Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Stocks Mixed Mid-day as Rising Long-term Rates and Profit-taking Offsets Lower Energy Prices and Strong Economic Data

Indices
S&P 500 1,259.60 +.16%
DJIA 10,900.79 +.09%
NASDAQ 2,236.90 -.11%
Russell 2000 674.03 +.38%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,567.47 +.16%
S&P Barra Growth 601.71 +.02%
S&P Barra Value 653.13 +.25%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 593.29 +.17%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 777.58 +.76%
Morgan Stanley Technology 529.48 -.44%
Transports 4,136.93 +.36%
Utilities 403.18 +.30%
Put/Call 1.13 +11.88%
NYSE Arms 1.11 -18.76%
Volatility(VIX) 11.88 +.34%
ISE Sentiment 120.00 -21.57%
US Dollar 91.66 +.74%
CRB 312.14 -.19%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 56.80 -.98%
Unleaded Gasoline 141.50 -.23%
Natural Gas 11.82 +1.60%
Heating Oil 163.70 +.09%
Gold 504.10 +.34%
Base Metals 144.73 +.37%
Copper 191.15 +.03%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.48% +1.77%

Leading Sectors
Steel +2.46%
HMOs +1.53%
Papers +1.40%

Lagging Sectors
Alternative Energy -.83%
Gold & Silver -.88%
Airlines -1.10%
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is lower mid-day on losses in my Internet longs, Computer longs and Retail longs. I added to my IWM and QQQQ shorts and added SNDK short this morning, thus leaving the Portfolio 25% net long. The tone of the market is negative as the advance/decline line is lower, sector performance is mixed and volume is above average. Measures of investor anxiety are mostly higher. Overall, today’s market action is negative considering the better-than-expected economic data and losses in market-leading stocks. The Johnson Redbook same-store sales index rose 3.9% year-over-year last week vs. a 3.8% rise the prior week. This week's gain is up from a 1.5% increase in late April and the 30th week in a row the index has risen 3% or more. Since Oct. 4, when many at the time were calling for a horrible holiday shopping season and a collapse in retail stocks, the Morgan Stanley Retail Index(MVRX) has returned 6.6%, twice the gain of the S&P 500. I continue to expect retailers to outperform through year-end. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-lower from current levels into the close on profit-taking and worries over rising long-term rates.

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