Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Wednesday Close

S&P 500 1,126.21 -.07%
NASDAQ 1,994.22 -.32%


Leading Sectors
Airlines +2.24%
Fashion +1.36%
Hospitals +.80%

Lagging Sectors
Iron/Steel -.88%
Disk Drives -1.05%
Computer Boxmakers -1.28%

Other
Crude Oil 35.75 -.03%
Natural Gas 5.88 -.81%
Gold 427.70 -.14%
Base Metals 113.40 +1.0%
U.S. Dollar 87.61 -.93%
10-Yr. Long-Bond Yield 3.84% -1.52%
VIX 16.74 +2.83%
Put/Call 1.29 +111.48%
NYSE Arms 1.24 +63.16%

After-hours Movers
SUPG -24.7% after it reported disappointing study results on its Dacogen medicine for a bone-marrow disorder.
LSCP +13.50% saying that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services moved its treatment for enlarged prostates to a new classification with double the reimbursement rate.
AEOS +5.75% after significantly raising 1Q estimates.

Recommendations
Cramer, of TheStreet.com says to Buy ADP ahead of the employment report. He thinks 250,000 jobs were created in March. QLTI cut to Underperform at Raymond James, target $22. CTX raised to Buy 1 at UBS. Goldman reiterated Outperform on BSX, BBY and KO. GS reiterated Underperform on TSG.

After-hours News
U.S. stocks finished lower Wednesday on weaker-than-expected economic reports, OPEC's production cut and QLogic's(QLGC) disappointing earnings report. After the close, Martha Stewart has asked for a new trial, alleging that one of the jurors who found her guilty concealed his arrest on assault charges.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio was down slightly today as I cut market exposure to 75% net long on the close. While today wasn't a good day for the bulls, several positive developments occurred. The markets could have dropped a lot more considering the news. Oil prices dropped, notwithstanding the fire in Texas and the OPEC production cut. Best Buy(BBY), a good barometer of consumer spending, reported great earnings and rose almost 7% on huge volume. The Put/Call ratio soared, which is a good short-term contrary indicator. Finally, the market breadth was good on a down day.

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