S&P 500 1,211.82 -.62%
Dow 10,836.80 -.70%
NASDAQ 2,065.74 -.38%
Russell 2000 633.84 -.65%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,934.01 -.62%
S&P Barra Growth 583.61 -.48%
S&P Barra Value 623.63 -.79%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 585.02 -.88%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 775.81 -.72%
Morgan Stanley Technology 475.91 -.09%
Transports 3,852.23 -.51%
Utilities 355.93 -1.34%
Put/Call .98 +12.64%
NYSE Arms .68 -47.29%
Volatility(VIX) 12.55 +1.21%
ISE Sentiment 178.00 +1.14%
US Dollar 81.51 -.57%
CRB 313.34 +.22%
Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 55.45 +1.58%
Unleaded Gasoline 155.30 +1.15%
Natural Gas 6.88 +.48%
Heating Oil 154.85 +1.62%
Gold 442.90 +.41%
Base Metals 131.29 +.03%
Copper 150.30 +.23%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.46% +1.64%
Leading Sectors
Networking +1.17%
Energy +.37%
Semis +.14%
Lagging Sectors
Homebuilders -1.48%
Restaurants -1.79%
Airlines -2.21%
Market Movers
HLTH +13.6% after meeting 4Q estimates and raising 05 guidance.
GLK +18.65% after Crompton Corp.(CK) agreed to buy it for about $1.55 billion in stock, creating the third-biggest US publicly traded specialty chemicals maker. CK +8.69%.
ISE +53.44% on strong demand for IPO.
RETK +22.12% after Oracle said it plans to make a $504 million takeover offer for it, sparking a bidding war with larger competitor SAP AG.
CMTL +10.67% after beating 2Q estimates and announcing 3-for-2 split.
NPSP -13.36% after announcing that an order for additional Space Based Augmentation System equipment was received from Raytheon Company in support of the Indian GAGAN program.
NDN -10.85% after CFO resigned after 3 months and Johnson Rice downgrade to Underweight.
HAR -9.31% on Fulcrum downgrade to Neutral.
OSTK -5.93% after Piper Jaffray lowered estimates due to higher advertising costs.
CMC -5.4% on continued weakness in metal stocks.
LVS -4.69% after missing 4Q estimates.
NEW -4.89% on rise in long-term interest rates.
Mid-day Overview
Market Internals
I-Watch Sector Overview
NYSE Unusual Volume
NASDAQ Unusual Volume
NASDAQ 100 Heatmap
DJIA Quick Charts
Chart Toppers
Hot Spots
Option Dragon
Real-time Intraday Chart/Quote
Economic Data
None of note
Recommendations
- Goldman Sachs: Reiterated Outperform on MDT, LVS, CZN, HEW, TPX, STR and BSX. Reiterated Underperform on EW and THC.
- Smith Barney: Upgraded XLNX to Buy, target $38. Upgraded GTK to Buy, target $29. Upgraded MEE to Buy, target $54. Reiterated Buy on ACI, target $54. Reiterated Buy on CNX, target $57. Reiterated Buy on MSFT, target $31. Reiterated Sell on FCEL, target $7. Reiterated Buy on NPSP, target $20. Reiterated Buy on THC, target $16. Reiterated Buy on RSH, target $36. Reiterated Sell on LRY, target $35.
- JP Morgan: Raised URI to Overweight.
- CIBC: Rated RRI Sector Outperform.
- Bear Stearns: Raised NTE to Outperform, target $35. Raised COF to Outperform, target $95. Downgraded SID to Underperform.
- Prudential: Rated GR Overweight, target $43.
- Oppenheimer: Raised FD to Buy.
Mid-day News
US stocks are lower mid-day on continuing worries over higher interest rates and energy prices. Nokia Oyj expects the mobile music business to be worth “billions of euros” once demand for the services picks up, Taloussanomat reported. Delta Air Lines will stop selling food on many of its flights next month, giving customers a choice of free snacks instead, and it will remove pillows this month, the NY Times reported. Rising prices of commodities such as oil and copper reflect a strong global economy and may have a minimal effect on inflation, the NY Times reported. Plan International, Christian Children’s Fund and Save the Children US are among US charities opening their books for the first time to let outsiders verify that they’re spending donations as promised, the Wall Street Journal reported. Investing in plants that turn corn into ethanol has become popular in the US Midwest, the Wall Street Journal reported. More US hotels are allowing pets and adding perks for them in an effort to boost occupancy rates, the NY Times reported. Europeans are buying second homes in the US because their purchasing power has been boosted by a decline in the value of the dollar, the Wall Street Journal reported. China’s coal exports rose 34% to 6.74 million metric tons in January from a year earlier, the Tex Report said. Toys “R” Us has received an unexpected bid for the whole company, including its Babies “R” Us unit, the NY Post reported. French defense minister Alliot-Marie will seek support for European plans to lift an arms embargo against China when she visits the US this week, the NY Times reported. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said the US economy is “very strong” and customers are increasingly willing to spend money on new technology projects and investments, Bloomberg reported. Anthony Bolton, whose Fidelity Special Situations Fund has risen almost 90% since stock markets peaked in 2000, said Chinese stocks will probably produce “very good money” for investors in the next three years, Bloomberg said. German Chancellor Schroeder’s government may lower its forecast for 2005 economic growth for the fourth time in a year as domestic demand fails to accelerate, Bloomberg reported. The US economy will probably expand at a faster rate in the first quarter than previously estimated because of higher company spending on plant and equipment, a Bloomberg survey of economists found. IBM said the planned sale of its personal computer unit to China’s Lenovo Group was cleared by a US government committee, Bloomberg said. Qualcomm’s Paul Jacobs, who takes over as CEO from his father in July, said he plans to make acquisitions to add features such as games and video on mobile telephones, Bloomberg said. Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” that uses current workers’ money to pay retirees, and President Bush’s plan to add individual accounts would fix that problem, Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said, Bloomberg reported. Two more friends of former ImClone Systems CEO Waksal were accused of insider trading, the same allegation that led to Martha Stewart’s conviction of obstruction of justice charges, Bloomberg said. Crude oil is rising to a 4-month high, after a report showing a US inventory increase failed to damp concern about supply shortfalls this summer, Bloomberg said. US 10-year T-notes are falling, pushing yields to the highest since August, as oil and gasoline prices near record highs fanned concern inflation will accelerated, Bloomberg reported. Dan Rather’s departure tonight as the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” provides Viacom with the opportunity to remake a broadcast that has the lowest rating in 24 years and garners 13% less for advertisements than competitor NBC, Bloomberg said.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is slightly higher mid-day as gains in my Chinese ADR, Semi and Biotech longs are more than offsetting losses in software and healthcare longs. I have not traded today, thus leaving the Portfolio’s market exposure at 100% net long. The tone of the market is modestly negative as the advance/decline line is lower, sector performance is mostly negative and volume is light. Measures of investor anxiety are mixed. Technology stocks are outperforming and consumer-related stocks are underperforming as interest rates and gas rise. Today’s overall market action is disappointing for the Bulls, however losses could be worse considering the jump in rates and energy. I continue to expect NSM, ALTRA and INTC will echo the recent positive comments made by XLNX which should further spur tech shares. I expect US stocks to trade mixed from current levels into the close as optimism over US economic growth, short covering and bargain hunting offset worries over higher energy prices and interest rates.
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