Soft Open

Morning News of Note:

• AAPL: "Saturday Night Live" fans looking to watch classic skits from the show may not have to depend on reruns and DVD compilations for long. Apple is set to announce today that it will sell a limited number of archived "Saturday Night" skits through its iTunes Music Store for $1.99 each, for viewing on video iPods or personal computers. (Full Story) NY Times
• WFMI: Whole Foods goes with the wind Whole Foods Market is about to put some serious wind in its sales The trend-setting, natural foods grocery chain on Wednesday will announce plans to become the largest buyer of wind energy credits in North America by purchasing credits equal to 100% of its projected energy use for 2006. (Full Story) USA Today
• EOP: Heard on the Street... Equity Office Uptick Baffles Analysts But May Flag End of Poor Performance Of all the REIT stocks, Equity Office Properties Trust would seem to be the least appealing. Yet some investors are buying up shares in the Chicago-based company, buoying the stock. In the past few weeks, trading has been active, and the stock price -- which fell 5% after the company cut its dividend last month -- has crept back up. A 5% drop and bounce-back is a significant change. So far, Wall Street analysts remain unimpressed. (Full Story) WSJ
• Mad Money Summary: Jim Cramer believes that solar stocks will jump if the California Public Utilities Commission votes for a $2.8 billion solar power energy program. Cramer said that the best way to play this would be ATS Automation, a Canadian company, whose second business is solar power. Cramer also notes that SunPower (SPWR), Evergreen Solar (ESLR) and Suntech Power (STP) are solar plays as well. Responding to a caller’s question who bought shares of Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) at $36, Cramer said he would take a little off of the table here. Cramer believes that shares of Mine Safety Appliances (MSA) is poised to go up as the Bush administration is to blame for the easing of mine safety enforcement investigation. Cramer believes shares of Mine Safety Appliances to go higher once the Bush administration starts to feel the heat. Cramer also noted that the Sago mine tragedy will not hurt coal stocks and he likes Peabody Energy (BTU). Cramer's picks of the week are Broadcom (BRCM) and Marvell Technology Group (MRVL) and Qualcomm (QCOM) and Conexant Systems (CNXT) could also go higher. Cramer believes that with all of the gadgets that are going wireless, these are the stocks to be in. Cramer said that he would stay away from Wendy's (WEN) Tim Hortons IPO as it is being offered in installments. Cramer also said that he would ring the register on ATI Technologies (ATYT) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), noting that he would replace Canadian Natural Resources with Southern Copper (PCU) if you were looking for a copper play.
• TGT: Target-TGT sees January SSS rising within 3%-5% forecast

Market Comments: After five consecutive days of gains, the market opens down this morning. This is logical, as profit taking sets in. But if the market begins to rise again as the day progresses, you could see more short-covering and buying by underinvested managers.

That said, I would like to see the market digest its recent gains and work off its overbought condition. Energy stocks are up this morning, but most other sectors are mixed. Check out the parabolic run in BRCM. MNST is breaking out to new highs also.

long MNST