Asian indices are mostly higher as losses in China are being offset by gains in India and Australia. Tom Online Inc., an Internet company controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, said it wants to buy or merge with rivals to compete with larger Chinese-language search engines such as Sohu.com Inc., the Financial Times reported. European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co., Europe's largest aerospace company, plans to cooperate with Northrop Grumman Corp. to build and promote Eurohawk, an unmanned surveillance airplane, Financial Times Deutschland said. Starbucks Corp. plans to open four stores in Indonesia this year to tap growing demand for coffee, Bisnis Indonesia reported. Toys "R" Us Inc., the No. 2 US toy seller, has received offers for over $5.5 billion for the company, including its Babies R Us unit, from Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. and Cerberus Capital Management LP, the Financial Times said. Citigroup and six other overseas banks may be allowed to trade eight foreign currency pairs in China starting from May, China Business News said. No signs of anthrax were found in Pentagon mail facilities in follow-up tests conducted today, a Defense Department official said. Iraq's dominant Shiite political group overcame differences with the Kurds about the extent of autonomy in the north as the National Assembly prepared to meet for the first time, Bloomberg reported. Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian said today China's anti-secession law will have a "severe negative impact" on cross-Strait relations, Bloomberg reported. Japan's ban on US beef imports because of disease concerns may result in the US Senate calling for trade sanctions against the country, the Daily Yomiuri reported.
Late Recommendations
- Goldman Sachs: Reiterated Outperform on AET, WYNN and ACN.
Night Trading
- Asian Indices are -.50% to +.50% on average.
- S&P 500 indicated +.11%.
- NASDAQ 100 indicated +.10%.
Morning Preview
US AM Market Call
NASDAQ 100 Pre-Market Indicator/Heat Map
Pre-market Commentary
Before the Bell CNBC Video(bottom right)
Asian Indices
European Indices
Top 20 Business Stories
In Play
Bond Ticker
Analyst Actions
Macro Calls
Rasmussen Consumer/Investor Daily Indices
CNBC Guest Schedule
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
KDE/.47
ALO/.50
BSC/2.34
MLHR/.21
HOTT/.38
KG/.24
PFGC/.32
ROST/.34
TEX/.45
VECO/.06
WOR/.35
WWCA/.33
Splits
XTO 4-for-3
FPL 2-for-1
Economic Data
- The 4Q Current Account Balance is estimated to fall to -$183.0B versus -$164.7B in 3Q.
- Housing Starts for February are estimated to fall to 2040K versus 2159K in January.
- Building Permits for February are estimated to fall to 2067K versus 2105K in January.
- Industrial Production for February is estimated to rise .4% versus unchanged in January.
- Capacity Utilization for February is estimated to rise to 79.2% versus a reading of 79.0% in January.
BOTTOM LINE: I expect US equities to open modestly higher in the morning on a bounce after today's losses and lower energy prices. However, stocks may fall modestly later in the day on another rise in oil and interest rates. The Portfolio is 25% net short heading into tomorrow. I have recently been having some technical difficulties publishing this blog. I am working on the issue with Blogger, the host of this site. These issues also may be causing this page to load slowly. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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