Thursday, March 29, 2007

Stocks Finish Higher Despite Iran Concerns

Indices
S&P 500 1,422.53 +.37%
DJIA 12,348.75 +.39%
NASDAQ 2,417.88 +.03%
Russell 2000 798.94 +.19%
Wilshire 5000 14,360.64 +.32%
Russell 1000 Growth 558.37 +.16%
Russell 1000 Value 824.58 +.50%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 701.34 +.38%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 954.11 +.50%
Morgan Stanley Technology 556.37 -.09%
Transports 4,802.51 +.18%
Utilities 503.37 +.38%
MSCI Emerging Markets 116.30 +1.54%

Sentiment/Internals
Total Put/Call 1.16 -12.78%
NYSE Arms .98 -37.15%
Volatility(VIX) 15.14 +1.07%
ISE Sentiment 92.0 -13.21%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 66.13 +3.17%
Reformulated Gasoline 213.30 +3.68%
Natural Gas 7.62 -.68%
Heating Oil 187.70 +2.71%
Gold 667.50 -.80%
Base Metals 243.92 -.39%
Copper 309.05 +.91%

Economy
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.64% +2 basis point
US Dollar 83.07 +.05%
CRB Index 317.73 +1.07%

Leading Sectors
Steel +3.49%
Oil Service +1.23%
Telecom +1.05%

Lagging Sectors
Semis -.86%
HMOs -1.49%
Coal -2.87%

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
SunTrust Robinson:
- Rated (SXE) and (ELY) Buy.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- US Treasuries declined modestly after US economic growth came in above prior estimates and jobless claims fell.
- Dell Inc.(DELL) said it found evidence of misconduct and errors in its accounting amid investigations into the computer maker’s financial results. The shares fell .60 to 22.84 in after-hours trading.
- Beazer Homes USA(BZH) received a grand jury subpoena from the US Attorney’s office in the Western District of North Carolina for documents related to its mortgage origination business. The stock is trading down .29 to $29 in after-hours trading.
- Bear Stearns(BSC) said the surge of defaults in subprime home loans won’t spread to other parts of the mortgage market, and IndyMac Bancop said losses from more creditworthy customers are far below industry averages.
- Dendreon Corp.’s(DNDN) prostate cancer drug Provenge was recommended for approval by a US regulatory panel that found it safe and “substantially” effective.
- McClatchy(MNI) is in talks to form advertising partnerships with Google(GOOG), Yahoo!(YHOO) and Microsoft(MSFT) to grab a greater share of Internet spending, CEO Gary Pruitt said.
- 54% of Americans said they’re happy the Democrats won control of Congress, down 6 percentage points since November, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center.
- Crude oil rose above $66/bbl. in NY, closing at a six month high, as speculators raised bets over the potential for production disruptions.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished about even today as losses in my Retail longs and Telecom longs were offset by gains in my Medical longs and Biotech longs. I did not trade in the final hour, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market was neutral today as the advance/decline line finished about even, sector performance was mixed and volume was above average. Measures of investor anxiety were above average into the close. Today's overall market action was mildly bullish as the major averages and breadth finish mixed, but well off session lows. The underlying tone was never too bad, even with the market at its intraday low. Considering the jump in oil, today's market action was more impressive. I suspect we will build on this afternoon's gains tomorrow, notwithstanding any morning weakness on quarter-end short-covering and bargain hunting.

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