Sunday, November 13, 2005

Monday Watch

Weekend Headlines
Bloomberg:
- France banned all public gatherings in central Paris that might create disorder, to head off calls for increased violence in the capital after two weeks of rioting in French suburbs that has led to a total of 2,440 arrests. 502 cars were torched around the country last night.
- Wal-Mart said November sales at its US stores are rising within its forecast.
- The US dollar rose to a two-year high against the euro this week on speculation the gap between the strength of the US economy and Europe will widen further after widespread violence in France.
- Advantest Corp., the world’s biggest maker of memory-chip testing equipment, said operating profit will rise 67% in three years, helped by sales of machines that can be adapted to check different types of semiconductors.
- Georgia-Pacific agreed to be bought by closely held Koch Industries for $13.2 billion in cash.
- Gold’s surge to a 17-year high is prompting the biggest miners of the metal to seek new deposits from Mali to Russia.
- US private donations to aid hurricane relief may reach a record, topping private charity after Sept. 11.

Wall Street Journal:
- The US government filed a “statement of interest” in a US court, asking to keep its BlackBerry devices running in case a court orders Research In Motion Ltd. to shut them down.
- Toyota Motor Corp. is seeking a site in the US to build a new engine and transmission plant over the next few years to keep up with production demands in the area.

NY Times:
- Many Arabs view Israel as their enemy, which diverts their attention from social, political, religious and economic issues.
- The Chinese government is struggling to maintain people’s confidence in the legal system even after changes in 1996 that permitted a shift toward an adversarial trial process.
- The US Defense Department on Monday will urge suppliers to adopt radio-identification tags like those used by Wal-Mart Stores to track inventory.

Washington Post:
- The experience at the Federal Reserve of Ben Bernanke should dispel any doubts he would effectively work with financial markets.
- Viacom is changing almost all of the Web sites for its CBS and UPN networks to include a search tool that displays sponsored advertising links along with news.
- The Democratic National Committee under the chairmanship of Howard Dean trails Republicans in campaign fundraising by a two-to-one margin, prompting concern among party strategists the party will be at a disadvantage in the 2006 midterm elections.

Crain’s Chicago Business:
- Motorola Inc. is lobbying the US government to convert to digital television from the analog standard, freeing up broadcast airwaves for use by new devices and creating a “multibillion-dollar opportunity” for the company.

Detroit News:
- GM, which posted a sales decline of 26% last month after ending steep discounts, plans to offer more incentives beginning tomorrow to spur sales.

Star-Ledger:
- A $6 billion urban school construction program in New Jersey was crippled by waste, poor management and political favors.

Financial Times:
- Google will offer a free service analyzing the effectiveness of Web sites and online advertising, citing Google engineering director Paul Moret.
- Wal-Mart may provide facilities in its stores for customers to download feature films on to portable discs.

Economist.com:
- After losing $43 billion in five years, airlines are at the beginning of a massive boom.

Business:
- Acambis Plc, a UK vaccine-maker, will this week say its experimental flu vaccine, which could protect against avian influenza, is ready to start clinical trials.

Times of London:
- Thames River Capital, a London-based hedge fund with more than $7 billion of assets, may ask its US customers to leave rather than register with the SEC.
- Queen Elizabeth II’s security has been tightened after the British monarch was described by a senior al-Qaeda official in a video message as “one of the severest enemies of Islam.

Weekend Recommendations
Barron's:
- Had positive comments on AVII, NOK, MSFT, ACN, SAPE, SAY, INFY, IBM, SAP, S and PNC.

Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on AMGN.

Night Trading
Asian indices are unch. to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.08%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.15%.

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/Estimate
A/.37
AIG/.78
LOW/.77
TSN/.30
WMT/.57

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Economic Releases
- None of note

BOTTOM LINE: Asian Indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology stocks in the region after an optimistic outlook by Advantest. I expect US stocks to open mixed. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.

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