Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Vonage Holdings, a money-losing pioneer in the Internet phone-service business, raised $531.3 million in an IPO today as it seeks to keep ahead of competitors such as AT&T(T) and Comcast(CMCSA).
- The US dollar gained for a second day in Asia after a World Health Organization report said seven Indonesians may have contracted bird flu from other people, bolstering demand for safer assets.
- China raised fuel prices for the second time this year, which may slow demand growth further, according to analysts.

AP:
- Iran shut down a newspaper and detained its chief editor and cartoonist today for publishing a cartoon that has spawned riots by ethnic Azeris. The response, the first since President Ahmadinejad came to power, is a sign the Iranian government does not want a spotlight on the country’s internal divisions in the midst of a showdown with the US and Europe over nuclear issues.

Nihon Keizai:
- Japan and the US will issue a joint statement in June saying they will expand their defense alliance on a global scale.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
- None of note

Night Trading
Asian Indices are unch. to +.75% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.20%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.14%.

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
- (CWTR)/.11
- (DLTR)/.30
- (EV)/.32
- (DCI)/.41
- (JLG)/.34
- (NTAP)/.23
- (PETC)/.18
- (WSM)/.17

Upcoming Splits
- (JCOM) 2-for-1
- (UN) 3-for-1
- (NHY) 5-for-1
- (ITW) 2-for-1
- (SHOO) 3-for-2

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Durable Goods Orders for April are estimated to fall .5% versus a 6.4% gain in March.
- Durables Ex Transportation for April are estimated to rise .5% versus a 3.3% rise in March.

10:00 am EST
- New Home Sales for April are estimated to fall to 1135K versus 1213K in March.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are higher, weighed down by commodity stocks in the region. I expect US equities to open modestly higher and to fall modestly into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.

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