MORNING BUSINESS MINUTE, THURS. JAN. 19, 2006

Intel started the way down in the morning, posting quarterly results and sales forecasts below expectations. Together with a very rough session in Tokyo mid-week (market curbs went into effect because of declines), and rising oil prices, and we saw the major markets suffer. The Dow lost -41.46 (-0.38%) to close at 10,854.86. The NASDAQ lost -23.05 (1.00%) to finish at 2,279.64 and the S&P 500 lost -5 (-0.39%) to close at 1,277.93. Local stocks posted mostly negative results. JB Hunt (JBHT) lost -0.13% to close at $22.47. Tyson Foods (TSN) added +0.06% to finish at $16.50. Acxiom (ACXM) lost -0.17% to close at $22.96 and Wal-Mart (WMT) lost -0.16% to finish at $44.88. Today, we`ll see December Building Permits and Housing Starts. Also out -- intitial jobless claims, crude oil inventories and the January report from the Philadelphia Fed. Earnings today include numbers from Motorola, Pfizer, Merrill Lynch, Harley Davidson and Novartis. Overseas in Asia the Nikkei rose +2% to reach 15,651.42 at the mid-day break in Tokyo -- the broader Topix gained +2.5%. Back in the U.S., in extended hours trading, the NASDAQ 100 Afterours Indicator fell lost -3.4 (-0.2%) to close the night at 1,713.22.