Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The South Korean government has yet to see any signs that North Korea is preparing for an imminent nuclear weapons test.
- Australian consumer prices rose less than economists expected in the first quarter, signaling the central bank may refrain from raising interest rates again this year.
- The US dollar rose against the yen and traded near an eight-day high versus the euro in Asia on speculation US growth will outpace that of Japan and Europe, heightening the appeal of US assets.
- STMicroelectronics NV, Europe's No.2 maker of semiconductors, forecast second-quarter sales that may miss analysts' estimates as memory-chip prices fall.

Financial Times:
- The European Union may broaden its investigation into Chinese textile exports.

Tex Report:
- World nickel supply will meet demand of 1.31 million tons this year.

South China Morning Post:
- Property prices in Shanghai, China's most expensive city, have begun to fall after the government introduced lending curbs and a capital gains tax. Average prices fell 15% to $914 per square meter last week.

Xinhua News Agency:
- China's government is working on several plans, including improving the quality of listed companies and developing institutional investors, to bolster stock markets.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on AIG, AMGN, DD, SLB, COH, FDC, HMA and X.
- Reiterated Underperform on SLG, AVB, CR, AKS and AAI.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -1.0% to -.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.06%.
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
Daily Stock Events
Macro Calls
Rasmussen Consumer/Investor Daily Indices
CNBC Guest Schedule

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
AGN/.67
AHC/2.09
BUD/.63
APPB/.35
BHI/.50
BDX/.67
BIIB/.37
BA/.55
CDN/.14
CTX/2.50
CHIR/.17
CLF/1.05
CL/.61
COP/3.27
DO/.18
DRIV/.50
JDSU/-.02
JNY/.70
KMG/2.20
MCHP/.25
NEM/.30
PFCB/.39
PD/3.35
PHM/1.43
SWK/.74
SBUX/.24
STN/.66
TDW/.35
RIG/.17
VZ/.60
WLP/1.83
XMSR/-.70

Splits
None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 EST:
- Durable Goods Orders for March are estimated to rise .3% versus a .5% increase in February.
- Durables Ex Transportation for March are estimated to rise .5% versus no change in February.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower on weakness in exporters after declines in the US. I expect US equities to open modestly lower on tech earnings worries and continuing concerns over slowing global growth. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into tomorrow.

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