Monday, August 02, 2004

Monday Watch

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
ASE/.12
AMT/-.16
AVNX/-.18
MVSN/.18
NKTR/-.29
MNT/.34
NTES/.39
PCLN/.31
PG/.48
RJR/1.24

Splits
GTK 2-for-1
VAR 2-for-1

Economic Data
Construction Spending for June estimated unch. versus a .3% rise in May.
ISM Manufacturing for July estimated at 62.0 versus 61.1 in June.
ISM Prices Paid for July estimated at 79.0 versus 81.0 in June.

Weekend Recommendations
Forbes on Fox had guests that were positive on AMGN, DBD and QLGC. Bulls and Bears had guests that were positive on HNZ, ANF, AW, HMC, CRA, mixed on BUD, BA, KO, VZ and negative on IBM, BMY. Cashin' In had guests that were positive on WSM, SBUX, mixed on TEVA, LPNT, XMSR and negative on CSCO. Wall St. Week w/Fortune had guests that were positive on ERES and WM. Barron's had positive comments on BSC, CBH, JJZ and negative comments on MDTL. Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on NOI, MET and Underperform on FRNT, UNM, DTE.

Weekend News
Getty Images, the world's largest provider of moving and still images to businesses, has set aside $400 million to expand in Asia and Europe, the London-based Times reported. Bristol-Myers Squibb is close to concluding its legal process with the SEC, the Financial Times reported. The ACLU board is split over a pledge made to U.S. officials that it wouldn't knowingly employ people whose names appear on terrorism watch lists, the New York Times reported. Illinois Governor Blagojevich signed a law that prohibits suits against restaurants from customers that blame them for their obesity, the Chicago Tribune reported. Triarc Cos., which operates Arby's fast-food restaurants, wants to make additional acquisitions in the money-management industry after agreeing to buy a majority stake in an investment company, the New York Times reported. The U.S. federal agency that insures company pensions may face a wave of bankruptcies and defaults on pensions in the airline industry, the New York Times reported. The al-Qaeda terrorist network is planning suicide attacks against corporations based in New York City, ABC News reported. The U.S. has been assigning hundreds of detainees to Iraqi courts for trial to take advantage of a new national criminal court for terrorism suspects, the NY Times said. New Jersey's gain in employment to an all-time high was led by the southern part of the state, particularly by new jobs in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties as well as Monmouth and Ocean counties, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. AT&T may become the target of a takeover by Bellsouth or a foreign telecom company, the Star-Ledger reported. Afghanistan has registered 90% of its estimated 9.8 million eligible voters for presidential elections in October, the BBC said. Police in Newark, NJ, put up metal fences around the Prudential Financial building and blocked off two streets after federal authorities said the building is a terrorist target, the AP reported. The Port Authority of NY and NJ will close the Holland Tunnel to eastbound commercial traffic starting at midnight tonight, CNN said. Unisys may say today that it will offer the Linux operating system, as well as Microsoft's Windows, on its ES 7000 servers, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. special forces have been hunting Saudi Arabian terrorists who have re-established secret al-Qaeda training camps in the north eastern quarter of Sudan, the Sunday Telegraph said. Pfizer and Cleveland Clinic researchers may have uncovered a new route to keep the body from making a substance that clogs the brain in Alzheimer's disease, according to a study in the Aug. 1 Nature Medicine. Aluminum Corp. of China may be forced to cut prices as importers of the semi-finished product used to make aluminum metal sell it at a 16% discount, Bloomberg said. Senator Kerry lost ground in his race against President Bush in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll after accepting the Democratic presidential nomination, though Kerry gained in a Newsweek survey, Bloomberg reported. Kerry would be the first candidate since 1972 to lose ground after a national convention in a Gallup Poll, USA Today said. Cox Enterprises, which owns 62% of Cox Communications, said it wants to pay $7.9 billion for the shares of the fourth-largest U.S. cable-tv company it doesn't already own, Bloomberg reported. Sun Micro may boost growth by making acquisitions and has looked at buying software maker Novell, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Late-Night Trading
Asian indices are mostly lower, -1.25% to unch. on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.39%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +-.53%.

BOTTOM LINE: I expect U.S. stocks to open lower in the morning on terrorism fears and higher oil prices. However, the major indices will likely rally off the morning lows on better economic reports. The Portfolio is 125% net long heading into tomorrow.

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