S&P 500 1,205.01 -.35%
Dow 10,817.96 -.31%
NASDAQ 2,049.43 -.50%
Russell 2000 628.02 +.17%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,862.00 -.25%
S&P Barra Growth 580.25 -.39%
S&P Barra Value 620.13 -.34%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 585.40 -.45%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 779.11 +.82%
Morgan Stanley Technology 472.07 -.92%
Transports 3,843.38 +.63%
Utilities 355.64 -.27%
Put/Call 1.06 +7.07%
NYSE Arms .84 +15.07%
Volatility(VIX) 12.45 -.32%
ISE Sentiment 133.00 +2.31%
US Dollar 81.39 -.25%
CRB 317.84 +.85%
Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 54.45 +1.70%
Unleaded Gasoline 151.15 +1.95%
Natural Gas 6.81 +.62%
Heating Oil 154.80 +2.58%
Gold 447.00 +.81%
Base Metals 130.99 +.08%
Copper 147.80 -1.20%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.52% +1.41%
Leading Sectors
Iron/Steel +2.79%
Oil Service +.88%
Gaming +.50%
Lagging Sectors
Networking -1.39%
I-Banks -1.39%
Semis -2.50%
Market Movers
ERES -18.53% after cutting 1Q estimates.
S +5.2% on UBS upgrade of KMRT to Buy. KMRT +9.3%.
VC +17.1% after Ford Motor agreed to provide it some assistance while continuing to negotiate broader changes in their 2000 spinoff agreement and multiple upgrades.
NUE +6.85% after raising 05 guidance substantially.
SKO +12.53% after beating 4Q guidance and raising 05 outlook.
PETC +6.8% on ThinkEquity upgrade to Buy and continued optimism over 4Q results.
FRO +5.5% after Persian Gulf oil-tanker rates rose.
ZQK +6.54% after beating 1Q estimates and raising 05 outlook.
HORC +8.2% after pricing a secondary offering of 1.5M shares yesterday at $36.25.
JILL -13.0% after meeting 4Q estimates, lowering 1Q guidance and multiple downgrades.
LIN -12.2% after lowering 1Q outlook and CIBC downgrade to Sector Perform.
WBSN -4.79% on Deutsche Bank downgrade to Hold.
TECD -6.5% after beating 4Q estimates, lowering 1Q guidance and multiple downgrades.
NTMD -10.6% on disappointing 4Q results.
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
- The Trade Balance for January fell to -$56.8B versus estimates of -$56.8B and -$55.7B in December.
Recommendations
- Goldman Sachs: Reiterated Outperform on JTX, SSP and BBG.
- Smith Barney: Upgraded MANH to Buy, target $27. Reiterated Buy on INTC, target $29. Reiterated Buy on NSM, target $28. Reiterated Buy on UPS, target $90. Rated SFI Buy, target $47. Rated NLY Sell, target $16. Rated GKK Buy, target $25. Reiterated Buy on INTU, target $54. Reiterated Buy on NOI, target $57. Reiterated Buy on HAL, target $50. Reiterated Buy on FITB, target $58. Reiterated Buy on PETC, target $42. Reiterated Buy on F, target $16. Reiterated Buy on BVF, target $20.
- Piper Jaffray: Raised CNCT to Outperform, target $32. Raised BMC to Outperform, target $19.
- Banc of America: Rated PRU Buy, target $66. Rated UNM Buy, target $21.
- Deutsche Bank: Raised SIRF to Buy, target $14.
- Morgan Stanley: Rated INCY Overweight, target $11.
- CSFB: Downgraded AIV to Underperform, target $34. Rated TSS Underperform, target $14. Downgraded SAFT to Underperform, target $31.
- Raymond James: Downgraded KEG to Underperform.
- Lehman Brothers: Raised NSM to Overweight.
Mid-day News
US stocks are lower mid-day on contining worries over rising energy prices/interest rates and losses in the tech sector. Advantest, the world’s biggest maker of memory-chip testing equipment, cut its full-year profit forecast 9.3%, citing a slowdown in capital spending by its customers, Bloomberg reported. Iron-ore prices may be at their peak and could fall next year as demand from steelmakers fails to match supply, the Wall Street Journal reported. Starbucks Corp. will open its first Irish outlet in Dublin this summer, the Irish Times reported. Coach Inc. and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA are intensifying their rivalry in Japan, the Wall Street Journal reported. Every Japanese household will own a robot by 2015 because of technology advances, the Washington Post reported. Consumer spending on the Internet rose 14% last year to $1.8 billion, led by music and dating sites, the AP reported. Bear Stearns’ Merchant Banking Group bought a 50% stake in closely held 7 for All Mankind Jeans for as much as $100 million, the NY Times reported. Ford Motor is ending production of the Thunderbird convertible in July, the AP reported. SAP AG plans to simplify its pricing structure and expects to increase market share in the US this year, Euro am Sonntag reported. The average price of a condominium in Manhattan rose 19% to $969,000 in 2004, the NY Post reported. United Airlines plans to recall 500 flight attendants as the carrier adds flights because of increasing demand, the Rocky Mountain News reported. The Univ. of Colorado has reached an agreement for less than $500,000 with Professor Ward Churchill, who compared 9/11 victims to Nazis and praised the terrorists, for his dismissal from the school, the Denver Post reported. Siemens AG and Samsung Electronics are among mobile-phone makers that may have a tougher time convincing telephone companies to pick their new handsets as the service providers reduce their offerings to consumers, Bloomberg said. Syria has withdrawn about 6,000 soldiers from northern Lebanon, leaving only Syrian intelligence service offices to be evacuated from the area, AFP reported. The US trade gap widened in January as record imports for automobiles and other consumer goods outpaced exports, Bloomberg said. Interpublic Group may restate financial results for the second time in two years after the company found errors in its accounting for acquisitions, Bloomberg reported. President Bush called on Republicans and Democrats to stop criticizing each other over proposals to save Social Security and instead offer solutions to the problem, Bloomberg said. The US agreed to join Europe in offering Iran economic incentives to end its nuclear weapons program, Bloomberg reported. Crude oil in NY is rising after the IEA increased its estimate for global demand growth for a third straight month, Bloomberg said. US Treasury notes are falling, heading for their biggest weekly drop since May, as increased consumer demand for imported goods led to a wider trade deficit, Bloomberg rerpoted.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is slightly lower mid-day as losses in my Semi and Software longs are more than offsetting gains in my Steel and Oil Service longs. I exited a number of tech longs this morning as they hit stop-losses and added a few new tech shorts, thus leaving the Portfolio’s market exposure at 25% net long. One of my new shorts is FFIV and I am using a $59.25 stop-loss on this position. The tone of the market is negative as the advance/decline line is lower, most sectors are declining and volume is light. Measures of investor anxiety are mostly higher, which is a positive. Gains are mainly confined to commodity-related sectors and losses are heaviest in tech. Today’s overall market action is negative, considering recent positive news from the semis. I continue to expect US shares to trade mixed-to-weaker near-term until there is a clear stabilization in the rise in energy and interest rates. My trading indicators are now giving Sell signals. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-lower from current levels into the close on worries over rising interest rates/energy prices and technical deterioration.
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