Stocks Finish Slightly Lower on Healthy Consolidation of Recent Strong Gains

Indices
S&P 500 1,480.93 -.23%
DJIA 12,919.40 -.33%
NASDAQ 2,523.67 -.11%
Russell 2000 827.55 -.16%
Wilshire 5000 14,935.82 -.17%
Russell 1000 Growth 584.12 -.09%
Russell 1000 Value 853.76 -.29%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 733.50 -.07%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 997.78 -.07%
Morgan Stanley Technology 582.10 -.15%
Transports 5,161.76 -.85%
Utilities 523.90 +.64%
MSCI Emerging Markets 122.68 +.03%

Sentiment/Internals
Total Put/Call .91 +21.3%
NYSE Arms 1.13 +29.92%
Volatility(VIX) 13.04 +8.04%
ISE Sentiment 133.0 +6.40%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 65.70 +2.51%
Reformulated Gasoline 219.95 +2.91%
Natural Gas 7.57 +2.51%
Heating Oil 189.10 +3.19%
Gold 692.70 -.45%
Base Metals 271.87 -.73%
Copper 365.60 +.97%

Economy
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.64% -3 basis points
US Dollar 81.74 +.12%
CRB Index 314.47 +.78%

Leading Sectors
Coal +4.02%
Biotech +1.64%
REITs +1.26%

Lagging Sectors
Drugs -1.26%
Airlines -1.94%
Homebuilders -1.99%

Evening Review
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After-hours Movers
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In Play

Afternoon Recommendations
- None of note

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Cephalon Inc.(CEPH), Henry Schein(HSIC) and Steel Dynamics(STLD) are candidates to join the Nasdaq-100 Index, replacing Medimmune(MEDI), according to Gabriela Baez, head of index and portfolio research at Lehman(LEH).
- Crude oil surged, approaching $66/bbl. in NY, as investment funds speculated that shipments from Nigeria may be disrupted as complaints about the country’s presidential election spawn more violence.
- Altera Corp.(ALTR), the world’s second biggest maker of programmable semiconductors, said first-quarter profit rose 28% on sales of new products for consumer electronics. The shares rose 2% after-hours.
- Express Scripts(ESRX), the third biggest US manager of drug benefits, said quarterly profit increased 28% as the company filled more prescriptions with cheaper generic copies. The shares surged 4.5% after-hours.
- Amgen(AMGN) said first-quarter profit rose 15% on sales of drugs to treat anemia in dialysis and cancer patients. The shares rose 1% after-hours.
- Texas Instruments(TXN), the world’s largest maker of mobile-phone chips, reported a 12% drop in first quarter profit, the first decline in more than two years, as phone shipments slowed. The shares soared 8% after-hours.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished higher today on gains in my Computer longs, Medical longs and I-Banking longs. I didn’t trade in the final hour, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market was mildly negative today as the advance/decline line finished mildly lower, 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 neutral. Underlying market action remained very constructive today despite the jump in oil and comments from (GM). The Goldman Sachs Agricultural Commodity Sub-Index looks like it is rolling over again to me. As well, corn is falling 2.3% today and is testing recent lows. The AMEX Biotech Index (BTK) is building on its all-time closing high set last week. Mid-caps rose again today and continue to display significant relative strength. The VIX rose 8% today despite minor losses in the major averages. I expect more choppiness throughout the week.