Bloomberg:
- President Bush and first lady Laura Bush will attend the funeral of Coretta Scott King, the widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., on Feb. 7 in Atlanta.
- Palestinian Authority officials may have stolen billions of dollars from public funds, Palestinian Attorney General Ahmed Al-Meghani said.
- The UN nuclear watchdog agency voted to refer Iran to the Security Council over a nuclear program other countries fear is a cover for making weapons.
- The US dollar rose for a fourth straight week against the euro and a third versus the yen as reports showing US economic growth remains robust bolstered expectations the Fed will lift rates again in March.
- President Bush said Congress should spend more money on grants for teachers and research-related tax breaks for companies as a way of helping the US compete economically with other countries.
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to jail diplomats and close refineries belonging to the US unit of the state oil company in an escalating war of words with the US.
- A majority of New York City voters would support Wal-Mart Stores(WMT) opening its first store in the city, according to a survey by Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
- Crude oil is rising almost 2% in NY after Iran said it will pursue nuclear research, defying the UN.
- The Pittsburgh Steels beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 for their record-tying fifth Super Bowl title.
Wall Street Journal:
- The US may allow its FAA to issue bonds to fund improvement to the nation’s air-traffic-control system.
- Citadel Broadcasting(CDL) is near an agreement to buy most of Walt Disney’s(DIS) radio assets for $2.7 billion in cash and stock.
- American International Group(AIG) is near a settlement of at least $1.5 billion with US federal and state authorities to resolve charges including accounting fraud.
Business Week:
- The US economy is a lot stronger than most think. In a knowledge-based world, the traditional measures don’t tell the whole story. Intangibles like R&D are tracked poorly, if at all. Factor them in and everything changes.
Washington Post:
- Several US states are toughening rules against underage drinking by charging offenders with possession of alcohol even if the evidence already has been consumed.
- President Bush will recommend cutting the growth or eliminating 141 programs to save $14.5 billion in his proposed budget for the 2007 fiscal year.
NY Times:
- President Bush may propose cutting the growth of Medicare spending by as much as $35 billion during the next five years in his fiscal 2007 budget.
- The growing popularity of refilled computer printer ink cartridges is lowering the cost of printing and forcing manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) to reduce the price of new cartridges.
- The lack of clarity about what information gleaned from the Internet can and can’t be used in civil court cases has forced most service providers to comply with legal requests for information.
- President Bush’s proposed fiscal 2007 budget will include about $250 million to continue technology research as part of a planned nuclear fuel partnership with Russia.
- Health-care courses are gaining popularity on US college campuses as students seek majors with good employment opportunities.
- President Bush is seeking $2.65 billion in spending to help protect the US against bird flu in the fiscal 2007 budget.
- Time Warner’s(TWX) AOL and Yahoo!(YHOO) plan to begin charging companies as much as 1 cent for each e-mail to bypass “spam” filters and go directly to users’ mailboxes.
- Investors have been buying up commodity stocks in a fashion likened to that of the internet bubble in the late 1990s, prompting concern from some analysts and investors that their value has risen too fast.
Newsweek:
- News Corp.(NWS) Chairman Rupert Murdoch will start a business-news cable channel in the US to rival GE’s CNBC by year-end.
- US Senator John McCain has signed up at least three of President Bush’s top fund-raisers for a potential White House run in 2008.
Financial Times:
- Google(GOOG) and Skype Technologies SA have joined other venture capitalists to invest in a Wi-Fi “Hotspot” network.
The Independent:
- Arcelor SA CEO Dolle, who is battling a hostile $28.2 billion takeover bid by Mittal Steel, said he saw no “white knight” coming to Arcelor’s rescue.
AFP:
- The Danish far left and far right are marching in Copenhagen today, protesting the international fall-out caused by a Danish newspaper publishing cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.
- Rioters in Lebanon attacked property and overturned cars in a Christian area of Beirut is protest to satirical cartoons portraying the Muslim prophet Mohammed that appeared in European newspapers.
Sunday Times:
- US buyout firms Kholberg Kravis Roberts and Hellman & Friedman LLC are putting together a bid worth $11 billion for credit checker Experian Information Solutions.
- GlaxoSmithKline Plc(GSK), the biggest drugmaker in the UK, may bid as much as $11 billion to acquires Serono SA, Europe’s largest biotechnology company.
Business Standard:
- Indian companies’ net profits grew 3.6% in the quarter ended Dec. 31, the slowest in 14 quarters, because of higher production costs.
Asharq al-Awsat:
- Twenty-three al-Qaeda prisoners, including those convicted of bombing the USS Cole, escaped jail in Yemen by digging a tunnel.
Weekend Recommendations
Barron's:
- Had positive comments on (ACP) and (GT).
- Had negative comments on (PSS).
Goldman Sachs:
- None of note
Night Trading
Asian indices are unch. to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.03%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated unch.
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
(ATVI)/.36
(CNET)/.15
(FLS)/.26
(HAS)/.58
(HUM)/.45
(JP)/1.01
(LPX)/.65
(MNT)/.38
(NBR)/1.31
(PPS)/.07
(RCII)/.44
(TIN)/.27
(DIS)/.30
(YUM)/.78
Upcoming Splits
- (NOBL) 3-for-2
Economic Releases
- None of note
BOTTOM LINE: Asian Indices are mostly higher, led by commodity shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to decline into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.
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