Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Japan’s industrial production unexpectedly fell, snapping the longest expansion in nine years, as companies scaled back output from record levels.
- PIMCO the biggest buyer of emerging-market debt, plans to start an Asian bond fund within six months to capitalize on demand for the region’s debt.
- General Motors(GM) said it is in talks to sell part of its stake in Japanese truckmaker Isuzu Motors to raise cash.

Commercial Times:
- Taiwan’s Advanced Semiconductor Engineering and Siliconware Precision Industries reached their maximum utilization capacity in the first quarter.

Financial Times:
- Alcatel SA(ALA) and Lucent Technologies(LU) may agree on a merger within days.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
- None of note

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +.25% to +.75% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.02%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.06%.

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
- (AGE)/.76
- (BBY)/1.29
- (KMX)/.38
- (CMVT)/.19
- (PTEN)/.73
- (SRR)/.25
- (TXI)/.12

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Final 4Q GDP is estimated to rise 1.7% versus a prior estimate of a 1.6% increase.
- Final 4Q GDP Price Index is estimated to rise 3.3% versus a prior estimate of a 3.3% rise.
- Final 4Q Personal Consumption is estimated to rise 1.2% versus a prior estimate of a 1.2% increase.
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to rise 305K versus 302K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 2475K versus 2472K prior.

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

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