NASDAQ 2,159.84 +.53%
Leading Sectors
Broadcasting +2.69%
Oil Service +1.89%
Semis +1.86%
Lagging Sectors
Software -.39%
Wireless -.47%
Networking -1.18%
Other
Crude Oil 41.91 +.22%
Natural Gas 7.29 -.52%
Gold 436.80 -.11%
Base Metals 116.09 +.37%
U.S. Dollar 82.32 +.27%
10-Yr. T-note Yield 4.12% -.56%.
VIX 12.73 +1.52%
Put/Call .77 +8.45%
NYSE Arms .87 +20.83%
After-hours Movers
BBI +5.33% after billionaire financier Icahn boosted his stake in Hollywood Entertainment to 9.54% and said he supports Blockbuster's bid for it.
ADCT +10.89% after beating 4Q estimates substantially.
MANC +5.0% on continuing optimism over 1Q report.
ABGX -5.7% after announcing it intends to sell approximately $150 million principal amount of its Convertible Senior Notes through a private placement.
Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on RIMM. Goldman cut WTW to Underperform .
After-hours News
U.S. stocks finished modestly higher today as merger speculation increased, long-term interest rates fell and the US dollar rallied. After the close, Russian policies are damaging the economy and the achievements of its rapid economic growth, the Financial Times reported. Federal Reserve policy makers raised the benchmark U.S. interest rate a quarter point to 2.25% and restated a plan to carry out further increases at a "measured" pace to keep inflation in check, Bloomberg reported. The US dollar rose against the yen after the Fed indicated it will keep increasing interest rates as the economy extends an expansion that's outpacing growth in Japan, Bloomberg said. The Nasdaq has advanced 23% from its 2004 low on Aug. 12, bringing its gain for the year to 7.8%. The index has jumped 94% since Oct. 9, 2002, Bloomberg reported. MCI Inc., formerly known as WorldCom before filing the biggest US bankruptcy, can pay more than $165 million to some of the consultants, lawyers and other advisers who guided its reorganization, Bloomberg said. Berkshire Hathaway named Microsoft founder Bill Gates to its board of directors, Bloomberg reported. Las Vegas Sands, owner of the Venetian Casino Resort in Las Vegas and China's Sands Macau, raised $690 million in the biggest IPO by a U.S. gaming company, Bloomberg reported. China has set the inflation target for 2005 at 4%, Wen Wei Po reported. China's consumer prices rose 2.8% in November from a year earlier, Bloomberg said.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished slightly higher today as gains in my internet, semi and semi-equipment longs more than offset losses in my Chinese ADR and software longs. I exited a software long in the afternoon as it hit my stop-loss and added a new internet long, thus leaving the Portfolio 125% net long. I added MNST and I am using a $29.50 stop-loss on this position. The tone of the market improved throughout the day as volume increased and the advance/decline line finished near its daily high. It was also a positive to see long-term interest rates fall and the US dollar rally in the face of a disappointing trade report.
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