Program: Friday, January 6, 2006

Interest Rates & The Jobs Report Send The Bulls Running
Congress Is Ready To Rewrite The Rules On Pension Plans
Middleby Corporation Is Anything But Middle Of The Road
"Market Monitor"-Robert Drach, publisher of the "Drach Weekly Research Report"
"The Week Ahead"
Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Market Stats

1/06/06: Interest Rates & The Jobs Report Send The Bulls Running

PAUL KANGAS: The bulls were running on Wall Street today. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ Composite index closed at their highest levels in four-and-a- half years, with the blue chips up 77 points and the tech index up 28. Traders were encouraged by a weaker than expected employment report for December and the speculation it generated that the Fed may soon end its string of interest rate hikes. Scott Gurvey reports.

SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Employers added 108,000 jobs in December, fewer than expected. But the number of jobs added in November was revised upward by 90,000. That trend economists say, paints a picture of an economy which continues to grow at a manageable pace. Several sectors added jobs in December, including food services, professional and business services, health care and manufacturing. The jobs gain was the smallest of the year other than September and October, when the impact of hurricane Katrina slowed hiring. The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percent in December, down to 4.9 percent.

DAVID RESLER, CHIEF ECONOMIST, NOMURA SECURITIES: The two months together were not too much different than we had expected. And with the weather probably holding down employment gains in the construction industry, I think that this is overall a pretty constructive report and in fact the manufacturing sector posted one of its largest gains in almost two years and that increase is suggestive of a manufacturing industry that`s going to be expanding pretty rapidly.

GURVEY: For the year, the economy added two million jobs and the unemployment rate fell by half a percentage point. Average wages rose 3.1 percent. Economists say those higher wages should not be a concern for the Federal Reserve at this time, since they are still less than the current inflation rate of 3.5 percent. In fact many economists believe today`s report makes it more likely that the central bank will end its current round of interest rate hikes earlier than previously expected.

DAVID KELLY, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PUTNAM INVESTMENTS: I hope what they see is an economy which is basically balanced, because if they see that, then monetary policy ought to be balanced. And we do expect them to raise interest rates one more time at the end of this month to 4.5 percent. I hope they realize that`s enough and leave things there for the rest of the year.

GURVEY: The markets are uncertain about that forecast. Futures prices are indicating at least a fifty-fifty chance of another interest rate hike at the Fed`s March meeting. Scott Gurvey, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, New York.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. Copyright
(c) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.


01/06/06: Congress Is Ready To Rewrite The Rules On Pension Plans

LINDA O'BRYON: Shares of IBM rose almost 3 percent today on the news we told you about yesterday that it is freezing its defined pension plan. Private sector employers have been turning away from traditional pension plans for years. But as more and more public companies are making the move, Congress is moving as well to change the current pension rules. Stephanie Dhue reports.

STEPHANIE DHUE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Employees at IBM now join workers at Verizon, Motorola, Hewlett Packard and other companies who have seen their defined benefit pension plans frozen. The companies blame global competition and rising benefit costs. But experts say lawmakers are also responsible for not clearly defining pension rules.

SYLVESTER SCHIEBER, VICE PRES, WATSON WYATT: They are partly here to protect the general public, but they are also here to help establish a business environment in which companies can operate on an effective and efficient basis. They are not doing their job.

DHUE: It`s a delicate balancing act for congressional lawmakers. On one hand, they need to shore up the Federal agency that guarantees pensions, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. It currently has a $23 billion and growing, deficit. On the other hand, they want employers to keep defined benefit plans. But companies say defined benefit plans have become too dicey. Swings in interest rates and investment performances help determine the amounts businesses must contribute to their pension funds in a given year. Proposed legislation would require companies to fund plans at a higher rate and pay higher premiums to fund the PBGC, which insures the plans.

LYNN DUDLEY: Any time you change -- you increase cost and you increase risk for an employer voluntarily maintaining a benefits program, you are really forcing them to reconsider that program and it is a factor.

DHUE: Companies now don`t know how much to fund their plans since Congress has yet to pass new pension legislation.

RON GEBHARDTSBAUER, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ACTUARIES: If they don`t pass this by around April, employers have to put money into their pension plan on April 15 by law, and they need to know how much that is, so they really need Congress to pass it before then.

DHUE: Experts say if companies continue bailing out of defined benefit plans, Congress may have even bigger problems down the road. Retirement risk under 401(k) plans falls on the individual and many retirees may outlive their savings and turn to the government for help. Stephanie Dhue, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. Copyright (c) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

1/06/06: Middleby Corporation Is Anything But Middle Of The Road

LINDA O`BRYON: Quite a day it was. A 120-year-old company in the Midwest is proof that old dogs can learn new tricks and make money doing it. You`ve probably never heard of it, but the Middleby Corporation is one of the leading restaurant equipment manufacturers in the U.S. Diane Eastabrook profiles the company that says technology is its recipe for success.

DIANE EASTABROOK, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: In the commercial pizza making business, natural gas is currently one of the priciest commodities. But it wasn`t so expensive four years ago when Elgin Illinois-based Middleby Corporation rolled out it`s first energy efficient conveyor oven.

SELIM BASSOUL, CHAIRMAN & CEO, MIDDLEBY CORP: It took almost 18 months to convince people that energy is a big thing and finally we got a boost from first the prices of energy going up. The other thing is auto makers like Toyota and Honda helped us with their hybrid cars.

EASTABROOK: Innovation has helped make Middleby one of the most successful restaurant equipment manufacturers. Its brands include Marshal, Southbend, and Blodgett. Analysts expect the company`s 2005 sales to be up roughly 16 percent over the previous year, more than triple the industry average. Its stock is up nearly 80 percent year over year. For Bassoul, innovation begins with spotting trends. When he joined Middleby less than a decade ago, he focused the company`s attention on designing equipment for quick serve restaurants instead of mom and pop shops.

BASSOUL: We see a lot of menu changes. You see it also at TGI Friday`s or at the Papa Johns where they continue introducing addition to pizza, chicken wings, chicken strips and we see those driving the demands of our equipment.

EASTABROOK: Currently Middleby is demanding more from its products. It will soon begin selling a convection oven that doubles as a dishwasher and a stove with self-cleaning burners. So if I spill spaghetti sauce on one of these burners what would happen?

BASSOUL: It will de-clog itself. It will self clean itself.

EASTABROOK: Middleby also looks for ideas from its customers, like the culinary school at nearby Elgin Community College.

MIKE ZEMA: We have a piece of equipment for example, that`s used primarily for pasta cooking, but we found we could also use it for cooking vegetables in.

EASTABROOK: Middleby says it is proof that customers will pay for technology and that has helped it keep nearly all of its manufacturing in the U.S. But analysts says maintaining that strategy could become harder.

JAMES CLEMENT: What we think bears watching, particularly looking forward is you know to what extent does international competition come up? To what extent do competitors decide to perhaps leverage a lower cost workforce in for example Asia?

EASTABROOK: What`s up next for Middleby? Bassoul says the company is developing new technologies that will focus on automation, safety and even faster cooking and baking times. Diane Eastabrook, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Elgin, Illinois.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. Copyright (c) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

1/06/06: "Market Monitor"-Robert Drach, publisher of the "Drach Weekly Research Report"

PAUL KANGAS: My guest market monitor this week is Robert Drach, publisher of the "Drach Weekly Research Report" based in Tallahassee, Florida. Welcome back to NBR Bob.

ROBERT DRACH, " DRACH WEEKLY RESEARCH REPORT": Thank you Paul.

KANGAS: Gee, I hope you didn`t break your arm today reaching for Dow 11,000.

DRACH: Yes I did, but next week I`ll use the other one.

KANGAS: OK. Judging by the nice rally in stocks today, investors apparently believe the weaker than expected December employment report is a plus because it will give the Federal Reserve more incentive to stop boosting interest rates. Do you buy that argument?

DRACH: I think what you have seen the last week is just buy and demand from earlier pension funding. But interest rates are going to play a dominant role looking ahead and the Fed I think will pause. After two full years of interest rate increases at every FOMC meeting, I think they are due to pause not in the January meeting, but probably in March, very close.

KANGAS: And when the yield curve gets back to normal, long rate`s a little higher than short rates, then you`ll be a happy camper, right?

DRACH: Yeah, you have two elements here. One is you first need the Fed to pause on short rates, but the yield curve is going to go back to a normal slope. It always has. So you are going to have long-term rates going up. So you can get a lot of euphoria off people about the short-term rates, but they still have the problem of the long-term rate increases. That`s coming.

KANGAS: When normalization comes, the market will resume an upturn is what you`re saying.

DRACH: Yeah, but you`re going to go through a choppy period before you get there.

KANGAS: I understand. A lot of people do know that you`ve been running a model and strictly a model portfolio for nightlybusinessreport.com Web site for quite a while now, over 10 years. Let`s have a look how it compared to last year and the first time in a long time one of the averages beat you and that was the Standard & Poor`s 500.

DRACH: We couldn`t shake loose of them last year unfortunately.

KANGAS: OK, now, let`s take a look at how that portfolio, the model portfolio has been doing since its inception in 1995. Look at that, 277 percent, very good. I congratulate you, much better than the other major averages.

DRACH: Hopefully we`ll take more advantage this year.

KANGAS: OK. Now on your last visit with us, this past July 8th, you gave us four recommendations from the buy side. Let`s have a look to see how they fared since then. First to Alberto and Culver and Cintas, not bad, nearly 9 percent and nearly 5 percent appreciation. And the other two, Family Dollar Stores and McCormick were down less than the others were up. So not a bad combination really.

DRACH: Yeah, but it was a very tough year, held hostage with the Fed all year.

KANGAS: I understand. It was a tough year. Bob, I want to know if you have any new recommendations for our viewers at this time.

DRACH: I would say you have to stay with the highest quality stocks that are lagging or discounted. You can have GE in there.

KANGAS: OK. Let`s have a look at that chart. It is well below its recent highs is it not?

DRACH: You want them lagging.

KANGAS: You like them when no one else does, right.

DRACH: Absolutely.

KANGAS: OK, let`s have - we`ve got time for another few.

DRACH: Home Depot.

KANGAS: Home Depot, there it is, similar chart to GE actually.

DRACH: Yeah and this don`t look bad, Applebee`s would be the next choice.

KANGAS: Let`s have a look at Applebee`s chart and oh boy, that one is well down, down for reasons that can`t be corrected, I assume. That`s why you like it?

DRACH: We want to stay with the highest A plus quality and I would say MDC Holdings if you want to see something really out of favor.

KANGAS: OK, now that`s a home builder. Why should that be so out of favor, although it did get a downgrade by the Friedman Billings brokerage today from outperform to market perform.

DRACH: We usually buy them when the other people downgrade them and then sell them back to them on the upgrade.

KANGAS: OK, I guess MDC is not typical of the other stocks in the home building group.

DRACH: Well, the P/E is much lower. Its P/E is only six.

KANGAS: Bob, do you own any of these stocks that you`re recommending personally?

DRACH: No, this is all based on a model which is educational, which is.

KANGAS: Right.

DRACH: It`s pretty elemental, but to demonstrate to people how easy it is and to understand how easy it is to beat the averages over time.

KANGAS: In other words, don`t buy them when they are bidding them up big time. Buy them when no one wants them.

DRACH: Buy low, sell them high.

KANGAS: There you got, Bob as always, thank you for your insight. We appreciate it.

DRACH: Thank you Paul.

KANGAS: My guest, Robert Drach, publisher of the "Drach Weekly Research Report."

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. Copyright (c) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

1/06/06: "The Week Ahead"

LINDA O'BRYON: Here`s a look at what`s happening next week. Our Friday "market monitor" guest is James Grant, editor of "Grant`s Interest rate Observer." On the economic calendar, Tuesday, it`s November`s wholesale trade figures; Wednesday, it`s the weekly crude oil and gasoline inventory numbers; Thursday, the November trade deficit, December import prices and weekly jobless claims; and then on Friday, it`s November business inventories and the December reports on retail sales and producer prices.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. Copyright (c) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

1/06/06: "Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News"

The Dow industrial average closed with a gain of 77.16 at 10,959.31. That`s a four-and-a-half year high. It rose in all of this week`s four trading days for a total advance of 241.81 points. The NASDAQ Composite was up 28 3/4 points exactly today at 2305.62. It also rose every trading day this week for an overall gain of 100.30 points. The Standard & Poor`s 500 was up 11.97, ending at 1285.45 today. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note closed down 5/32 at par and 31/32, putting the yield at 4.38 percent.

Volume leader on the New York exchange, Verizon Communications (VZ) on 33.6 million shares, the company completed its merger with MCI today.

Then came EMC (EMC) with a $0.25 loss. The company disclosed its profit outlook for the fourth quarter is about $0.06 a share in earnings. That`s after charges and about in line with most Wall Street estimates.

Nortel Networks (NT) was up a dime.

No change in Lucent Technologies (LU).

Ford Motor (F) up $0.17, fifth in big board volume.

Then Pfizer (PFE) with a $0.27 gain.

Motorola (MOT) was up $0.82. The Piper Jaffray brokerage boosted its price target from $23 to $25 a share. It`s just about there, but is saying that there should be some strong near-term results from Motorola. Motorola also announced it`s in a cell phone pact with Yahoo!.

United Micro Electronics (UMC) was up $0.14.

And then Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) up $0.19, but late today, the "Wall Street Journal" reported former Vice Chairman Tom Coughlin will plead guilty to Federal fraud and tax evasion charges.

General Electric (GE), tenth in volume, was up $0.25 a share.

Best Buy (BBY), there you see it, up $3.55. December same store sales up a respectable 5.8 percent. The company said its fourth quarter earnings as a result of that will be near the top of its earlier guidance.

On the other hand, Circuit City (CC) was up only $0.15, even though its December same store sales were up a whopping 10.8 percent, but I think Wall Street was expecting even bigger sale boost for Circuit City.

Laidlaw International (LI), which is in the busing business, had good first quarter earnings, $0.58, up from $0.24 last year, $0.17 better than the Street consensus. Also the company said its 2006 earnings estimates will be boosted from $1.20 to $1.35, all the way up to as much as $1.50 a share, good news for Laidlaw shareholders there.

Parker-Hannifin (PH) up $3.73. The company says its North American industrial orders rose 13 percent in December. The company makes fluid and control systems.

Ashland Incorporated (ASH) up $5.05. The company sees first quarter earnings above Street estimates, which range as high as $0.71 a share.

Great Atlantic & Pacific (GAP) losing $2.92. Third quarter loss, $1.74, not as bad as the loss of $1.96 last year, but the Street estimate was for a loss of only $0.56 a share and the company`s third quarter sales tumbled 37 percent.

Delta and Pine Land (DLP) off $0.93. The cotton seed producer had a first quarter loss of $0.27 a share, much bigger than the $0.12 loss last year and revenues down 44 percent.

Borg Warner Incorporated (BWA) down $1.55. KeyBanc brokerage downgraded it from "aggressive buy" to just a "hold" rating.

NASDAQ`s most active, Google (GOOG), hitting another record closing high, up $14.42. Today Goldman Sachs boosted its price target on the stock from $400 to $500 a share.

Microsoft (MSFT) on the other hand, down $0.08 after CS First Boston downgraded it from "out perform" to just a "neutral" rating.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) up $0.42.

Apple Computer (AAPL) rising $1.92, no doubt on optimism over the company`s Mac World Exposition next week.

Sandisk (SNDK) up $4.92, doing very well, fifth in dollar volume.

Yahoo! gained $1.68. Goldman Sachs today boosted Yahoo!`s 2006 earnings estimate by $0.06 and also boosted its price target from $42 to $50 a share.

Qualcomm (QCOM) in there with a $2.15 gain.

Intel (INTC) $0.04 rise.

Oracle (ORCL) up $0.33.

Tenth in volume was Dell (DELL) down $0.11.

Advanced Magnetics (AVM) on the American Exchange, up $2. Think Equity brokerage began covering the stock with a "buy" recommendation and a $24 a share target, well above where it is.

And those are the stocks in the news tonight.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. Copyright (c) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

01/06/06: Market Stats

		  
			                 
                                     NET    PERCENT  
                        CLOSE     CHANGE     CHANGE

DOW CLOSE             10959.31     +77.16       + .7
HIGH                                        10968.84
LOW                                         10875.45

NASDAQ COMP.           2305.62     +28.75       +1.3
HIGH                                         2306.72
LOW                                          2281.01

VOLUME                                       1,775.1
PREVIOUS                                     1,793.7
UP VOLUME                                    1,394.2
DOWN VOLUME                                    339.6

DOW TRANSPORTS         4214.28     -19.66       - .5
DOW UTILITIES           415.15      +4.24      + 1.0
CLOSING TICK                                    +595

S&P 500                1285.45     +11.97       + .9
S&P 100                 585.02      +4.26       + .7
MIDCAP 400              762.78      +8.48      + 1.1
REUTERS/CRB             339.47      +3.67      + 1.1

NYSE COMPOSITE         8031.66     +87.60      + 1.1
VALUE LINE              425.71      +4.30      + 1.0
RUSSELL 2000            699.39      +7.62      + 1.1
DJW 5000              12901.69    +121.87      + 1.0

U.S. TREASURIES
5-YEAR NOTE 4.375%
Dec. 15,2010         100  8/32      -5/32       4.32

10-YEAR NOTE 4.50%
Nov. 15,2015         100 31/32      -5/32       4.38

30-YEAR NOTE 5.375%
Feb. 15, 2031        112  2/32      -8/32       4.56

LEHMAN BROS.
LONG BOND INDEX        1774.80      -4.01


DOW CLOSE             10959.31     +77.16       + .7
ADVANCES                                        2520
DECLINES                                         823
NEW HIGHS                                        373
NEW LOWS                                          13

                                      NET    PERCENT
NYSE MOST ACTIVES    4PM CLOSE     CHANGE     CHANGE
VZ    Verizon Comms      31.35       +.12        +.4
EMC   EMC Corp           13.73       -.25       -1.8
NT    Nortel Networks     3.40       +.10       +3.0
LU    Lucent Tech         2.77      unch.      unch.
F     Ford Motor          8.52       +.17       +2.0
PFE   Pfizer             24.85       +.27       +1.1
MOT   Motorola           24.34       +.82       +3.5
UMC   United Microelec    3.26       +.14       +4.5
WMT   Wal-Mart Stores    45.88       +.19        +.4
GE    GE                 35.48       +.25        +.7

NASDAQ CLOSE           2305.62    + 28.75      + 1.3
VOLUME                                       2,335.5
PREVIOUS                                     1,948.7
ADVANCES                                        2021
DECLINES                                        1037

NASDAQ ACTIVES
GOOG  Google            465.66     +14.42       +3.2
MSFT  Microsoft          26.91       -.08        -.3
CSCO  Cisco Systems      18.77       +.42       +2.3
AAPL  Apple Computer     76.30      +1.92       +2.6
SNDK  Sandisk            73.95      +4.92       +7.1
YHOO  Yahoo!             43.21      +1.68       +4.1
QCOM  Qualcomm           47.36      +2.15       +4.8
INTC  Intel              26.31       +.04        +.2
ORCL  Oracle             13.12       +.33       +2.6
DELL  Dell               30.64       -.11        -.4

AMEX CLOSE             1804.46    + 22.84      + 1.3

INDEX SHARES
DIA   DIAMONDS TRUST    109.50       +.65        +.6
QQQ   NASDAQ 100         42.68       +.76       +1.8
SPY   S&P DEP.RECEIPTS  128.44      +1.06        +.8

STOCKS IN THE NEWS
               Display Name
BBY   Best Buy           47.05      +3.55       +8.2
CC    Circuit City       22.94       +.15        +.7
LI    Laidlaw Intl       25.50      +3.00      +13.3
PH    Parker-Hannifin    71.69      +3.73       +5.5
ASH   Ashland Inc        64.11      +5.05       +8.6
GAP   Great A & P        29.31      -2.92       -9.1
DLP   Delta & Pineland   22.72       -.93       -3.9
BWA   Borg-Warner        58.21      -1.55       -2.6
AVM   Adv Magnetics      13.60      +2.00      +17.2