions that lead the country in environmental regulation and the push for renewable energy sources. That is a problem, says a group of Democratic lawmakers from the Midwest and Plains States, which are heavily dependent on coal and manufacturing. The lawmakers have banded together to fight legislation they think might further damage their economies.

- Education is one area the Internet has not yet transformed, and a new crop of start-ups and venture capitalists are rushing to fill that void, creating Web tools that serve as home tutors for kids who need help outside the classroom. The latest entry is DreamBox Learning, which on Tuesday is unveiling a Web site to teach math to kids in kindergarten through second grade. The lessons are taught through video games. Kids pick a theme, such as an arcade or adventure park, and a character, such as a dinosaur or pirate, and play an online game with a hidden math lesson.

NY Post:

- Hedge-fund firm Tremont Group Holdings, which lost more than half of its assets to alleged scammer Bernard Madoff, is winding down operations and could shutter its doors by summer, sources tell The Post. The Rye, NY, fund, which is owned by life-insurance company MassMutual, has cut its staff by about 40 percent, The Post has learned, and people familiar with the situation said some remaining employees have been told they may be let go in June with severance packages. Tremont spokesman Montieth Illingworth declined to comment on the layoffs, but confirmed that the firm has closed its Rye Investment Management unit, which offered a line of single-manager funds, and which invested a whopping $3.1 billion with Madoff.

LA Times:

- The NFL is willing to consider a return to its Los Angeles roots. Evidently, so are the San Diego Chargers.

OrlandoSentinel:

- Existing-home sales nationwide showed surprising strength in December, as the thaw in sales heated up in Florida. Resales of single-family homes in the Sunshine State surged 27 percent last month compared with December 2007 -- the fourth straight year-over-year increase for monthly existing-home sales, the Florida Association of Realtors said Monday in its year-end report. Resales of condominiums statewide rose 12 percent from a year ago. Metropolitan Orlando's 34 percent increase in December single-family resales was the fifth-best showing statewide in percentage terms and second only to Tampa in number of sales.

TimesOnline:

- Hedge funds were accused today of gambling against the taxpayer when they bet that the share prices of British banks will fall. A powerful cross-party committee of MPs also told the UK's embattled hedge fund managers that they were "snubbing the public" by refusing to sign up to a basic set of standards for best-practice behavior. In a showdown appearance before the Treasury Select Committee, four leading hedge fund managers were forced to defend allegations that they were profiting from the country's economic misery. They also fought off calls for greater scrutiny from regulators. Just a day after it emerged that Paulson & Co, a renowned American hedge fund, had made an estimated £270 million in profits from betting against Royal Bank of Scotland, which is majority state-owned, some of the industry's best-known players were thrown onto the back foot over the controversial practice of short-selling.

Vedomosti:

- Russia may run a budget deficit this year equivalent to 7.6% of GDP, citing a government official.

recast to "

La Libre:

- European Central Bank Governing Council member Guy Quaden said the bank may lower borrowing costs further. “We are probably ready to go lower” with interest rates,

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:
Large-cap Value (+.85%)

Sector Underperformers:
Airlines (-7.54%), Education (-2.48%) and Telecom (-1.82%)

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:
OLN, CAL, WLL, CNQR, MANT, NYB and AVY

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:
1) LAMR 2) NFLX 3) VMW 4) FNM 5) IBN

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:
Small-cap Growth (+.79%)

Sector Outperformers:
Steel (+3.51%), HMOs (+3.11%) and Semis (+2.58%)

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
HMC, TM, RTP, SI, GE, MWE, LGCY, SHW, CVTX, CRXL, NFLX, NNDS, PRSP, SUNH, ZION, CHKP, FCFS, LIHR, STLD, AFAM, BCA, AFL, ENR, XSD, CR, MCK, BTU, WYE, HSY, CNW, PTV, X and SI

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
1) NFLX 2) ADI 3) CA 4) TXN 5) STJ

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
Exchange Volume vs. Average
NYSE Unusual Volume
NASDAQ Unusual Volume
Hot Spots
Option Dragon
NASDAQ 100 Heatmap
DJIA Quick Charts
Chart Toppers
Real-Time Intraday Quote/Chart
Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes

Tuesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:

- Texas Instruments Inc.(TXN), the second- largest U.S. chipmaker, topped fourth-quarter profit estimates and announced plans to cut 12 percent of jobs as it copes with a slowdown in orders. The shares rose 5.1 percent in after-hours trading.

- Netflix Inc.(NFLX), the largest U.S. mail- order movie service, gained 7.3 percent in late U.S. trading after the company’s first-quarter and full-year revenue forecasts topped analysts’ estimates and it announced a plan to buy back as much as $175 million in stock.

- SL Green Realty Corp.(SLG), New York's biggest office landlord, said profit fell 29 percent on investment losses in a commercial property financing firm. SL Green issued today's earnings report after the close of New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares rose 32 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $15.46 at 4:25 p.m.

- Amgen Inc.(AMGN), the world’s largest biotechnology company, reported fourth-quarter sales of its core products to treat anemia were lower than analysts expected, driving the shares down 1.9% in extended trading. Net income climbed 15 percent to $961 million, or 91 cents a share, from $835 million, or 76 cents a share, a year earlier, the Thousand Oaks, California-based company said today in a statement.

- American Express Co.(AXP), the biggest U.S. credit-card company by purchases, rose as much as 7.2 percent in late New York trading after posting a fourth-quarter profit that was better than the most pessimistic forecasts.

- Putting patients’ health records on computer systems instead of handwritten paper charts reduces medical complications, deaths and costs, according to a study of 41 Texas hospitals. The study, published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine, was the first to look at multiple hospitals and to track how doctors used the technology, said David Bates, a Harvard University health policy researcher who was not involved in the study.

- The government wouldn’t be able to spend at least one-fourth of a proposed $825 billion economic stimulus plan until after 2010, according to a new report that suggests it may take longer than expected to boost the economy. A Congressional Budget Office analysis of President Barack Obama’s plan found that most of the approximately $355 billion in proposed discretionary spending on highways, renewable energy and other initiatives wouldn’t be spent before 2011. The government would spend about $26 billion of the money this year and $110 billion more next year, the report said. About $103 billion would be spent in 2011, while $53 billion would be spent in 2012 and $63 billion between 2013 and 2019, the report said. Republicans said the analysis showed that the plan, unveiled last week by House Democrats, won’t get money into the economy quickly enough. “We have serious concerns that the bulk of this spending won’t have an immediate or short-term positive effect on the economic crisis,” said Jennifer Hing, a spokeswoman for Representative Jerry Lewis of California, the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. “This is especially troubling given the massive size of the package and the enormous burden of debt it is placing on the taxpayers.”

- The outlook for emerging-market government debt has deteriorated because of the credit crisis, slump in commodity prices and global recession, Fitch Ratings said. “The economic and credit outlook for emerging-market economies has worsened dramatically as the credit crunch that originated in the so-called advanced economies contaminates the developing and emerging world,” Fitch analysts led by Sam Fox wrote in a report. Emerging-market sovereign creditworthiness is more “at risk” than in developed economics because of foreign-currency denominated bank liabilities, currency “mismatches” in the private sector and central banks’ focus on exchange-rate stability, the analysts wrote. “The risk of multiple economic and financial crises across emerging markets is now greater than at any time since the Asian Crisis of 1997-1998,” they wrote. In Latin America, countries with weak credit and reliance on commodity exports are “especially vulnerable,” the analysts wrote. Investors pulled $355 million out of funds that invest in developing-nation debt in the week ended Jan. 21, the biggest weekly outflow since Dec. 10, ING Financial Bank NV said in a report, citing data published by EPFR Global, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research company.

- The difference between two-year Treasuries notes and the fed funds target will be wider this year than the last time the Federal Reserve began increasing borrowing costs, according to UBS AG. “As we go through 2009, people are likely to foresee an end to the monetary stimulus, and therefore they will start to cheapen up or demand a higher yield on two-year notes even before the Fed has raised rates,” said William O’Donnell, head of U.S. government bond strategy at UBS, one of the 17 primary dealers required to participate in Treasury auctions. “The market’s anticipating that every day we are getting closer to the end of the monetary stimulus.” The spread between the two-year note’s yield and the fed funds target will increase to between 200 and 225 basis points by year-end, UBS said in a research note today. The difference widened to 193 basis points in June 2004, three weeks before the Fed began increasing borrowing costs after a series of cuts.

- The cost of protecting corporate bonds from default fell in Australia after an industry report showed business sentiment improved. The Markit iTraxx Australia index declined nine basis points to 325 as of 12:30 pm in Sydney, according to Westpac Banking Corp.

- A New York businessman sought by U.S. authorities in connection with an alleged $380 million Ponzi scheme was arrested and charged with one count of mail fraud. Nicholas Cosmo, founder of Agape World Inc. in Hauppauge, New York, surrendered at the Long Island Railroad train station in Hicksville, New York. He is suspected of defrauding thousands of investors through his firm, which purports to provide bridge loans, said a person who wasn’t authorized to speak about the case. He was brought in handcuffs to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Hicksville at about 7:30 p.m.

- Mark Ernst, who left the top job at tax preparer H&R Block Inc. after more than $1 billion in losses tied to subprime mortgages, was named a deputy commissioner at the Internal Revenue Service. Ernst, 50, will oversee operations support, according to an IRS statement distributed today.

- President Barack Obama, already overhauling automakers through a U.S. bailout, gains a stronger grip on their future with his move toward letting California set emission standards for the nation. General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. would have to shift their product mix to more cars and smaller trucks to meet California’s proposed standards, said Brian Johnson, an analyst for Barclays Capital, in a note today to investors. Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency today to consider approving California’s request for a state program aimed at cutting auto emissions tied to global warming by 30 percent by 2016. Automakers have said permitting California’s standards would add billions of dollars in costs to an industry struggling after auto sales plunged to 13.2 million in 2008 from the average of about 16 million annually in the past decade.

- The yen weakened for a second day against the Australian dollar as gains in Asian stocks reduced demand for the currency as a haven from the financial crisis. Japan’s currency also fell against the Brazilian real and the South African rand as equities rose after Barclays Plc said it doesn’t need to increase capital further.

Wall Street Journal:

- The impeachment trial of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich kicked off Monday without the state's leader, as he continued a national media blitz lambasting his accusers. As the proceedings began, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Fitzgerald asked if the governor or his legal counsel was present. Several seconds of silence followed. The seat for the defense was empty; Mr. Blagojevich had decided to make his case on national TV instead.

- The Senate confirmed Timothy Geithner as President Barack Obama's Treasury secretary by a 60-34 vote, paving the way for the new administration to usher in its financial-rescue plan. With Mr. Geithner now officially on board, the Obama administration is expected to detail shortly efforts to shore up the financial sector.

MarketWatch.com:
- When bad news is good news. Commentary: High unemployment doesn’t have to be bad for stocks. Over the last six decades, it turns out, the stock market on average has performed better when the nation's unemployment rate was higher than when it was lower. It's quite a marked difference, in fact. Consider a study conducted by Ned Davis Research, the quantitative research firm, in which the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500 index (SPX) since 1948 was correlated with different levels of the unemployment rate. According to the firm, the S&P 500 produced an average annualized gain of 13.5% when the unemployment rate was above 6%, in contrast to just 2.1% when it was at or below 4.3%. When the unemployment rate was in between 4.3% and 6%, the S&P 500 produced an average annualized gain of 5.2%.

NY Times:

- Medicare, with little public debate, has expanded its coverage of drugs for cancer treatments not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Cancer doctors had clamored for the changes, saying that some of these treatments, known as off-label uses, were essential if patients were to receive the most up-to-date care. But for many such uses there is scant clinical evidence that the drugs are effective, despite costing as much as $10,000 a month. Because the drugs may represent a patient’s last hope, though, doctors are often willing to try them.

- Digital harassment has gotten to be such a problem that it’s now the focus of a campaign from the Advertising Council.

CNNMoney.com:
- 25 top-paying companies.

IBD:

- MasTec (MTZ) certainly intends to do better this time around. About three-quarters of its business comes from installing telecom infrastructure. So after its client base went south in 2001, MasTec endured four straight years of shrinking revenue and red ink along with a federal probe into its accounting practices.

Politico:

- President Barack Obama presented a humble and conciliatory face of America to the Islamic world Monday in the first formal interview since he assumed office, stressing his own Muslim ties and hopes for a Palestinian state, and avoiding a belligerent tone — even when asked if America could "live with" an Iranian nuclear weapon. The interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya Network was a dramatic piece of public diplomacy aimed at capitalizing on the new American president's international popularity, though it balanced America's traditional commitment to Israel, whose security Obama called "paramount.' "I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries," Obama said, according to a White House transcript. "My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy."

Washington Post:

- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could tap the government for up to $51 billion in coming weeks, exceeding some Wall Street estimates, so they can continue to operate as the largest providers of funding for U.S. residential mortgages.

Silicon Alley Insider:

- There are fresh signs Google(GOOG) may be making online storage a more formal product: Google-watcher Alex Chitu notes there's new programming changes to Google Apps that strongly hint a Google webdrive is coming soon.

AP:

- President Barack Obama's enthusiasm for alternative energy is being buffeted by two political forces on opposite sides of plans to build the nation's first offshore wind farm off Cape Cod. A leading foe of the $1 billion project is Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., an early and influential backer of Obama's presidential bid. A strong proponent is Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a close friend of Obama and a source for some of his best campaign speech lines. Kennedy has fought the Cape Wind project for eight years, arguing it would kill birds and endanger sea life while imperiling the scenic area's tourism and fishing industries. The turbines would stand 440 feet above sea level when the tallest blades are pointing straight up. The Kennedy family's oceanside Hyannis Port, Mass., compound would have a clear view of the project to be located 4.7 miles offshore, but Kennedy says it is not why he opposes the project. Patrick has championed the wind farm, embracing it as part of a push to make his state a leader in alternative energy.

- The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed former White House adviser Karl Rove to testify about the Bush administration's firing of U.S. attorneys. The subpoena Monday by Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers continues a long-running legal battle.

Financial Times:
- Paulson & Co, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds, has made a profit of at least £270m betting on a fall in the share price of Royal Bank of Scotland over the past four months. New York-based Paulson, run by billionaire John Paulson, covered its “short” position in RBS on Friday, according to a regulatory filing, dropping below the 0.25 per cent disclosure limit. The scale of the profit is likely to reinvigorate the debate over short selling, which has seen archbishops and politicians criticize the practice and the Financial Services Authority ban additional shorting of banks for months.

- William Dudley is to succeed Tim Geithner as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, people familiar with the process have told the Financial Times. Mr Geithner was on Monday night confirmed as US Treasury secretary by a full vote of the Senate, following delays caused by revelations that he had underpaid taxes early this decade.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (STLD), target $18.

- Reiterated Buy on (BEAT), target $30.

- We look at fundamentals of the chip industry and conclude that the potential that a bottom in semiconductor fundamentals is in place(although the slope of any recovery is apt to be muted). This potential, in our opinion, supports the case for rally in semiconductor names from their bottoms. In our analysis we note: 1) chipmakers are under-shipping end-demand by a wide margin 4Q08/1Q09 2) production increases going in this cycle was less than 2000, but in production cuts were greater 3) end-market inventories have been quickly brought under control 4) chip EPS estimates already reflect -71% y/y and earnings capitulation has been achieved. From a stock perspective, we favor quality balance sheets, strong competitive position, and nimble product portfolios(typically fables companies: NVDA, QCOM, ALTR, INTC).

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +.75% to +3.25% on average.
S&P 500 futures +1.19%.
NASDAQ 100 futures +1.04%.

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
Upgrades/Downgrades
Rasmussen Business/Economy Polling

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
- (JEC)/.90

- (ENR)/1.73

- (FPL)/.90

- (NUE)/.12

- (TRV)/1.45

- (DAL)/-.32

- (BMY)/.41

- (VLO)/.91

- (EMC)/.23

- (MHP)/.38

- (LXK)/.73

- (GLW)/.18

- (BJS)/.47

- (WAT)/.95

- (HSY)/.54

- (BTU)/.73

- (X)/.75

- (DD)/-.24

- (STJ)/.58

- (VZ)/.61

- (AKS)/-.03

- (SYK)/.74

- (GILD)/.56

- (ALTR)/.27

- (JAVA)/-.08

- (DV)/.59

- (YHOO)/.12

- (ETFC)/-.23

- (NSC)/1.18

Economic Releases

10:00 am EST

- Consumer Confidence for January is estimated to rise to 39.0 versus 38.0 in December.

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Other Potential Market Movers
- The S&P/CS Home Price Index, Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index, weekly retail sales reports, Citi Financial Services Conference, (SNX) analyst meeting, (DMND) analyst meeting, (GMR) analyst meeting, (GNK) analyst meeting, (ANW) analyst meeting and (PBR) analyst meeting could also impact trading today.

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