Thursday, June 02, 2005

Stocks Finish Higher as Oil Prices Reverse Lower

Indices
S&P 500 1,204.29 +.17%
DJIA 10,553.49 +.03%
NASDAQ 2,097.80 +.48%
Russell 2000 625.24 +.24%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,910.22 +.21%
S&P Barra Growth 582.59 +.22%
S&P Barra Value 617.17 +.12%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 588.54 +.04%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 727.79 +.19%
Morgan Stanley Technology 488.32 +.75%
Transports 3,649.96 +.44%
Utilities 368.40 -.04%
Put/Call .95 +39.71%
NYSE Arms 1.15 +43.11%
Volatility(VIX) 11.84 -4.21%
ISE Sentiment 174.00 +32.82%
US Dollar 87.75 -.41%
CRB 304.16 -.06%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 53.57 -1.89%
Unleaded Gasoline 151.47 -1.91%
Natural Gas 6.80 +.18%
Heating Oil 153.90 -.06%
Gold 424.10 -.16%
Base Metals 123.28 +1.30%
Copper 151.00 -.43%
10-year US Treasury Yield 3.90% +.48%

Leading Sectors
Airlines +5.91%
Disk Drives +3.18%
Oil Tankers +2.34%

Lagging Sectors
Biotech -.23%
Gold & Silver -.70%
Computer Hardware -1.00%

Evening Review
Detailed Market Summary
Market Gauges
Daily ETF Performance
Style Performance
Market Wrap CNBC Video(bottom right)
S&P 500 Gallery View
Economic Calendar
Timely Economic Charts
GuruFocus.com
PM Market Call
After-hours Movers
Real-time/After-hours Stock Quote
In Play

Afternoon Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on FCD.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- US anti-dumping laws hurt consumers and businesses by artificially inflating prices, two of President Bush’s former economic advisers write in the latest issue of the journal Foreign Affairs.
- President Chirac’s popularity plunged to a record low 24% following the May 29 defeat of the European Union constitution referendum.
- Toyota Motor slashed the time it took to build a car in North America last year by 5.9%, the biggest efficiency gain in an annual survey of auto plants.
- Morgan Stanley will move 2,300 jobs to lower Manhattan and add 578 positions in the next five years.
- Phelps Dodge plans to spend $210 million on a project to process the metal by a new leaching technology to cut costs, closing a New Mexico smelter and an Arizona refinery permanently.
- Apple Computer will issue $50 vouchers or extended service warranties as part of a tentative settlement with customers who experienced battery problems with older versions of the iPod music player.
- The Duke/CFO Magazine global CFO survey says: Capital spending and employment growth to slow due to interest rates, high fuel costs, healthcare costs and lack of pricing power.

Nikkei English:
- Honda Motor plans to increase production at its four North American plants by 7% to 1.5 million automobiles a year by its fiscal 2007.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished unchanged today as gains in my Steel shorts and Homebuilding longs offset losses in my Energy-related shorts. I took profits in a few QQQQs and added to my FFIV long, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market was slightly positive today as the advance/decline finished modestly higher, most sectors rose and volume was average. Measures of investor anxiety were mixed into the close. Overall, today’s market action was slightly positive ahead of tomorrow’s jobs report. Expectations are for a rise of 175K in non-farm payrolls vs. a gain of 274K last month. Given the upward revision to 1Q unit labor costs, I would like to see a number below 200K. I think this will be the case. Investors would likely welcome a change between 75K-200K. Above 250K would probably spark fears that the labor market is becoming too tight and thus quell recent speculation of a Fed pause. Below 75K could renew fears of a U.S. hard landing.

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