Wake Up Call - Feb 23

Good Morning. With oil crossing the $61 mark, major U.S. markets are indicating a lower open to start the day. Ahead of a weekend, and with a key meeting of world powers scheduled for Monday in London, two U.S. aircraft carrier fleets positioned in the Persian Gulf, and hard-line defiant rhetoric being broadcast out of Iran, we would be surprised if the market were not to close lower today.

Asia:
Hang Seng Index -0.47%; Shanghai/Shenzhen 300 CLOSED; NIKKEI 225 +0.44%; BSE SENSEX 30 -2.77%; KRX 100 +0.34%: Taiwan TAIEX Index CLOSED

U.K. & Europe:
DJ STOXX 50 Index +0.34%; FTSE 100 +0.19%; CAC 40 +0.19%; DAX +0.26%; Russian RTS Index +1.51%

KEY HEADLINE NEWS

• World powers are scheduled to meet on Monday in London to discuss a new, harsher set of sanctions against Iran, after it failed to comply with the United Nation's demands to halt its heavy water activity and uranium enrichment. Iran has shown interest in what might be offered to it for compliance, but refuses to halt enrichment, the prerequisite for moving forward. We expect to have much to say about this in "Today's Morning Coffee" later.
• While in Australia, Vice President Dick Cheney expressed caution and skepticism regarding the recently agreed upon deal with regional wild card, North Korea. He said Pyongyang would be closely watched, to insure it complied with the agreement. Cheney was pleased with the role China played in making it happen.
• Lowe's beat EPS estimates today, while posting an EPS decrease compared to its prior year result. Same-store sales fell 5.3% in the quarter, but LOW shares are up 4.3% in pre-market activity on the result and the company's forward growth forecast.
• German business confidence fell in February. Still, the IFO Institute's Sentiment Index, which measures responses of 7,000 executives, declined to a still strong 107, compared to 107.9 in January. If we get away from the catchy headlines focused on the decline, we notice that February's reading was not far off from December historical high of 108.7, and still reflects a high level of confidence.
• Below, please find the remaining articles from our key "Headlines" section, which can be found updated daily in our sidebar within the site:
  Chrysler's Been Shopped Around
  Yen Still Weak
  U.K. May Host Missile Defense Shield
  Blair Shell-Shocked, Opposes Force for Iran
  North Korea Experimenting with Uranium Too
  

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Check back in later this morning, as "Today's Morning Coffee" will outline in greater detail the day's activity in overseas and commodity markets, and provide economic data & analysis and stock specific news. (disclosure)