** MORNING WRAP **

** US MARKETS **
Dow 0,69%; Nasdaq -0,67%; S&P -0,54%; Soxx -1,76%; Russel2k -1%; DJAIG 1,43%;
10yr Bond 0,12%; 10yr Yield 4,63%; Crude future 61,88; Gold 587,33

| Energy 1,46%| Telecom 0,27%| Utilities -0,25%| Financials -0,51%| Healthcare
-0,66%| Materials -0,67%| ConsDisc -0,71%| ConsStaples -0,87%| Technology
-1,05%| Industrials -1,24%

** US: IN PLAY TODAY **

- New York Times (-2% after hours) Co sees Q3 EPS of $0.110.15, ex items, vs.
$0.18 consensus. The third-quarter range excludes an estimated $0.01-0.02 per
share for staff reduction costs, and an estimated $0.02-0.03 per share from a
loss on the co’s sale of its investment in the Discovery Times Channel, which
the co has agreed to sell for $100 mln.

- Excluding non-recurring items, Palm reported Q1 (Aug) earnings of $0.21
per share, $0.03 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.18. Revenues
rose 4.0% year/year to $355.8 mln vs. the $354.6 mln consensus; co preannounced
revenues of $354-356 mln. Co issued downside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of
$0.20-0.23 (consensus $0.27) on revenues of $430-450 mln (consensus $470.02
mln).

** ASIAN MARKETS **
Nikkei 1,25%; Kospi -1,61%; HSI -0,33%; Taiwan -0,06%; China -0,27%; India
-0,3%; Thailand -1,82%; Australia -0,31%

** ASIAN HEADLINES **
- China Merchants Bank Surges in Hong Kong After $2.4 Billion Share Sale
- Asian Shares Drop on Concern U.S. Growth Is Weakening; Samsung Declines
- ICBC May Sell $3.5 Billion of Its Record IPO to Li Kashing, Other Tycoons
- Sony Cuts PlayStation 3 Price By About 20 Percent After Japan Users Balk
- Paulson Says U.S., China Agree on Principles, Not Timing of Yuan Policies
- Procter & Gamble Pulls SK-II Skincare Range in China Amid Health Probe
- Esprit Shares Sold at Bottom of Range Offered to Investors, Bankers Say
- Hong Kong’s Inflation Probably Accelerated in August as Rentals Increased
- Vietnam, With 49 Traded Stocks, Attracts Investors to `Emerging China’

** EUROPE: IN PLAY TODAY **

- Euronav SA: The Belgian oil-tanker company’s
first-half net income rose to $124.7 million from $118.2 million
a year earlier. The company said the outlook for the fourth
quarter ``remains very positive’’ and predicts that 2006 will be
``one of the best years ever.’‘

- Volvo AB: Europe’s second-largest truckmaker is
expected to release truck-sale figures for August.

- Bayer AG: U.S. regulatory advisers said Bayer’s
Trasylol, a drug for controlling bleeding during surgery linked
to at least 51 deaths, is safe and effective for approved uses.

- Linde AG: The company’s forklift unit Kion Group
has attracted bids from private-equity alliances, making a sale
more likely than an initial public offering, Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung reported, without saying where it obtained the
information. A sale could bring in ``much more’’ than 3 billion
euros ($3.8 billion), the newspaper said.

- The Dutch government agreed to sell its remaining stake in Royal KPN NV, the
biggest Dutch phone company, for about 800 million euros ($1 billion).
The government is selling 167 million shares, or about 8 percent of KPN’s
outstanding share capital, The Hague-based KPN said today in an e-mail. The
company will buy 80 million of the shares, it said.