S&P 500 1,134.74 -.10%
NASDAQ 2,019.45 -.05%
Leading Sectors
Nanotechnology +2.17%
Airlines +1.70%
Hospitals +1.70%
Lagging Sectors
Oil Service -1.25%
Commodity -1.26%
Broadband -1.69%
Other
Crude Oil 37.25 -.45%
Natural Gas 5.53 +.38%
Gold 398.40 -.70%
Base Metals 114.38 -.60%
U.S. Dollar 90.43 +.70%
10-Yr. Long-Bond Yield 4.39% +.19%
VIX 15.12 -2.08%
Put/Call .73 +10.61%
NYSE Arms 1.08 +11.34%
Market Movers
TASR -19.0% on profit-taking after beating 1Q estimates by "only" .02.
CHKP +9.7% after beating 1Q estimates.
GM +5.0% after substantially beating 1Q estimates and raising 2Q and 04 guidance.
JCOM +16.0% after beating 1Q estimates and raising 2Q guidance.
SPRT +11.33% after beating 1Q estimates and raising 2Q guidance.
HUG +8.95% after raising 1Q/2Q and 04 forecast.
LNCR +7.93% after beating 1Q estimates.
COH +7.19% after beating 3Q forecast and raising 04 guidance.
NFI -17.6% after saying it was notified by the SEC about an informal inquiry into some of its business practices.
NDC -13.19% after missing 3Q estimates and lowering 04 guidance.
Economic Data
None of note.
Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on INTC, FON, PCS, BSX, PFE, MSFT, BC, KMI, KMR, CBL, DDR, UDR, VNO, ASN and SRE. Goldman reiterated Underperform on PPS, SLG, AKS and AVB. GS raised TPX to Outperform and lowered VRSN to Underperform. Citi Smith Barney said to Buy G on weakness, target $42. Citi reiterated Buy on MATK, target $90. Citi reiterated Buy on BC, target $49. ASH rated Overweight at JP Morgan. EMC raised to Buy 1 at UBS. PNRA raised to Outperform at Thomas Weisel, target $50. WOOF rated Buy at Bank of America, target $43. SMI rated Sell at Bank of America. CNF raised to Buy at Merrill Lynch, target $40.
Mid-day News
U.S. stocks are mixed mid-day as strength in a multitude of companies reporting better-than-expected earnings is being offset by weakness in commodity-related stocks. The Bush Administration thinks al-Qaeda will try to strike the U.S. before the election in November because of its success in changing the outcome of the Spanish election last month, the Washington Post reported, citing National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. California Governor plans steps to boost business in the state by balancing the budget and increasing energy supplies, the LA Times reported. Coca-Cola debuted tv ads last month for Powerade sports drink, part of its new strategy to focus on non-carbonated beverages to invigorate sales. Janus Capital said CEO Whiston is stepping down as the U.S. mutual fund company struggles to settle allegations that it permitted improper trading that hurt investors, Bloomberg reported. With 101 companies in the S&P 500 having reported 1st quarter results, earnings have jumped 19% and beat estimates by 6.8% on average, according to Thomson Financial. The semiconductor book-to-bill ratio came in at 1.10 versus expectations of 1.17, Bloomberg reported.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is up today as the majority of my longs are up and shorts are down. I added a few new homebuilding shorts this morning on their recent bounce. Sky-high ply-wood and copper prices, coupled with rising rates, should continue to pressure this group in the intermediate-term. The Portfolio is now 50% net long.
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