Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Moody’s Corp.(MCO) said it will pay rent of $37.70 a square foot after incentives, or $22.2 million a year, for its new headquarter at 7 World Trade Center, in lower Manhattan’s largest office lease since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
- Marsh & McLennan Cos.(MMC), the world’s largest insurance brokerage, may sell Putnam Investments after managed assets at the mutual-fund unit dropped to their lowest level in more than nine years.
- Thailand’s currency and bonds slumped after the military yesterday seized control of Bangkok from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The stock market was closed for the day.
- Crude oil traded near a six-month low in New York after plunging yesterday on signs rising fuel stockpiles and protracted negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have prompted investment funds to cut their holdings.
- Broadcom Corp., which is restating results to reflect $1.5 billion in costs related to options irregularities, said CFO Ruehle quit, effective immediately.

Wall Street Journal:
- The University of Michigan overtook Dartmouth College as the top US business school, with Carnegie Mellon Univ. placing third, citing a Harris Interactive Poll.

San Francisco Chronicle:
- John Mark Karr, who claimed responsibility for the 1996 death of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, would be freed on probation under a plea deal offered today in California.

Financial Times:
- Russia’s threatened suspension of Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s $20 billion Sakhalin-2 natural gas project is causing a global backlash against President Putin’s tightening grip on the country’s energy industry.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (FISV), target $53.
- Reiterated Buy on (AZO), target $124.

CSFB:
- Reiterated Outperform on (FDS), target $53.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -1.0% to -.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.01%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.18%.

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
- (AIR)/.28
- (KMX)/.41
- (CTAS)/.51
- (CC)/.05
- (CMTL)/.32
- (MLHR)/.39
- (MS)/1.37

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
10:30 am EST
- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude drawdown of 2,000,000 barrels. Gasoline supplies are expected to rise by 650,000 barrels. Distillate inventories are expected to increase by 1,800,000 barrels. Finally, refinery utilization is expected to fall .5%.

2:15 pm EST
- The FOMC is expected to leave the benchmark Fed Funds rate unchanged at 5.25%.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower, weighed down by commodity and automaker shares in the region. I expect US equities to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

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