Monday Close

S&P 500 1,084.07 -.20%
NASDAQ 1,839.02 -.54%

Leading Sectors
Telecom +1.94%
Insurance +.83%
HMO's +.44%

Lagging Sectors
Networking -1.79%
Biotechnology -1.92%
Hospitals -2.69%

Other
Crude Oil 41.39 -.12%
Natural Gas 5.95 -.12%
Gold 390.70 +.10%
Base Metals 109.14 +.89%
U.S. Dollar 89.01 -.28%
10-Yr. T-note Yield 4.48% +1.19%
VIX 17.30 +4.85%
Put/Call .82 +5.13%
NYSE Arms 1.16 -33.33%

After-hours Movers
SLAB -4.58% after beating 2Q estimates, but lowering 3Q forecast.
NVTL -7.5% after beating 2Q estimates and raising 3Q guidance.
IPIX +15.6% after announcing it has received an order for the purchase of $3 million of it ComandView video surveillance cameras from its UK distributor.
RTEC +6.7% after beating 2Q estimates and raising 3Q forecast.

Recommendations
TLAB raised to Buy at Merrill Lynch, target $10.60. Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on AXP, MET and Underperform on CVH.

After-hours News
U.S. stocks finished modestly lower today, led by healthcare-related companies, ahead of negative political rhetoric, earnings worries and rising interest rates. After the close, stem cells injected into the human brain may help people recover from strokes and regain their ability to speak and move normally, according to a study of rats in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, Bloomberg reported. Google's search engine malfunctioned after it was infected by the Mydoom virus that also struck corporate and personal computers, Bloomberg reported. Stanley Works, the biggest U.S. maker of hand tools, said second-quarter profit surged as sales rose 22%, Bloomberg said. Former President Clinton's address before the Democratic Convention will be watched by almost half the registered voters in the country, Bloomberg reported. Kellogg and General Mills are among food manufacturers that may be stuck with too many products aimed at dieters as the number of U.S. consumers on low-carb diets probably has peaked, Bloomberg said. American Express said second-quarter profit rose 15% as an expanding economy prompted more travel than any time sine the terrorist attacks of Sept. 2001, Bloomberg reported. The Fed's benchmark interest rate is still "highly accommodative" and far below a neutral rate, said Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished unchanged today as my falling technology longs offset my declining retail shorts. I did not trade today and the Portfolio is still 50% net short. I continue to expect the major U.S. indices will make a short-term bottom later this week. Beaten-up tech shares will likely lead for a brief period. My short-term trading indicators are still giving sell signals.