Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Thursday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- US lawmakers and regulators should reduce penalties on companies and their auditors to help American financial markets compete globally, a group of prominent executives and academics backed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said.
- Tom Purves, CEO of BMW’s North America unit, expects to introduce a hydrogen-gasoline car in 2007.

Wall Street Journal:
- More US mothers take time off to raise their children during their first years even as their financial contribution to family income rises, citing a US Labor Statistics Bureau study to be released within a few weeks. In 2004, 51% of married mothers of infants worked, down from about 59% in 1997. Mothers with bachelor’s degrees or higher had the largest drop in work-force participation. Wives contributed 34.8% of families’ income, on average, in 2004, up from 32.7% in 1997.

Financial Times:
- The market for investing in the global infrastructure industry is overheated due to overvaluation and excessive leverage, citing Standard & Poor’s infrastructure director Michael Wilkins. Increased demand has resulted in the infrastructure industry becoming “an asset bubble similar to the dotcom era,” Wilkins said.
- Signet Group Plc, the world’s largest specialty jewelry retailer, will seek acquisitions in the US, citing CEO Burman.

China Daily:
- NYSE Group(NYX) plans to open an office in Beijing to convince more Chinese companies to list shares publicly on the NYSE, citing CEO Thain.
- China’s production of aluminum, used in car and plane parts, rose 17% in October from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (DKS), raised target to $62.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +.75% to +1.25% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.01%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.01%.

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
Conference Calendar
Daily Stock Events
Macro Calls
Rasmussen Consumer/Investor Daily Indices
CNBC Guest Schedule

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
- (CAKE)/.28
- (PLCE)/1.20
- (DLM)/.13
- (FNSR)/.03
- (HRB)/-.32
- (HNZ)/.60
- (OVTI)/.30
- (SFD)/.46

Upcoming Splits
- (EAT) 3-for-2
- (NT) 1-for-10

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Personal Income for October is estimated to rise .5% versus a .5% gain in September.
- Personal Spending for October is estimated to rise .1% versus a .1% rise in September.
- PCE Core for October is estimated to rise .1% versus a .2% increase in September.
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 315K versus 321K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 2440K versus 2454K prior.

10:00 am EST
- Chicago Purchasing Manager for November is estimated to rise to 54.4 versus a reading of 53.5 in October.

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

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