Sunday, December 05, 2004

Monday Watch

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
CC/-.04
JOSB/.24
NAV/1.80

Splits
None of note.

Economic Data
None of note.

Weekend Recommendations
Wall Street Week w/Fortune had guests that were positive on CD, IACI, PCLN and TSG. Forbes on Fox had guests that were positive on BAY, JNJ, CSCO and mixed on AMLN. Cashin' In had guests that were positive on SYK, EBAY, WTR, mixed on MNST and negative on TZOO. Bulls and Bears had guests that were positive on BBY, BCF, ET, HD, MSFT, TASR, UPS, PBY, GTN, VIAB, mixed on DLTR, PIR, CY, KRI, JRC and negative on SIRI. Barron's had positive comments on MON, SYT, ELY. Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on EBAY, IR, NSM, AMGN, DNA, RIG, DO, SII, BHI, SLB and Underperform on EW.

Weekend News
North Korea has asked for 10,000 tons of emergency fuel oil as a condition for resuming six-party talks on its nuclear program, the Sankei newspaper reported. Sales of Abbott Labs' Mobic, which is used to treat arthritis, more than doubled in October after Merck's recall of Vioxx, the Chicago Tribune reported. Colombia agreed to extradite to the US Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, the former leader of the Cali cocaine cartel, the NY Times reported. The European Union wants to send up to 800 observers to the Ukraine to monitor the Dec. 26 re-run of last month's presidential election, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported. Officials from the U.S. and Canada agreed to a plan to clean up the Great Lakes and the major waterways that flow into them, the NY Times reported. Sanofi-Aventis SA's experimental anti-craving drug rimonabant, described in news reports and by word of mouth as a "miracle drug" to treat obesity, is viewed with some skepticism in the medical community, the NY Times reported. Food manufacturers are selling fewer low-carb products because of decreasing demand by diet conscious consumers, the NY Times reported. Pfizer filed a suit Friday against a new German drug price law because state-owned health insurers won't have to refund the full price of its cholesterol drug to users, Reuters said. Ford Motor CEO Bill Ford Jr. plans to revive his push to make the automaker more environmentally friendly now that he no longer has to deal with a financial crisis, Newsweek reported. The ratio between how much stock company insiders sell versus what they buy is skewed toward sales because shares purchased when insiders exercise stock options aren't usually counted, the NY Times said. Half of all U.S. parents are expected to purchase video games as gifts during the Christmas season, the Entertainment Software Association said. European online travel companies may become subject to takeovers as U.S. companies seek to boost their revenue, the Financial Times reported. Apple Computer will probably raise purchases of computers and other parts in Taiwan by about 25% to $5 billion next year, the Economic Daily News reported. An announcement about IBM's sale of is pc unit to Lenovo Group may be made as early as tomorrow, the Wall Street Journal reported. Goldcorp, Canada's fourth-largest gold producer, has agreed to buy Wheaton River Minerals for $1.8 billion in stock, CEO McEwen said. OPEC is likely to keep production at a 25-year high to prevent shortages during the U.S. winter and lower prices, OPEC officials said.

Late-Night Trading
Asian indices are mostly mixed, -.75% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated unch.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.09%.

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to open modestly higher on gains in tech stocks, optimism over weekend retail sales, declining energy prices and a stabilizing dollar. The Portfolio is 125% net long heading into tomorrow.

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