Tuesday's Summary....

U.S. Markets

Dow -16.04 (-0.13%)
Nasdaq +14.30 (+0.61%)
S&P 500 +3.11 (-0.23%)

News That Moved the Market

Mixed Day After Weak Consumer Confidence Reading. Markets ended the day mostly flat despite some weak economic data. A little after the opening bell, the Conference Board announced that Consumer Confidence hit a 5-year low this month, coming in at 64.5. Economists were expecting a reading of 73.5. In addition, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed a 10.7% drop in prices, the largest drop in the index's history. Despite the bleak data, sellers were unable to keep control, and eventually a broad-based recovery pushed indices back to even. All sectors eventually finished with gains.

Clear Channel Deal Near Collapse. Late in the day, The Wall Street Journal Reported the Clear Channel (CCU, -5.5% day; -20.9% A.H.) $19 billion sale to Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners is in real danger of falling through. The deal was scheduled to close this week, but lenders, who are struggling through a tight credit market, are not comfortable with the agreement and may pull out.

Monsanto Shares Sprout. Monsanto (MON, +9.9%) increased its earnings estimates for 2008 to $3.38-$3.48/share, well ahead of the $2.87/share analyst were expecting. "Our growth over the next five years will be built on our seeds-and-traits platform, and we've already exceeded a number of milestones that put us ahead of our plan to deliver consistent, sustainable growth," Chairman Hugh Grant said.

Quick Tics:

Merrill Lynch (MER, -1.1%) downgraded Banc of America (BAC, -3.5%) to "Sell" from "Neutral"…

Tech Stocks outperformed the market, getting a boost from Citi's (C, +0.6%) upgrade of Yahoo (YHOO, +4.4%) to a "Buy" rating…

the S&P 500 is up 7.4% since last Monday.

Tomorrow Notable Earnings

Deutsche Bank (DB) Time Not Supplied
Oracle (ORCL) After Close

Economic Events:

8:30 AM: Durable Goods Orders
10:00 AM: New Home Sales
10:30 AM: Crude Inventories

Weakness Seen at Harley...

Soleil analysts say traffic at Harley-Davidson (HOG) stores has been down for several months, leading them to believe management's 2008 guidance is "too optimistic."

UBS Lowers Google's Price Target...

UBS still sees "many mid-to-longer-term positive potential catalysts" for Google (GOOG), but cuts revenue, margin and EPS estimates, saying Street views don't "adequately reflect decelerating volume growth" in its paid clicks ad business. Firm cuts price target to $570.

The stock closed yesterday at $460.

So, let me get this straight.....They still expect the stock to go up $110 points or 25% in the next 12 months....and I'm sure the stock will take a hit today....

Monsanto Raises Guidance....

Monsanto Co. (MON) Tuesday raised its fiscal 2008earnings guidance to $3.15 to $3.25 a share from its previously-issued view of$2.70 to $2.80 a share. For the second quarter, the company forecast earnings of $1.75 a share. The mean estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial is for 2008earnings of $2.87 a share and second-quarter earnings of $1.35 a share.

Monsanto expects as-reported earnings of $3.38 to $3.48 a share, including a22 cent settlement gain, for 2008 and as-reported earnings of $1.98 a share,including a 23 cent settlement gain, for the second quarter.

In addition, Monsanto said it now expects free cash flow of about $1.4billion for 2008, up from its prior guidance of $900 million to $1 billion. Thecompany expects net cash provided by operating activities of $2.45 billion, andnet cash required by investing activities of about $1.05 billion for 2008.

"Leading corn market share positions, accelerated biotechnology traitpenetration and new value generated by Roundup and other glyphosate-basedherbicides have led Monsanto Company to well exceed its expectations forsecond-quarter results and to raise its full-year guidance for ongoingearnings-per-share and free cash flow," the company said.

Ag stocks are flying premarket as a result......

Earnings Due Today....

COMPANIES REPORTING EARNINGS

• Fortress Investment Group (FIG). Expected to report Q4 earnings of $0.17 per share, according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

• Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL). Expected to post Q2 earnings of $0.18 per share, up 27.86% from the same quarter last year when the company earned $0.14 a share.

Today's Top Stories....

TOP STORIES

• Bank of America cut to 'sell' from 'neutral' at Merrill Lynch

• Goldman Sachs in talks for stake in British hedge fund Trafalgar - report

• Yahoo raised to 'buy' at Citi, tgt hiked to $34

• Capital One Financial cut to 'underperform' at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey

• Public Storage cut to 'neutral' from 'buy' at Banc of America

• Frontline shares jump in Oslo on possible bid for Overseas Shipholding

• Tiffany cut to 'perform' from 'outperform' at Oppenheimer

• D.R. Horton upgraded to 'strong buy' from 'mkt outperform' at JMP Sec.

• Global Payments, Planet Payment tie up for 'Pay in Your Currency' in China

• BHP Billiton resumes work at Neptune facility in Gulf of Mexico

Looking for a Natural Gas Play???

Chesapeake energizes outlook. Natural gas company Chesapeake Energy (CHK) boosted its production outlook for 2008-9, citing higher recovery expectations and increased drilling activity. It also announced a new discovery in Louisiana that could benefit the company more than any other play to date. CHK will move from 4 to 10 rigs by year-end and add more in 2009.

To facilitate additional drilling, it will increase capital expenditure by $275 million and $675 million for 2008 and 2009. In a departure, it said it is now developing four oil projects. A note of caution from energy analyst David Heikkinen: "Whenever we hear an increase in activity levels by the largest North American driller, that ought to bear a bit of cauti on for the gas markets."

Phillips Van Heusen Beats but Guides Lower...

Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. late Mondayreported fourth-quarter net earnings of $30.3 million, or 55 cents a share,above the 53-cent mean estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Net income in the year-earlier quarter was $26.8 million, or 47 cents ashare.

Revenue for the quarter ended Feb. 3 rose to $507 million from $487.6million a year earlier, versus the mean Street view of $587.5 million. Excluding the impact of the retail calendar shift and the extra week ofrevenue, revenue growth in the quarter would have been 20%, the New York-basedapparel and accessories company said. Phillips-Van Heusen expects first-quarter earnings per share of 86 cents to88 cents on revenue of around $615 million to $625 million.

The company sees a full-year per-share profit of $3.30 to $3.40 on revenueof about $2.6 billion. The mean analyst estimate is for first-quarter earnings 89 cents on revenueof $620.7 million and fiscal 2008 earnings of $3.47 on revenue of $2.43 billion.

Comverse Technology Receives Wells Notice...

Comverse Technology Inc. said lateMonday it has received a "Wells notice" from the Securities and ExchangeCommission, notifying Comverse that the SEC staff plans to recommend that theagency bring a civil action against the company. New York-based Comvere said the Wells notice relates to the SEC'sinvestigation of Comverse's past stock option grant practices and certainunrelated accounting matters.

Comverse will have the opportunity to respond before the staff makes aformal recommendation to the SEC regarding what action, if any, should bebrought.

Valero Projects a Miss...

Valero Energy, which in January saw improving refining market conditions, projects 1Q per-share earnings well below analyst estimates amid tight margins and outages at several plants. Shares fall 5% late.

Tata Motors Buys Jaguar and Land Rover....

Tata Motors, India's biggest automaker, buys Ford Motor 's Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands for $2.65 billion, according to reports from an Indian television channel. Tata Motors will sign a deal in London later today.