Thursday, November 04, 2004

Thursday Close

S&P 500 1,161.67 +1.62%
NASDAQ 2,023.63 +.96%


Leading Sectors
Airlines +4.77%
Gaming +3.65%
Retail +3.37%

Lagging Sectors
Drugs -.04%
Homebuilders -.19%
Oil Service -.33%

Other
Crude Oil 48.68 -.29%
Natural Gas 8.18 -.23%
Gold 430.20 -.14%
Base Metals 116.70 +1.29%
U.S. Dollar 84.47 -.27%
10-Yr. T-note Yield 4.07% -.05%
VIX 13.97 -.50%
Put/Call .84 -3.45%
NYSE Arms .77 +5.48%

After-hours Movers
VCLK +21.7% after beating 3Q estimates, boosting 4Q outlook and raising 05 guidance.
KEYW +12.4% after beating 3Q estimates and raising 05 outlook substantially.
GPRO +10.4% after beating 3Q estimates and raising 04 guidance.
NVDA +8.4% after beating 3Q estimates.
ANPI +6.1% after exceeding 3Q estimates.
AIRT -14.8% after missing 2Q estimates.
VXGN +16.0% after winning a $877 million contract to supply the U.S. government with anthrax vaccine.

Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on AAP and Underperform on FISV. Shares of Midway Games(MWY) will rise as the entertainment market expands, Business Week reported.

After-hours News
U.S. stocks finished sharply higher today on optimism over President Bush's forthcoming agenda and falling oil prices. Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi said countries that have been "spectators" in the war should become involved with efforts to rebuild the country, the Financial Times reported. DoubleClick, which may sell all or part of its divisions, may find separate buyers for its data and technology units, Business Week reported. General Motors debt rating was lowered one level to Baa2, or two steps above non-investment grade, Bloomberg reported. Univision Communications, the largest U.S. Spanish-language tv and radio broadcaster, said third-quarter profit rose 74% as ad sales rose, Bloomberg said. The Lancet medial journal will publish research that concludes Merck should have stopped selling its Vioxx painkiller years before the drug's Sept. 30 withdrawal, said Prudential Financial analyst Tim Anderson. Crude oil fell, extending yesterday's 4.1% decline, as rising OPEC production and U.S. inventories eased concern about winter fuel shortages, Bloomberg reported. Palestinian leader Arafat remained on life support in a Paris-area hospital as factions in the Gaza Strip prepared to discuss his successor in an effort to avoid conflict, Bloomberg reported.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished higher today on strength in my security, retail, restaurant, semiconductor and Indian ADR longs. I did not trade in the afternoon, thus leaving the Portfolio 125% net long. The tone of the market improved throughout the day with the advance/decline line finishing near its highs and volume remaining healthy. It appears investors are beginning to anticipate the better economic growth I predicted for after the election. As well, investors are finally contemplating the very positive effects that tort-reform, tax-reform, social-security reform and health-care reform will have on U.S. stocks. The AAII % Bulls rose sharply this week which likely means a short period of consolidation is in store for stocks in the near-term. I expect Non-farm Payrolls to exceed the 175K estimate tomorrow.

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