Monday, June 06, 2005

Stocks Finish Slightly Higher as Oil Falls

Indices
S&P 500 1,197.51 +.12%
DJIA 10,467.03 +.06%
NASDAQ 2,075.76 +.21%
Russell 2000 622.94 +.43%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,852.33 +.16%
S&P Barra Growth 578.22 +.14%
S&P Barra Value 614.83 +.10%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 584.00 +.06%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 722.74 +.11%
Morgan Stanley Technology 483.72 +.20%
Transports 3,635.06 +.16%
Utilities 368.90 -.07%
Put/Call .87 -12.12%
NYSE Arms 1.31 -12.62%
Volatility(VIX) 12.28 +1.07%
ISE Sentiment 176.00 +3.53%
US Dollar 87.60 -.50%
CRB 307.28 +.19%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 54.29 -1.34%
Unleaded Gasoline 153.07 -1.70%
Natural Gas 7.12 +3.49%
Heating Oil 161.10 +.72%
Gold 428.20 -.05%
Base Metals 126.23 -.61%
Copper 156.00 -.26%
10-year US Treasury Yield 3.95% -.53%

Leading Sectors
Airlines +1.99%
Homebuilders +1.02%
Hospitals +.94%

Lagging Sectors
Biotech -.94%
Steel -1.08%
Gold & Silver -1.15%

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 ROH and CK.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Citigroup said UPS lost computer tapes containing personal data on about half its consumer finance customers in North America, some 3.9 million people.
- John Houldsworth, an executive at Berkshire Hathaway’s General Re unit, agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge of helping AIG use reinsurance to distort its finances.
- E.W. Scripps, owner of the Home & Garden cable-tv network as well as newspapers and tv stations, said it will buy the Shopzilla comparison-shopping Internet search engine for $525 million in cash.
- Crude oil fell from a six-week high on speculation that oil inventories are sufficient to meet demand from refineries that are attempting to meet surging fuel consumption.

Reuters:
- Pope Benedict XVI today condemned same-sex unions as a threat to the future of the family, as the pontiff gave his first pronouncement on gay marriage since becoming pope in April.

Financial Times:
- The G8 may consider tax breaks to encourage large oil companies to boost refining capacity and reduce the risk of shortages.

Wen Wei Po:
- The US and China will avoid a trade war, even after the US’s decision to cap China-made textiles and garments, citing James Leonard, a US Commerce Department official.

Nikkei English:
- Apple Computer plans to bring its iTunes Music Store, the biggest online music shop, to Japan in early August.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished higher today on gains in my Internet, Retail and Homebuilding longs. I did not trade in the afternoon, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. The tone of the market was slightly positive today as the advance/decline finished modestly higher, sector performance was mixed and volume was light. Measures of investor anxiety were mostly lower into the close. Overall, today’s market action was slightly positive ahead of Greenspan’s comments and Intel’s mid-quarter update. Greenspan will likely not confirm or deny an impending "pause" by the Fed in comments from Beijing tonight. As long as he does not explicitly say the Fed will not “pause” after the June meeting, stocks should respond positively.

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