Thursday, January 06, 2005

Thursday Watch

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
ACN/.31
STZ/.85
EMMS/.28
SCHN/1.30

Splits
None of note.

Economic Data
Initial Jobless Claims for last week estimated at 331K versus 326K the prior week.
Continuing Claims estimated at N/A versus 2732K prior.

Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on DHR, IBM, FS, HOT, ACH and MDT. Goldman reiterated Underperform on ELX.

Late-Night News
Asian indices are mostly lower on declines in technology shares in the region. Harrah's Entertainment's planned joint venture with Gala Group, Britain's largest bingo club owner, to build eight casinos in the UK has ended, the London-based Times said. Taiwan, aiming to prod the development of its semiconductor and flat-panel display industries, plans to cut taxes for companies that invest in more advanced-production technology, the Commercial Times reported. Taiwan plans to sell 130 million Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing shares in the US this year, the Commercial Times said. Drug industry associations in the US, Europe and Japan may today pledge to publish more data on clinical trial of their drugs on the Internet, the Financial Times said. Michael Newdow, an atheist who won a lawsuit challenging the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, filed a new lawsuit in California to stop public schools from making students recite the pledge, the AP reported. Saudi Television Manufacturing plans this month to start selling the first mobile telephone made in Saudi Arabia with features such as Muslim prayer times in more than 5,000 cities worldwide, Arab News reported. Lakshmi Mittal, one of Britain's richest men, may suffer from a fall in steel prices as he puts together the world's biggest steelmaker, the Wall Street Journal reported. Microsoft may supply television software to Bell South and will work with TiVo to play recorded TV on phones and portable devices, part of Microsoft's efforts to sell more programs for consumer electronics, Bloomberg said.

Late-Night Trading
Asian Indices are -1.25% to -.25% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.11%
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.19%.

BOTTOM LINE: I expect U.S. equities to open modestly lower in the morning on weakness in Asia and continuing worries over slowing global growth. While a bounce could occur at any time, another push lower is likely before a solid trading bottom is in place. The Portfolio is market neutral heading into tomorrow.

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