Friday, August 26, 2005

Stocks Lower Mid-day on Greenspan Comments and Lower Consumer Confidence

Indices
S&P 500 1,205.85 -.54%
DJIA 10,402.40 -.46%
NASDAQ 2,121.74 -.59%
Russell 2000 649.86 -1.19%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,033.94 -.57%
S&P Barra Growth 577.83 -.46%
S&P Barra Value 623.83 -.61%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 577.84 -.40%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 729.56 -.43%
Morgan Stanley Technology 490.49 -.51%
Transports 3,655.33 -1.10%
Utilities 400.48 -.41%
Put/Call 1.22 +41.86%
NYSE Arms 1.81 +96.77%
Volatility(VIX) 13.97 +1.75%
ISE Sentiment 199.00 -1.97%
US Dollar 87.70 +.07%
CRB 319.73 +.44%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 67.80 +.46%
Unleaded Gasoline 197.30 +.47%
Natural Gas 9.95 +1.84%
Heating Oil 187.00 +.03%
Gold 442.00 -.25%
Base Metals 129.99 +.74%
Copper 164.30 +2.30%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.17% +.55%

Leading Sectors
Broadcasting +.63%
Gold & Silver +.17%
Software -.22%

Lagging Sectors
Oil Tankers -1.74%
Steel -1.95%
Tobacco -2.59%
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is slightly higher mid-day on gains in my Oil Tanker shorts, Steel shorts and Internet longs. I temporarily hedged further this morning, however the Portfolio is now back to 50% net long. The tone of the market is negative as the advance/decline line is substantially lower, almost every sector is lower and volume is very light. Measures of investor anxiety are higher. Today’s overall market action is modestly negative given a rise in long-term rates after Greenspan’s comments and hurricane worries. The AAII % Bulls rose to 36.14% this week from 29.29% the prior week; this reading is at below-average levels. Likewise, the % Bears fell to 31.33% from 40.40% the prior week; this is slightly above-average levels. Sentiment will likely fall next week. I expect US stocks to trade modestly higher from current levels into the close on short-covering and bargain hunting.

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