Thursday, October 13, 2005

Friday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The US dollar is poised for a fifth weekly advance against the yen, the longest winning streak since May last year.
- Samsung Electronics forecast prices for liquid-crystal displays and mobile phones will rise as demand recovers after four quarters of declining profit.
- Crude oil in NY is falling a second day on expectations increased refinery output will help ensure adequate supplies of gasoline and heating fuel.

Nihon Keizai:
- Toyota Motor will release a gasoline-electric hybrid version of its new Lexus LS in 2007.

Standard:
- Playboy Enterprises is in talks with partners to develop casinos in Macau and London, citing Chairwoman and CEO Hefner.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on BSX.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.50% to -.25% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.14%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.16%.

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
NDN/.11
PLB/.05
ACI/.29
BBT/.77
BSG/.18
BSX/.44
FDC/.60
GE/.44
HIB/.49
JBHT/.33
KRI/.66
OSI/.47
RFX/.23
SKS/-.20
UNH/.63

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- The Consumer Price Index for September is estimated to rise .9% versus a .5% increase in August.
- The CPI Ex Food & Energy for September is estimated to rise .2% versus a .1% increase in August.
- Advance Retail Sales for September are estimated to rise .5% versus a 2.1% decline in August.
- Retail Sales Less Autos for September are estimated to rise .8% versus a 1.0% increase in August.

9:15 am EST
- Industrial Production for September is estimated to decline .4% versus a .1% increase in August.
- Capacity Utilization for September is estimated to fall to 79.4% versus 79.8% in August.

9:45 am EST
- Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence for October is estimated to rise to 80.0 versus a reading of 76.9 in September.

10:00 am EST
- Business Inventories for August are estimated to rise .2% versus a .5% decline in July.

2:30 pm EST
- The Monthly Budget Surplus for September is estimated to rise to $36.0B versus $24.6B in August.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, spurred by losses in commodity producing companies in the region. I expect US equities to open mixed-to-lower and to rally modestly later in the day. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.

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