Friday, December 09, 2005

Friday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Japan’s economy grew 1.0% in the third quarter, a slower pace than originally estimated, partly after the previous quarter’s figure was revised higher.
- OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, is preparing to keep output close to a 25-year high as oil trades near $60 a barrel and demand peaks during the Northern Hemisphere winter.
- A NY appeals court ruled that marriage is a union between a man and a woman under the state’s Domestic Relations Law, overturning a judge’s decision in February that found the statute unconstitutional.

Financial Times:
- European investment in research and development is falling further behind the US and Japan, citing research by the European Commission and Eurostat.

Economic Daily:
- Google may choose Taiwan to base its mainframe system for its Asian markets.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on QCOM, DHR, CVS, DNA, CMX, MDT and MMM.
- Reiterated Underperform on CMOS.

Smith Barney:
- Reiterated Buy on GOOG, target $490.

Business Week:
- Shares of Expeditors International(EXPD) of Washington, a Seattle freight forwarder and customs broker, show strong momentum, rising from $50 in May to $71 on Dec. 7.
- Sonus Pharmaceuticals(SNUS) may be worth $12 a share in a year, Mark Lappe of Efficacy Capital said.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +.25% to +1.0% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.04%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated unch.

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
LGND/-.16
MATK/.10

Upcoming Splits
CDIS 2-for-1
TXU 2-for-1

Economic Releases
9:45 am EST
- Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence for December is estimated to rise to 85.0 versus a reading of 81.6 in November.

10:00 am EST
- Wholesale Inventories for October are estimated to rise .5% versus a .6% increase in September.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are higher, boosted by Financial shares in the region. I expect US equities to open mixed and to rally modestly into the afternoon, finishing mixed-to-higher. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

No comments: