Late-Night Headlines Bloomberg: - The US dollar is set for a third winning week against the yen on speculation a government report on US hiring will add to evidence economic strength. - Rio Tinto Group(RIO) is studying new projects and expansion of mines that may cost as much as $9 billion. - The US Senate voted to extend the USA Patriot Act until March 10, narrowly averting the expiration of the anti-terrorism law and giving lawmakers more time to negotiate revisions. - Oil analysts were the least optimistic in five weeks about price gains after the US said it won’t immediately seek UN sanctions to pressure Iran to halt its nuclear program.
Wall Street Journal: - Billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, whose Mittal Steel Co. has offered to buy Arcelor SA, will consider lending shares in Mittal Steel to hedge funds to facilitate the $23.6 billion hostile takeover bid.
Financial Times: - Harvard University’s former money manager Jack Meyer raised over $5 billion to start his Convexity Capital Management LP hedge fund.
Late Buy/Sell Recommendations Goldman Sachs: - Reiterated Outperform on (LVS), (TYC), (MYL), (ALEX) and (WCC). - Reiterated Underperform on (DRI), (CTL), (EW), (GTW) and (EOP).
Business Week: - The shares of Document Security Systems(DMC), a maker of anti-counterfeiting gear, may benefit from rising sales, citing Otis Bradley of Gilford Securities. - The shares of Renovis Inc.(RNVS), a biotech company that went public in 2004, will probably rise on positive results from clinical trials of the Cerovive stroke drug.
Night Trading Asian Indices are -% to +% on average. S&P 500 indicated -%. NASDAQ 100 indicated -%.
Economic Releases 8:30 am EST - The Change in Non-farm Payrolls for January is estimated at 250K versus 108K in December. - The Unemployment Rate for January is estimated to remain at 4.9% versus 4.9% in December. - The Change in Manufacturing Payrolls for January is estimated at 7K versus 18K in December. - Average Hourly Earnings for January are estimated to rise .3% versus a .3% increase in December.
9:45 am EST - Final Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence for January is estimated to fall to 93.1 versus a prior estimate of 93.4.
10:00 am EST - Factory Orders for December are estimated to rise 1.0% versus a 2.5% gain in November. - ISM Non-Manufacturing for January is estimated to fall to 60.0 versus a reading of 61.0 in December.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by exporters in the region. I expect US equities to open lower and to rally later in the afternoon, fishing modestly higher. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.
