Stocks Lower into Finaly Hour on Continuing Emerging Market and Sup-prime Worries

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is slightly lower into the final hour on losses in my Medical longs and Telecom longs. I covered some of my (IWM) and (QQQQ) hedges this morning, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. The tone of the market is very negative as the advance/decline line is substantially lower, almost every sector is lower and volume is heavy. US stocks are performing relatively well versus other major global indices.

Here are the five major global indices with the smallest losses from their 52-week highs:

1. U.S.: S&P 500, -5.2%
2. Canada: S&P/TSX Composite, -5.3%
3. U.K.: FTSE 100, -6.1%
4. Israel: Tel Aviv 100, -6.0%
5. Italy: MIB 30, -6.5%

Here are the five major global indices with the worst losses from their 52-week highs:

1. Thailand: Bangkok SET Index, -13.8%
2. India: Sensex, -15.7%
3. Turkey: ISE National 100, -15.8%
4. Venezuela: Caracas Stock Exchange, -17.0%
5. Ukraine: PFTS Index, -19.5%

I expect US stocks to trade modestly higher into the close from current levels on short-covering and bargain-hunting.