The PremiereTrade Market Wrap for 10/19/07

Workers at Chrysler LLC's pickup truck plant in suburban St. Louis rejected a tentative four-year labor contract between the United Auto Workers and the automaker. Union officials said workers were bothered by the contract's creation of "core" and "non-core" workers at the Fenton plant, with newly hired non-core workers being paid a lower hourly wage.

Northern Rock PLC said it was replacing its chairman, after two months of troubles during which the mortgage lender took emergency funding from the Bank of England and saw the first run on a British bank in nearly a century.

Defrauded investors in Fannie Mae (FNM) are getting a $356 million payout from securities regulators stemming from the mortgage-finance giant's settlement with the government.

Government-controlled investment funds from China, Saudi Arabia and other countries will face pressure this week from finance ministers of the world's richest countries concerned about their lack of transparency and potential to gain stakes in companies linked to national security.

In Forex News Today

The dollar hit a new all time-low against the 13-nation euro, breaking through the previous record, set a day earlier, as the U.S. currency remained under pressure. The further dip in the dollar followed another weak economic report from Washington.

Currency trading markets are likely to see extensive volatility in the week ahead, as Forex speculators are largely unsure of what to expect from this weekend?s G7 summit in Washington DC. The event has historically forced extensive moves in the Japanese Yen and other major currencies, and this particular meeting should be no exception.

Many believe that recent official commentary on exchange rates will not be enough to influence all the G7 Financial Ministers and create a distinguishable shift in the accompanying summit text. Proponents of such arguments claim that pressure from European politicians will be unable to convince US and Japanese officials that such rhetoric shifts are in their best interests.

Extended weakness in the Japanese Yen and the US dollar may produce a fairly significant shift in text regarding currency policies among the G-7 Ministers. The trade-weighted US Dollar index now remains at its lowest levels in nearly three decades, depreciating nearly five percent since the April G7 summit.

Scheduled Economic Reports (Next Week)

Existing Home Sales (Sep), Durable Goods (Sep), New Home Sales (Sep), Consumer Sentiment (Oct)

In Earnings News

Wachovia Corp. (WB), said net income fell to $1.69 billion, or 89 cents per share, in the July-September period compared with $1.88 billion or $1.17 per share in the year-ago period.

Google Inc. (GOOG) said net income for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 rose to $1.07 billion, or $3.38 a share, compared to $733.4 million, or $2.36 a share in the same quarter last year.

McDonald's Corp.'s (MCD) third-quarter earnings climbed 27% to $1.07 billion, or 89 cents a share.

Caterpillar (CAT) said net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 increased to $927 million, or $1.40 a share, from $769 million.

Scheduled Earnings Reports (Next Week)

Apple, Merck, Royal Caribbean, BP plc, American Express, Netflix, 1-800-Flowers, Amazon, UAL Corp, Anheuser Busch, Motorola, Boeing, Microsoft

Stocks in the News

Cytec Industries (CYT) reported third-quarter net income of $52.4 million, or $1.06 a share.

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) reported third-quarter net income of $40.9 million, or $1.04 a share, compared with $17.3 million, or 45 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

Steve Madden Ltd (SHOO) said that unnamed third parties have expressed interest in buying the company.