Mid-day Update

S&P 500 1,116.14 -.12%
NASDAQ 1,939.78 +.05%

Leading Sectors
Networking +1.78%
Iron/Steel +1.70%
Semis +1.30%

Lagging Sectors
Biotech -1.23%
HMO's -1.60%
Gaming -3.30%

Other
Crude Oil 38.88 +1.75%
Natural Gas 6.28 +.79%
Gold 392.80 +1.37%
Base Metals 105.76 +1.51%
U.S. Dollar 89.96 -.88%
10-Yr. Long-Bond Yield 4.50% +.09%
VIX 17.02 +2.29%
Put/Call .58 -28.40%
NYSE Arms .85 +4.94%

Market Movers
TYC +3.6% after beating 2Q estimate and raising 3Q/04 forecast.
MVSN +25.91% after substantially beating 1Q estimate and raising 2Q/04 guidance.
PSS +19.37% after boosting 1Q estimates significantly.
VISG +20.98% after missing 1Q estimate, but boosting 04 forecast.
KTR +14.15% after announcing it will be acquired by ProLogis for $1.6B.
GPRO +11.12% after significantly beating 1Q estimate and raising 04 forecast.
HNT -8.7% after missing 1Q estimate and lowering 2Q guidance.

Economic Data
Factory Orders for March +4.3% versus expectations of +2.4% and 1.1% in February.

Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on IACI, MET, KR, PFGC and BBY. Citi SmithBarney said to Buy IGT on weakness, target $50. Citi also said to Buy CSCO ahead of quarter, target $34. Citi reiterated Buy on RDWR, target $25. Citi reiterated Buy on LPX, target $32. Citi reiterated Buy on SEBL, target $19. EOG raised to Overweight at JP Morgan. EMN raised to Buy at UBS. ISLE raised to Sector Outperform at CIBC. MGG, IGT and AGY cut to Sector Underperform at CIBC. CDN added to Focus List at JP Morgan, target $18.

Mid-day News
U.S. stocks are mixed mid-day on rising energy prices, rebounding technology shares and nervousness ahead of the Fed's rate announcement. Citi SmithBarney now believes this year's budget deficit will total $370B or 3.1% of GDP, much better-than-expected, as vigorous U.S. economic growth is generating higher tax revenues. Guidant, Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson generated about $6B in sales of angioplasty products last year as the procedure displaces bypass surgery in repairing blood vessels, the Wall Street Journal reported. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has designated United Airlines Flight 200 from LA to DC as a "flight of interest", an indication it is a possible terrorist target, the Washington Times reported. Crude oil rose to its highest since the 1990 Gulf War after foreign workers were killed at a chemical plant in Saudi Arabia Saturday, raising concern supplies from the world's biggest oil exported would be disrupted, Bloomberg reported. California regulators may declare the first motor-fuels emergency in 15 years amid concern the rupture of a Kinder Morgan pipeline may cause shortages of gasoline and diesel, Bloomberg reported. Pioneer Natural Resources agreed to buy Evergreen Resources for about $1.7B to tap increasing natural-gas output in the Rockies, Bloomberg reported. Orders placed with U.S. factories rose 10.8% year-over-year, the strongest showing since the stock market bubble burst in 2000, Bloomberg reported. "With inventories low and firms finding it hard to gain traction to both meet demand and bring stocks to a more comfortable level, we can expect increased hiring and accelerated production," said Drew Matus, an economist at Lehman Brothers.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is unchanged today as my shorts and longs are mixed. I have not traded and the Portfolio is still 25% net short. I am waiting to see the bond market's reaction to the Fed's statement before trading.