Monday Watch

Weekend Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Not since 1995 have so many CEOs of so many financial firms and their insiders bought so many shares in their companies as in August, when the market swooned.
- US stocks posted their biggest advance in five months, boosted by speculation the Fed will stem losses in credit markets and revive this year’s record pace of takeovers.
- The US dollar fell the most against the euro since March on diminished concern that US housing weakness will slow global growth.
- French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the days of “anti-Americanism” are over for the French government.
- Billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn may increase his stake in Biogen Idec(BIIB) because he says the company is undervalued and a takeover candidate, according to an individual familiar with Icahn’s thinking.
- NY law firms Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae are in merger discussions that would create a 1,300-lawyer firm with revenue of more than $900 million.
- The rally in 30-year Treasury bonds, the most profitable US government securities the past 15 months, may become a casualty of the Fed’s efforts to ease a widening credit crunch.
- Chrysler LLC will begin selling its first Dodge crossover next year as it looks to reach new customers.
- The New Zealand dollar is rising as buoyant US stocks boosted risk appetite and lured investors back to using cheaply borrowed yen to buy higher-yielding fixed income assets such as those in New Zealand.
- US Welcomes Iraqi Pledge to Boost Reconciliation.
- India will fight to “eliminate” terrorism, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said, after bombings in Hyderabad killed 42 people, in the worst incident since 65 people died when a train traveling to Pakistan was attacked in February.

Wall Street Journal:
-Altria Group(MO) will probably announce a spinoff of its Philip Morris International unit following a board meeting Aug. 29.
- Global copper prices have retreated from last year’s records, and demand could fall further because of greater use of substitutes for the metal, industry participants say.
- Pension Managers Rethink Their Love of Hedge Funds.

NY Times:
- McDonald’s(MCD) is upgrading its restaurants in Europe with designer chairs, leather upholstery and an expanded menu to create a more relaxed and sophisticated dining experience.
- Mind Over Matter, With a Machine’s Help.
- Vaccines and Their Promise Are Roaring Back.
- Calisthenics for the Older Mind, on the Home Computer.
- As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes.
- Home Depot(HD) has reached a tentative deal to sell its contractor-supply unit for $8.5 billion.

Barron’s:
- John W. Rafal of Essex Financial Services, which manages $2 billion, topped the list of the 100 best independent financial advisers compiled by consultant RJ Shook for Barron’s.

MarketWatch.com:
- Sony Corp.(SNE) has developed a prototype battery that runs on sugar, breaking down a glucose solution to generate electricity, media reports say.
- Stemming the inbox influx. The latest strategies and tips for wresting back control of your email.
- Dolby Labs(DLB) has traditionally been a low-profile high-prestige little company tucked into a corner of San Francisco raking in millions of dollars for various licenses for use of its proprietary sound processing system.

IBD:
- Supply Chain Software Once Again Hot Sector.

Reuters:
- Four leading investment banks and securities dealers will report fiscal third-quarter earnings next month, and markets are expecting some gloomy results.

CNNMoney.com:
- Hot 6-figure jobs now.
- Hackers say they’ve unlocked iPhone. A group called iPhoneSIMfree.com says that it has created software that allows you to run the iPhone on rival mobile services, such as T-Mobile.
- How to Unlock an iPhone, Three Different Ways.
- Debunking the Latest gPhone Rumor.

Washington Post:
- The US Democratic National Committee will decide today whether to shut Florida out of the party’s 2008 national convention after the state’s Democrats violated party rules.

Minyanville:
- 21 Bullish Predictions For Tech.

AP:
- The $100 bill’s latest counterfeit protection will be a thread that creates the illusion that Benjamin Franklin’s image moves, citing Crane & Co. Vice President Douglas Crane.

Financial Times:
- Hedge fund strategies, quants and the ‘copycat’ factor.
- Yields on three-month Treasury bills plummeted almost 200 basis points as investors scrambled for government paper. Surely, this dramatic flight to quality should have pushed gold through the roof. Yet the price of gold did not shift from exactly $657 per troy ounce from Friday to Tuesday.
- A US military commander says pulling troops out of Iraq by Christmas would be a “giant step backwards.”
- Wal-Mart is considering acquisitions in its home market for the first time in more than 25 years as it seeks to open smaller stores and cut its reliance on its giant Supercenters for future growth.
- Commercial banks with big balance sheets are poised for a resurgence, with the liquidity crisis having cut off cheap funding to pure capital markets participants and US regulators now easing curbs on banks’ capital deployment.
- VC funding for homeland security up by third.

Sunday Times:
- Temasek Holdings Ltd., an investment unit of Singapore’s government, wants to buy Nasdaq Stock Market’s(NDAQ) 30% stake in London Stock Exchange Plc.

Finanz & Wirtschaft:
- General Motors(GM) Vice Chairman Robert Lutz expects his company to bet the “most profitable” and largest carmaker in 10 years.

Il Sole-24 Ore:
- Blackstone Group LP, a US private-equity fund, may buy as much as 30% of Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA, Italy’s third-largest mobile-phone company.

Yonhap:
- North Korea is building fences along its border with China to halt an exodus of refugees.

Iran Daily:
- Trade between Iran and China will total $18 billion this year, up from $15 billion in 2006, citing Iran’s ambassador to Beijing.

Weekend Recommendations
Barron's:
- Made positive comments on (CLUB), (CHTT) and (CMCSK).

Citigroup:
- Rated (SMTC) Buy, target $23.
- Reiterated Buy on (MO), target $84..

Night Trading
Asian indices are +1.0% to +1.75% on average.
S&P 500 futures -.17%.
NASDAQ 100 futures -.10%.

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
- (SNDA)/.35
- (WINN)/.09

Upcoming Splits
- (NE) 2-for-1
- (SSYS) 2-for-1
- (TISI) 2-for-1

Economic Releases
10:00 am EST
- Existing Home Sales for July are estimated to fall to 5.7M versus 5.75M in June.

Other Potential Market Movers
- None of note

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