Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- US drivers braced for gasoline prices that may average $3 a gallon for regular grade in coming days, after Hurricane Katrina shut down oil refineries near the Gulf of Mexico.
- Japanese government bonds gained, sending 10-year yields to the lowest in more than four weeks, after a government report showed industrial production dropped more than twice as much as expected in July.
- The death toll from Hurricane Katrina may be in the hundreds.
- Australia’s July building approvals fell the most in three years and credit growth had the smallest increase since October 2003, signaling the fifth-biggest Asian Pacific economy is slowing.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
None of note

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.50% to -.25% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.17%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.29%.

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
FRE/1.77
TIF/.24

Upcoming Splits
STSA 3-for-2

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Preliminary 2Q GDP is estimated to rise 3.4% versus a prior estimate of 3.4%.
- Preliminary 2Q GDP Price Index is estimated to rise 2.4% versus a prior estimate of a 2.4% gain.
- Preliminary 2Q Personal Consumption is estimated to rise 3.4% versus a prior estimate of a 3.3% increase.

10:00 pm EST
- Chicago Purchasing Manager for August is estimated to fall to 61.0 from 63.5 in July.

10:30 pm EST
- Platt's estimates weekly crude inventories fell 800,000 barrels, gasoline inventories fell 1.7 million barrels, distillate inventories rose 1.4 million barrels and refinery utilization rose .75%.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower on increasing concerns over the impact of energy prices on exporters in the region. I expect US equities to open lower, however shares may rise modestly later in the day on short-covering and month-end window-dressing. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.

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