Monday, December 19, 2005

Stocks Lower Mid-day on Weakness in Small-caps

Indices
S&P 500 1,262.57 -.37%
DJIA 10,849.91 -.23%
NASDAQ 2,234.73 -.79%
Russell 2000 674.14 -1.31%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,607.76 -.47%
S&P Barra Growth 605.68%
S&P Barra Value 652.54 -.58%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 601.40 +.35%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 781.18 -.71%
Morgan Stanley Technology 529.77 -.91%
Transports 4,116.76 -.62%
Utilities 412.55 -1.25%
Put/Call .99 +23.75%
NYSE Arms .79 -17.43%
Volatility(VIX) 11.12 +4.12%
ISE Sentiment 226.00 +21.51%
US Dollar 89.94 +.27%
CRB 326.23 -.04%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 57.40 -1.14%
Unleaded Gasoline 153.10 -2.42%
Natural Gas 13.98 +2.62%
Heating Oil 171.20 -1.15%
Gold 506.70 +.16%
Base Metals 152.12 -.76%
Copper 201.40 -.74%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.43% unch.

Leading Sectors
Drugs +2.88%
Papers +.15%
Telecom -.11%

Lagging Sectors
Homebuilders -1.36%
Steel -1.53%
HMOs -1.56%
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is slightly lower mid-day on losses in my Semi longs and Medical longs. I covered my IWM and QQQQ shorts this morning and added back to them, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. The tone of the market is negative as the advance/decline line is substantially lower, most sectors are lower and volume is slightly below average. Measures of investor anxiety are mixed. Overall, today’s market action is negative considering the decline in energy prices and recent positive economic reports. The fact that Yahoo! (YHOO) is approaching a 52-week high notwithstanding the Google (GOOG)/AOL news illustrates the magnitude of the opportunity for both parties in my opinion. Google is trading at another all-time high, up $4.50. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-lower into the close on fears that a slowing housing market will damage consumer spending.

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