Thursday, August 18, 2005

Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Christopher Hill, the chief US negotiator in six-nation talks aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program, said he is hopeful an agreement can be reached in two months that helps the communist regime embrace the world economy.
- The US dollar is gaining against the yen in Asia on speculation reports today will show manufacturing in the Philadelphia region increased and an index of leading US economic indicators rose for a second straight month.
- Crude oil fell for a fourth day, heading for its biggest weekly decline since April, after a US government report showed gasoline demand dropped as the end of the summer driving season approaches.
- China and Russia started their first joint military exercise today, with army, naval and air force units performing maneuvers in the Russian Far East and China’s northern coastal Shandong province.

Washington Post:
- The US biotech industry may be profitable by 2008 as revenue and earnings grow at companies such as Amgen and Genentech, citing a study by consultant Ernst & Young.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on MDT.
- Reiterated Underperform on SIAL.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.50% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.02%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.09%.

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
ARO/.13
ADSK/.24
BKS/.20
BEBE/.19
DDS/-.28
GME/.15
GPS/.28
HIBB/.20
LTD/.24
MRVL/.29
TSA/.49
ELOS/.33

Upcoming Splits
None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to rise to 310K from 308K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 2575K versus 2573K prior.

10:00 am EST
- Leading Indicators for July are estimated to rise .1% versus a .9% increase in June.

12:00 pm EST
- Philadelphia Fed. for August is estimated to rise to 14.0 versus a reading of 9.6 in July.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, led down by energy-related shares in the region. I expect US equities to open mixed-to-higher on continuing strength in the tech sector. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.

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