Monday Watch

Weekend Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Apple’s iPhone debuted to crowds in US cities from New York to San Francisco as shoppers snapped up the handset and praised its slim design.
- Apple’s US debut of the iPhone drew thousands of shoppers over the weekend, emptying most AT&T’s(T) inventory and causing network glitches as the flood of customers began activating the device.
- The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, BCE Inc.’s biggest shareholder, agreed to buy the telephone service provider for $48.5 billion.
- Security at US airports was increased today, ahead of the July 4^th holiday, and the threat to commercial aviation remained high after terrorist incidents in the UK, White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
- A burning car crashed through the main glass doors of Glasgow airport’s passenger terminal at 3:15 pm local time, a police spokeswoman said. The incident occurred a day after police dismantled two car bombs in central London.
- Northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous government will offer 40 oil and gas blocks for exploration, part of plans to increase daily output to 1 million barrels in the next five years.
- President Bush said the US is seeing “hopeful signs” from its troop increase in Iraq, including a drop in sectarian murders and suicide attacks.
- Police arrested five people and searched houses after an attack on Glasgow Intl. Airport and two attempted London car bombings forced Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s new government to step up security in the UK.
- Hard-Landing Risk is Rising for China’s Economy.
- Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group and partners agreed to buy a US wireless tower operator for $1.4 billion, adding American assets to a UK network bought in April. Macquarie Communications and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners will buy Boca Raton, Florida-based Global Tower Partners, which has 2,500 towers and 4,600 rooftop wireless communications points across the US and Puerto Rico.
- Investors and economists who’ve grown used to European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet’s vow to be on constant lookout for signs of faster inflation are likely to find the term disappearing from his pronouncements.
- Confidence among Japan’s largest manufacturers held near a two-year high and companies said they’re increasing spending, supporting the central bank’s argument for a third interest-rate increase in seven-years.
- Manufacturing activity in China expanded at a slower pace in June, according to a survey of purchasing managers released today.

Wall Street Journal:
- The European Union is following the US’s lead in banning some seafood farmed in China, citing EU spokesman Philip Tod.
- AT&T(T) agreed to acquire Dobson Communications, a wireless carrier, in a deal worth $2.5 billion to $3 billion.

NY Times:
- Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are taking advantage of patent expirations to combine old drugs to replenish their pipelines faster and at lower costs.
- President Bush will seek help from Russian leader Vladimir Putin in putting economic pressure on Iran to get the nation to halt its nuclear program.
- General Mills(GIS), Kellogg(K) and Toys “R” Us have increased scrutiny of food ingredients and products they import from China or receive from suppliers.
- US Deal-Making topped $1 Trillion in First Half. Slowdown? What slowdown?

Forbes:
- The world’s richest individual’s halved their allocations to alternative investments in 2006, largely in favor of real estate and equity investments, but the appetite for hedge funds and private equity is poised to return, according to a report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.

ABC News:
- Democratic Senator Barack Obama raised more than $30 million for his US presidential campaign in the second quarter. Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has said that they expect the NY Democrat to have brought in $27 million in the second quarter.

Barron’s:
- Investor’s Guide to the Presidential Candidates.
- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney strikes some voters as just too slick, and his adherence to Mormonism has hurt him in the polls. Democrat Bill Richardson, the garrulous governor of New Mexico, has bloviated himself from near the front of his party's field to the back. Yet Romney would be the best Republican candidate for stocks, bonds and the economy, and Richardson, hands down, would be the best Democrat.

ifixit:
- Technicians explain the iPhone’s construction and identify specific parts.

Crain’s Chicago Business:
- Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates and Manulife Financial’s John Hancock subsidiary are buying Illinois farmland to cash in on rising demand for corn to make ethanol.

SILICONVALLEY.COM:
- Months after release, demand for Nintendo’s Wii still far outpaces supply.

Economist:
- As the line blurs between hedge funds and banks, a bit of mystique goes missing.

Financial Times:
- McDonald’s Corp.(MCD) plans to convert cooking oil from its restaurants into biodiesel to run its 155 delivery trucks in the UK.

Observer:
- Two UAE-based funds plan to buy one or both of Ford’s(F) Jaguar and Land Rover units.

Times of London:
- Carlyle Group is among buyout firms who have made informal approaches for Virgin Media Inc.(VMED).

Sunday Times:
- GLG Partners LP, a London-based hedge fund manager, is dividing an 11% stake in the firm valued at $400 million among 16 of its best-performing traders.

Telegraph:
- China’s stock market boom is “too hot.”

South China Morning Post:
- Property prices in Beijing will probably fall after next year’s Olympic Games, citing a government-controlled research group. There is now a bubble forming in the city’s property market, quoting a report released by the Beijing Olympics Economic Research Institute. The institute estimates average annual demand of 20 million square-meters in new flats, a figure that is “way below the built up areas.”

Weekend Recommendations
Barron's:
- Made positive comments on (SSW), (SAH) and (UAG).
- Made negative comments on (DFS-W) and (AAPL).

Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy (BWA), raised target to $99.

Night Trading
Asian indices are unch. to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.20%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.18%.

Morning Preview
US AM Market Call
NASDAQ 100 Pre-Market Indicator/Heat Map
Pre-market Commentary
Pre-market Stock Quote/Chart
Before the Bell CNBC Video(bottom right)
Global Commentary
WSJ Intl Markets Performance
Commodity Movers
Top 25 Stories
Top 20 Business Stories
Today in IBD
In Play
Bond Ticker
Economic Preview/Calendar
Daily Stock Events
Macro Calls
Upgrades/Downgrades
Rasmussen Business/Economy Polling
CNBC Guest Schedule

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
- (NDN)/.01
- (UAPH)/1.35

Upcoming Splits
- (CXW) 2-for-1

Economic Releases
10:00 am EST
- ISM Manufacturing for June is estimated at 55.0 versus a reading of 55.0 in May.
- The ISM Prices Paid Index for June is estimated to fall to 68.5 from 71.0 in May.

Other Potential Market Movers
- The (SFC) shareholders meeting could also impact trading on Monday.

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