Stocks Higher into Final Hour on Short-covering and Oil Price Reversal

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is higher into the final hour on gains in my Networking longs, Medical Information Systems longs, Biotech longs, Computer longs and Energy-related shorts. I added (COP) short and added to a few existing longs this afternoon, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market is slightly positive as the advance/decline line is modestly higher, most sectors are higher and volume is heavy. Measures of investor anxiety are mostly lower. Earlier today we had a 40-point decline in market leader Google (GOOG), higher oil prices, higher long-term rates, more rhetoric from Iran and mixed economic data. However, the major averages are higher with slightly positive breadth this afternoon. This market is very resilient, which bodes well for further gains in stocks over the coming weeks. I expect US stocks to trade modestly higher into the close from current levels on lower energy prices and short-covering.