Thursday, September 23, 2004

Thursday Close

S&P 500 1,108.36 -.47%
NASDAQ 1,886.43 +.04%


Leading Sectors
Semis +.52%
Wireless +.51%
Internet +.44%

Lagging Sectors
Iron/Steel -1.07%
Fashion -1.49%
Airlines -2.84%

Other
Crude Oil 48.28 -.14%
Natural Gas 5.48 -2.65%
Gold 411.50 -.27%
Base Metals 116.23 +.82%
U.S. Dollar 88.44 -.08%
10-Yr. T-note Yield 4.02% +.96%
VIX 14.80 +.41%
Put/Call .92 -16.36%
NYSE Arms 1.60 -32.20%

After-hours Movers
ESIO -11.99% after missing 1Q estimates and lowering 2Q outlook.
FINL -3.09% after missing 2Q estimates.

Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on WMT.

After-hours News
U.S. stocks finished mixed today as worries that high energy prices would stall the economy were offset by optimism in the technology sector. After the close, China is cracking down on unauthorized steel plants as it tries to deflate the country's steel boom, and reduce shortages of power, coal and transport that threaten the economy, the Financial Times reported. Federal Reserve policy makers said the slowing in economic growth in the second quarter would be "short-lived" as they voted unanimously on Aug. 10 to raise interest rates, minutes of the meeting showed, Bloomberg said. Northern Trust may be fired tomorrow as custodian and index fund manager for the Illinois State Board of Investment, a 20-year client that overseas $10.4 billion for three of the state's five pension systems, Bloomberg reported. California Governor Schwarzenegger signed a law opening up car-pool lanes on highways to the most fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrid cars, a potential boost to Honda Motor and Toyota Motor in the largest U.S. auto market, Bloomberg said. Martha Stewart Living entered a five-year employment contract with its founder that will pay her a base salary of $900,000 annually and make her eligible to receive a bonus of as much as $1.35 million per year, Bloomberg said. Delta Air agreed to sell eight planes and four spare engines to FedEx as part of a plan to cut costs by eliminating some aircraft types, Bloomberg reported. Viacom is expanding its presence in China, including its second production venture in the country, Viacom CEO Redstone said.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished unchanged today as weakness in my homebuilding and security longs was offset by my falling retail and software shorts. I did not trade in the afternoon, thus the Portfolio is still market neutral. I continue to believe the major U.S. indices will consolidate recent gains over the near-term before another move higher beginning in the latter part of October. A sharp decline in energy prices, while unlikely, could result in the rally beginning sooner than I currently anticipate.

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