S&P 500 1,160.37 +.72%
DJIA 10,231.74 +.73%
NASDAQ 1,945.40 +.68%
Russell 2000 594.11 +.78%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,433.25 +.76%
S&P Barra Growth 561.50 +.67%
S&P Barra Value 594.68 +.79%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 576.48 +.36%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 712.10 +.72%
Morgan Stanley Technology 442.37 +.76%
Transports 3,469.94 +.87%
Utilities 368.42 +.57%
Put/Call .78 -15.22%
NYSE Arms .71 -50.82%
Volatility(VIX) 15.05 -2.08%
ISE Sentiment 158.00 +23.44%
US Dollar 83.83 +.41%
CRB 309.61 +.75%
Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 55.15 -.43%
Unleaded Gasoline 167.40 +1.31%
Natural Gas 7.25 +.76%
Heating Oil 153.40 -.72%
Gold 435.90 +.07%
Base Metals 125.15 -1.0%
Copper 148.50 +.07%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.24% unch.
Leading Sectors
Homebuilders +2.17%
I-Banks +1.53%
Gaming +1.48%
Lagging Sectors
Biotech -.13%
Drugs -.19%
Gold & Silver -.38%
BOTTOM LINE: US stocks are higher mid-day on a bounce after Friday’s sell-off and a strong home sales report. The Portfolio is higher on gains in my Homebuilding, Networking and Internet longs. I exited a few shorts this morning and added a few new homebuilding and tech longs, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. One of my new longs is BZH and I am using a $45 stop-loss on this position. The tone of the market is positive as the advance/decline line is higher, almost every sector is rising and volume is very light. Measures of investor anxiety are lower. Today’s overall market action is modestly positive, considering Friday’s sell-off, stabilizing energy prices, a rising US dollar and merger activity. Banc of America made positive comments on the homebuilders this morning:
1. Inventories of homes for sale decreased 0.2% in March, the first decline since December.
2. Inventories represent just 4.0 months supply, substantially below the six-month level that NAR (National Association of Realtors) says is a balanced market.
3. The months' supply remains just above the record low of 3.8 set in January 2005.
4. February inventories were revised 2.0% lower.
5. Absolute inventories are 3.7% below year-ago levels.
I expect US stocks to trade modestly higher into the close on short-covering, lower energy prices and bargain-hunting.
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