Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Stocks Finish at Session Lows as Hurricane Rita Upgraded to Category 5

Indices
S&P 500 1,210.20 -.91%
DJIA 10,378.03 -.99%
NASDAQ 2,106.64 -1.16%
Russell 2000 649.94 -1.62%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,070.37 -1.01%
S&P Barra Growth 578.56 -.77%
S&P Barra Value 627.45 -1.05%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 573.39 -.93%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 712.88 -.78%
Morgan Stanley Technology 493.70 -1.11%
Transports 3,597.05 +.44%
Utilities 421.78 -1.28%
Put/Call 1.12 +6.67%
NYSE Arms 1.46 -16.02%
Volatility(VIX) 13.79 +9.10%
ISE Sentiment 135.00 -30%
US Dollar 88.00 -.68%
CRB 327.04 +.58%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 67.50 +1.03
Unleaded Gasoline 210.30 +2.43%
Natural Gas 12.88 2.27%
Heating Oil 207.60 +1.83%
Gold 475.80 +.55%
Base Metals 129.87 +2.17%
Copper 170.90 +.15%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.16 -.19%

Leading Sectors
Gold & Silver +3.38%
Steel +1.56%
Energy +1.36%

Lagging Sectors
Defense -2.41%
Restaurants -2.76%
Airlines -3.75%

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 LUV and QCOM.
- Reiterated Underperform on SIRI.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The US House approved a $6.1 billion tax cut for survivors of Hurricane Katrina that includes incentives for those who shelter evacuees.
- McDonald’s will sell a minority stake in its Chipotle Mexican Grill in an IPO during the first quarter of 2006.
- The US dollar dropped against the euro for a second day in Asia on concern Hurricane Rita will exacerbate the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, further damping consumer spending and slowing US economic growth.
- Hurricane Rita strengthened into a Category 5 storm as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas and Louisiana, surpassing the power Katrina had when it swept ashore last month and became the most expensive natural disaster in US history.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished higher today on gains in my Internet longs and ETF shorts. I exited an existing long and added to my TLT long in the afternoon, thus leaving the Portfolio market neutral. The tone of the market was negative today as the advance/decline line finished substantially lower, almost every sector declined and volume was slightly above average. Measures of investor anxiety were higher into the close. Overall, today’s market action was slightly negative. I expect a tradable bottom to develop over the next two days from lower levels. Initial jobless claims will spike again tomorrow as more Katrina victims are able to file.

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