Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The US House approved a $30.8 billion spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security that boosts funds for border protection.
- Companies worldwide from Fannie Mae to Infineon Technologies AG replaced CEOs at a record rate last year as boards and investors sought to boost earnings and share prices, according to Booz Allen Hamilton.
- North Korea and South Korea failed to agree on a joint statement for their first bilateral talks in 10 months after the North balked at giving a commitment it will address concerns about its nuclear weapons program.

Wall Street Journal:
- Pequot Capital Management, a US hedge fund, formed a joint venture with Singapore-based Pangaea Capital Management to invest in distressed assets.

Washington Post:
- The Federal Communications Commission is set to issue rules tomorrow requiring most Internet phone services to provide 911 services.

Financial Times:
- T&F Informa Plc, publisher of Lloyd's List shipping newspaper and the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, may be planning to spend as much as $550 million on US acquisitions.

Shanghai Daily:
- Aluminum Corp. of China, parent of China's biggest aluminum maker, plans to raise output fivefold by 2010 to meet local demand and boost exports.

21st Century Business Herald:
- China may allow companies to award stock options to senior managers as part of employee incentives.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on MSFT.
- Reiterated Underperform on VRTX and AMAT.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.04%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.17%.

Morning Preview
US AM Market Call
NASDAQ 100 Pre-Market Indicator/Heat Map
Pre-market Commentary
Before the Bell CNBC Video(bottom right)
Global Commentary
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
BEAS/.09
POS/.37
EV/.28
FL/.38
HOTT/.11
INTU/1.55
PETM/.22
MW/.53
JBX/.50
SNPS/.08
TOO/.20
TLB/.63

Splits
MHP 2-for-1
NXY 2-for-1

Economic Releases
8:30 EST
- The Consumer Price Index for April is estimated to rise .4% versus a .6% gain in March.
- The CPI Ex Food & Energy for April is estimated to rise .2% versus a .4% increase in March.
- Energy Inventory Report

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher on strength in commodity-related shares in the region. I expect US equities to open mixed. However, stocks may rise later in the day as inflation worries subside. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

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