Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Stocks Finish Mixed on Afternoon Reversal

Indices
S&P 500 1,197.26 -.02%
DJIA 10,483.07 +.15%
NASDAQ 2,067.16 -.41%
Russell 2000 623.78 +.13%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,851.46 -.01%
S&P Barra Growth 578.46 +.04%
S&P Barra Value 614.33 -.08%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 583.99 unch.
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 721.72 -.14%
Morgan Stanley Technology 481.41 -.48%
Transports 3,612.63 -.62%
Utilities 370.13 +.33%
Put/Call .84 -3.45%
NYSE Arms 1.16 -11.49%
Volatility(VIX) 12.39 +.90%
ISE Sentiment 156.00 -11.36%
US Dollar 87.49 -.13%
CRB 306.21 -.35%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 53.79 +.06%
Unleaded Gasoline 151.67 +.07%
Natural Gas 7.17 +.60%
Heating Oil 161.10 +.72%
Gold 426.50 -.05%
Base Metals 124.80 -1.13%
Copper 153.40 -.58%
10-year US Treasury Yield 3.90% -1.30%

Leading Sectors
Hospitals +1.66%
Broadcasting +.97%
Homebuilders +.85%

Lagging Sectors
Computer Hardware -1.24%
Restaurants -1.30%
Gold & Silver -1.95%

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 MO.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Borrowing by US consumers grew in April at the slowest pace in five months as a yearlong series of rate increases by the Fed made money more expensive, the Fed said today.
- North Korea has agreed to resume six-party talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear arms program, Wang Guangya, China’s ambassador to the UN, said today.
- The NY Mercantile Exchange, the largest energy market, agreed with the crown prince of Dubai to open the Middle East’s first oil futures exchange as it seeks to expand open-outcry trading, according to Nymex officials.
- Texas Instruments, whose semiconductors run more than half the mobile phones sold last year, said second-quarter sales may reach its highest forecasts as consumers buy new phones that surf the Internet.
- ImClone Systems said billionaire investor Carl Icahn is seeking US antitrust clearance to increase his stake in the company to as much as $500 million.
- UK Prime Minister Blair and President Bush pledged their governments will make aiding impoverished African nations a major priority.

Wall Street Journal:
- China may ban the broadcast of foreign cartoons during prime-time, hampering efforts by companies such as Walt Disney and Viacom to sell programs and their characters in the world’s biggest television market.

AP:
- China, in its latest effort to police the Internet, ordered the operators of all local Web sites and Web logs to register or be shut down.

Financial Times:
- The European Union’s “socialistic” legal structure discourages overseas businesses from opening offices in the region, citing Owens-Illinois CEO McCracken.
- Workers in industrialized states could earn the equivalent of a year’s salary over their working lives if countries boosted domestic competition and cut trade barriers, citing the OECD.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished slightly higher today on gains in my Internet, Retail and Homebuilding longs and Energy-related shorts. I took profits in a few QQQQs and added to some existing shorts in the afternoon, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. I added to my RIG short and I am now using a $52.50 stop-loss on this position. The tone of the market was slightly negative today as the advance/decline finished slightly lower, sector performance was mixed and volume was slightly above average. Measures of investor anxiety were mixed into the close. Overall, today’s market action was negative considering the reversal from morning highs, a decline in energy prices and lower long-term rates. The Baltic Freight Index, a leading economic indicator, has declined 62.9% from December 2004 highs. Moreover, it has fallen 51.5% just since mid-April and broken its uptrend that has been in place since mid-2002. This is another indicator forecasting slowing global growth.

No comments: