S&P 500 1,111.01 +.24%
NASDAQ 1,884.52 -.10%
Leading Sectors
Oil Service +2.02%
Restaurants +1.23%
Energy +1.23%
Lagging Sectors
Disk Drives -1.79%
Airlines -2.72%
Semis -2.88%
Other
Crude Oil 48.43 -.12%
Natural Gas 5.40 -2.95%
Gold 409.80 -.68%
Base Metals 116.36 +.11%
U.S. Dollar 88.44 unch.
10-Yr. T-note Yield 4.04 +.81%
VIX 14.32 -3.24%
Put/Call 1.0 +8.70%
NYSE Arms 1.08 -32.05%
Market Movers
COGT +47.5% on strong demand for IPO.
MSO +7.7% on continuing optimism over recent events.
ECSI +16.0% after agreeing to be bought by STJ for $11.75/share.
AH +4.1% after saying it won a $23 million contract from the U.S. Army.
JLG +11.9% after beating 4Q estimates and making positive comments.
ESIO -19.3% after missing 1Q estimates and lowering 2Q outlook.
PSRC -17.2% after beating 1Q forecast, but lowering 2Q estimates.
Economic Data
Durable Goods Orders for August fell .5% versus estimates of a .3% decline and an upwardly revised 1.8% increase in July.
Durable Goods Less Transportation for August rose 2.3% versus estimates of a .8% increase and an upwardly revised 0.0% in July.
Existing Home Sales for August were 6.54M versus estimates of 6.63M and 6.72M in July.
Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on MER, BPO and VNO. Citi SmithBarney upgraded MRO to Buy, target $45. Citi reiterated Buy on BK, target $37. Citi reiterated Buy on DOW, target $50. Citi reiterated Sell on PGL, target $36. Citi reiterated Buy on FLEX, target $22. Citi reiterated Buy on PRU, target $55. MDCO rated Reduce at UBS, target $25. NTMD rated Buy at UBS, target $32. APC, KMG, XTO raised to Buy at Citi. NTMD rated Overweight at JP Morgan. DTE raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley. ARO raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank, target $33. Lehman says US Dollar will decline as interest rates fall.
Mid-day News
U.S. stocks are mixed mid-day on conflicting economic data, weakness in technology stocks and stabilizing energy prices. Hollywood directors will get at least $40 million in increased payments to their health-care plan under a proposed three-year contract agreement they reached with producers, the NY Times reported. NYC said it created a communications system to get emergency information to the public quickly over television and radio, the NY Times reported. IBM plans to open an office in Fairfax County, Virginia, that will created 1,200 government-contracting jobs, the Washington Post reported. California Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law bills intended to protect the environment, including measures to protect the Sierra Nevada mountain range and decrease cruise ship pollution, the LA Times reported. Two California ballot propositions aimed at expanding slot-machine gambling in the state are failing among likely voters, less that six weeks before the election, the LA Times said. Oil-tanker rates from the Persian Gulf to the U.S. and Asia surged to seven-month highs as refiners scoured the market for ships to haul October cargoes, preparing to meet increased heating demand, Bloomberg said. Russian President Putin said state-run companies may bid for OAO Yukos assets in any sales to collect back taxes, Bloomberg reported. Hurricane Jeanne is heading for the U.S. and may reach Florida's east coast this weekend, making it the first time the state has been hit by four hurricanes in one season, Bloomberg reported.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is unchanged again mid-day and I have not traded, thus leaving my market neutral stance in tact. The tone of the market is decidedly mixed today. However, the weakness in technology stocks will likely spill over into the rest of the market this afternoon, leaving the major U.S. indices modestly lower on the day.
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