Before the bell 3-26-07: Looking to continue positive momentum

Stock futures are positive in early morning trading indicating a possible similar open for stocks to start the week following a week of solid gains that saw the Dow return to positive territory for the year.

Today investors await some housing data. Still jittery about the subprime mortgage market, investors keep a close eye on the housing market as a whole. Higher oil prices as tensions with Iran increase are affecting pre-market indications as well.

At 10:00 a.m. this morning, February new home sales will be released. The market expects a rise from 937,000 in January to 995,000 in February.

Overseas, Asian markets closed mostly higher. Stocks in Europe are mixed. The dollar continued to strengthen against the euro and the yen.

In corporate news:

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) is putting forth a restructuring plan that could involve cutting some 15,000 job and a charge against earnings of more than $1 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) said it will build a $2.5 billion chip factory in northeastern China to better tap into the booming Chinese market.

Beckman Coulter, Inc. (NYSE:BEC) announced it is acquiring the biomedical research company Biosite, Inc. for approximately $1.55 billion.

German sports car maker Porsche has increased its stake in Volkswagen to 30.9% by exercising an option to take an extra 3.6% voting stake as of Wednesday. Under German law this constitutes a takeover and would require Porsche to make an offer to other VW shareholders.

Notable analyst calls this morning:

• Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) is up 0.8% in early pre-market trading after Bear Stearns upgraded it from Peer Perform to Outperform.
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) was upgraded from Neutral to Buy at Goldman Sachs. DELL shares are up nearly 3% in pre-market.
• United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse on hopes for the company's quality control program.