CORRECT: Chicago PMI Due At 0945 ET

CORRECT: Chicago PMI Due At 0945 ET

Last Update: 3/31/2008 7:35:23 AM

DJIA Futures 12,200.0 -36.0 -0.3%
S&P 500 Futures 1314.2 -4.7 -0.4%
Nasdaq Futures 1774.0 -6.0 -0.3%
Above are as of 0605 ET

FTSE 100 5651.6 -41.3 -0.7%
Xetra DAX 6466.3 -93.6 -1.4%
CAC40 4656.7 -39.2 -0.8%
Above are as of 0555 ET

Nikkei 225 12,525.5 -294.9 -2.3%
Hang Seng 22,849.2 -436.8 -1.9%

SNAPSHOT:

-U.S. stocks seen lower; dollar mixed; Treasurys seen mixed; Brent crude higher;
gold higher.

-Watch for Chicago purchasing managers’ index at 0845 ET; Treasury Secretary
Paulson speaking on financial market issues in Washington at 0900 ET; Dallas
Federal Reserve survey manufacturing production index at 0930 ET; San Francisco
Federal Reserve President Yellen speaking on “The Significance of Foreclosures
for Community Development” in San Francisco at 1100 ET.

-Econ News: ECB’S Liikanen: US economy faces downward spiral threat.

U.S. MARKETS OUTLOOK: Stocks are expected to open slightly weaker Monday, as
ongoing credit fears continue to weigh, with markets in Europe and Asia lower.

“People are worried that there’s a lot of bad information still lurking out
there,” said a trader at U.K. spreadbettor Worldspreads. “There’s no good news to
change sentiment.”

Investors are likely to closely watch Chicago PMI on an otherwise quiet day on
the economic calendar.

EQUITIES: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) says it was bilked out of $350
million through an elaborate fraud in which employees of Marubeni Corp.
(8002.TO), a big Japanese trading company, allegedly used forged documents and an
impostor to raise cash for a business the Wall Street Journal Asia reported
Saturday. Monday, Kyodo News reported that Lehman has filed a lawsuit with the
Tokyo District Court against Marubeni Corp. seeking repayment of money it lost in
the investment fraud allegedly involving two Marubeni employees. Lehman stock is
down 6.4% in Frankfurt.

Elsewhere, U.K. insurance group Friends Provident PLC (FP.LN) Monday rejected a
150 pence a share proposal from U.S. private equity business JC Flowers which it
said “significantly undervalues” the company.

France’s wine and spirits company Pernod Ricard SA (12069.FR) beat Fortune Brands
(FO) and acquired Swedish state-owned Vin & Sprit, maker of Absolut vodka, for
$9.24 billion including debt, the Swedish government and the French company said
Monday. Fortune Brands (FO) said its board authorized the repurchase of up to 15
million shares of the company’s common stock. The company also said Monday it
will repurchase the 10% equity stake in its Beam Global spirits business
currently held by V&S Group. Fortune Brand shares are down 1.7% in Frankfurt.

FOREX: The dollar was mixed in Europe Monday with record high inflation in the
euro zone underpinning the euro.

At 0535 ET, the dollar was up in Europe at Y99.36, the euro was up at $1.5815 and
the pound was down to $1.9857.

BONDS: U.S. Treasurys are expected to open mixed in New York Monday. 10-year note
holds modest gains made in Asia, while 30-year slips marginally. Yield curve
between the two-year and 10-year 0.5 basis point flatter. The spread is at 178.0
basis points from 178.5 basis points Friday. The two-year is unchanged at 100
6/32, to yield 1.655%. The 10-year is up 1+/32 at 100 17/32 to yield 3.435%. The
30-year is down 3/32 at 101 2/32 to yield 4.31%. The March Chicago PMI is due at
1345 GMT, forecast at 46.3, compared with 44.5 in February. Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson speaks at 1400 GMT and San Francisco Fed president at 1600 GMT.

Corporate bonds: Spreads on the Markit iTraxx credit-derivative indexes are wider
Monday, with traders citing a weaker performance by Asian stocks after U.S.
equity markets closed down Friday, and continuing worries about the health of
financial institutions. At 0810 GMT, the Markit iTraxx Europe was at 124/125
basis points, the Crossover at 580/582 basis points and the HiVol at 204/206
basis points, compared with early quotes of 120.5/122.5 basis points, 572/576
basis points and 198/203 basis points, respectively.

Closing levels for the three indexes Friday were 116, 557 and 195, respectively.
U.S. macroeconomic data remains key, with spread volatility likely to pick up
this week, after relatively quiet trading following the Easter break, analysts
said. Highlights include motor vehicle sales Tuesday and the non-manufacturing
ISM Thursday, leading up to the all-important non-farm payrolls Friday.

COMMODITIES: Crude oil futures are mixed with ICE May Brent holding slightly
above unchanged, Nymex May light, sweet crude is trading lower. The repair of an
Iraqi pipeline alongside possible easing in violence there lends some downward
pressure, but falls are met with dip-buying interest to limit moves lower.

At 0524 ET, ICE May Brent trades up 3 cents at $103.80 a barrel, while Nymex May
WTI trades down 38 cents at $105.24 a barrel.

Spot gold is expected to be rangebound in London Monday ahead of the U.S. open in
light of the first-quarter end and financial year end for some, said a London
traders.

At 0527 ET, spot gold traded at $937.9 an ounce, up 0.8% from late Friday in New
York, while silver was at $17.947, up 0.4% from Friday’s high.

=======TODAY’S CALENDAR=======

ET COUNTRY/ PERIOD
0945 US Mar Chicago PMI
1000 US Tsy Secy Paulson speaks on financial market issues in
Washington
1030 US Mar Dallas Fed Survey
1200 US San Francisco Fed Pres Yellen speaks on “The Significance
of Foreclosures for Community Development” in San
Francisco
==============================

OTHER TOP STORIES OF THE DAY:

U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY HENRY PAULSON plans to call Monday for sweeping
structural changes in the way the government monitors financial markets, capping
a broad review aimed at revamping a system of regulatory oversight built
piecemeal since the Civil War.

SIX YEARS AFTER IT BEGAN TESTING a payment device that attaches to a key chain,
American Express Co. is discontinuing its “Express Pay” fob that was touted as a
convenience for consumers who didn’t want to dig into their wallets for a credit
card.

WSJ: A NEW JOINT VENTURE FORMED BY INTEL Corp. and STMicroelectronics NV is
disclosing its plans to prosper in a chip market that frustrated its founders.

INTEL CORP. (INTC) SAID IT WILL RECORD ADDITIONAL non-cash impairment of about
$300 million in the first quarter related to assets it transferred to the Numonyx
joint venture and other costs associated with the transaction.

BARRY DILLER’S DECISIVE COURTROOM VICTORY Friday in his battle with rival media
mogul John Malone for control of IAC/InterActiveCorp. settled the question of who
runs the Internet company. Now, Mr. Diller faces a host of new business and
market challenges to his plan to break IAC into multiple companies.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LTD. (ANZ) and Merrill Lynch (MER) have
moved quickly to start to recoup more than $917 million owed to them by failed
stockbroker and margin lender Opes Prime Group Ltd., people familiar with the
situation said Monday.

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY ALPHONSO Jackson is expected to announce
his resignation Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, a decision
that will deal a blow to the Bush administration’s efforts to tackle the housing
crisis.

SONY CORP. (6758.TO) IS REPLACING ITS TOP television executive as part of its
effort to strengthen the division, one of the Japanese electronics company’s last
remaining areas of weakness.

WSJ: A PANEL OF CARDIOLOGISTS CALLED ON PHYSICIANS to sharply curtail their use
of two blockbuster cholesterol drugs marketed by Merck & Co. (MRK) and
Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP) after formal presentation of a study that reinforced
the case against their widespread use in fighting cardiovascular disease.

ASTRAZENECA PLC (AZN) MONDAY SAID IT’S stopping a clinical study of its
blockbuster drug Crestor early after the cholesterol-lowering pill showed clear
benefits over a placebo.

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC. (GS) IS CONSIDERING entering the GBP1.5 billion auction
of Trillium, the outsourcing unit of property group Land Securities Group PLC
(LAND.LN), reports The Sunday Telegraph newspaper, without saying where it got
its information.

WSJ: HAWAII’S SECOND-LARGEST AIRLINE, ALOHA AIRGROUP Inc., is shutting down
Monday, days after filing for bankruptcy-court protection for the second time
since 2004.

THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK HAS WEAKENED while euro-zone inflation is
accelerating, European Central Bank governing council member Erkki Liikanen said.
(By Joel Sherwood)

PRICES IN THE EURO ZONE ROSE AT THEIR FASTEST EVER RATE and much more quickly
than expected in March, with the annual measure of consumer-price inflation
hitting a new all-time high of 3.5%, reinforcing the European Central Bank’s
hawkish attitude to interest rates. (By Emma Charlton)

THE BANK OF KOREA SAID THAT keeping inflation under control is its top policy
priority and that the domestic economy is likely to grow at a similar pace this
year as in 2007. (By Jung-Ah Lee)

JAPANESE INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT DECLINED IN FEBRUARY, partly due to weaker overseas
demand for electronic parts and devices, increasing worries that a downturn
exports will slow the economy. (By Akane Vallery Uchida)

SOUTH KOREAN INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY IN FEBRUARY WAS STRONGER than expected,
preliminary data showed, signaling the local economy’s resilience to rising fears
of a global economic slowdown. (By Jung-Ah Lee and Kanga Kong)

JAPAN’S HOUSING STARTS FELL 5.0% IN FEBRUARY from a year earlier to 82,962 units,
the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. (By Takashi Mochizuki)

-By Rebecca Bundhun, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-207-842-9250;
rebecca.bundhun@dowjones.com

- Watch for Chicago purchasing managers’ index at 0945 ET; Treasury Secretary
Paulson speaking on financial market issues in Washington at 1000 ET; Dallas
Federal Reserve survey manufacturing production index at 1030 ET; San Francisco
Federal Reserve President Yellen speaking on “The Significance of Foreclosures
for Community Development” in San Francisco at 1200 ET.

=======TODAY’S CALENDAR=======

ET COUNTRY/ PERIOD
0945 US Mar Chicago PMI
1000 US Tsy Secy Paulson speaks on financial market issues in
Washington
1030 US Mar Dallas Fed Survey
1200 US San Francisco Fed Pres Yellen speaks on “The Significance
of Foreclosures for Community Development” in San
Francisco
==============================

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