Monday, April 02, 2007

Stocks Finish Mostly Higher as Iran Tensions Ease

Indices
S&P 500 1,424.55 +.26%
DJIA 12,382.30 +.23%
NASDAQ 2,422.26 +.03%
Russell 2000 803.22 +.31%
Wilshire 5000 14,394.26 +.28%
Russell 1000 Growth 560.49 +.34%
Russell 1000 Value 824.57 +.19%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 704.62 +.35%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 956.86 +.14%
Morgan Stanley Technology 561.64 +.94%
Transports 4,816.83 +.13%
Utilities 510.20 +2.0%
MSCI Emerging Markets 117.04 -1.08%

Sentiment/Internals
Total Put/Call .83 -30.25%
NYSE Arms .95 -34.69%
Volatility(VIX) 14.59 -.34%
ISE Sentiment 129.0 +37.23%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 66.00 +.20%
Reformulated Gasoline 204.71 -.53%
Natural Gas 7.66 -.88%
Heating Oil 186.57 -.60%
Gold 669.90 +.13%
Base Metals 249.63 +.03%
Copper 318.35 +1.19%

Economy
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.64% unch.
US Dollar 82.87 -.07%
CRB Index 315.07 -.57%

Leading Sectors
Computer Services +2.61%
Utilities +2.0%
Gold +1.80%

Lagging Sectors
Homebuilders -.65%
Disk Drives -1.34%
Banks -1.50%

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
None of note:

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Solengo Capital Advisors, a new commodity investment fund founded by Canadian trader Brian Hunter, sued the DealBreaker Web site for copyright infringement for posting Solengo’s confidential prospectus. Hunter caused the biggest hedge fund collapse ever as an Amaranth Advisors LLC energy trader when his bet on natural gas prices last year led to $6.6 billion in losses.
- Corn prices in Chicago fell the most in seven months today and are now down 21% from their highs after US farmers indicated they plan to sow the most acres in 63 years.
- Brazil’s ethanol exports surged 21% in March from a year ago and corn exports soared 100%.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished slightly higher today on gains in my Retail longs and Biotech longs. I did not trade in the final hour, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. The tone of the market was slightly positive today as the advance/decline line finished about even, sector performance was mostly positive and volume was about average. Measures of investor anxiety were about average into the close. Today's overall market action was neutral. Banks remained under pressure throughout the day. I-banks trimmed morning losses and finished just slightly lower. I sat on my hands most of the day. I still expect stocks to finish the week modestly higher. The Nikkei is indicated 160 points higher on the open in Japan tonight.

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