Stocks Finish at Session Highs, Boosted by Gains in the Technology Sector

Indices
S&P 500 1,460.12 +.49%
DJIA 13,245.64 +.29%
NASDAQ 2,640.86 +1.53%
Russell 2000 767.54 +1.51%
Wilshire 5000 14,673.05 +.62%
Russell 1000 Growth 609.65 +.79%
Russell 1000 Value 790.14 +.29%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 738.66 +.05%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 984.85 +1.18%
Morgan Stanley Technology 626.02 +1.70%
Transports 4,583.86 -.01%
Utilities 536.72 -.02%
MSCI Emerging Markets 148.72 +.23%

Sentiment/Internals
Total Put/Call .63 -44.7%
NYSE Arms 1.05 +7.63%
Volatility(VIX) 20.58 -5.07%
ISE Sentiment 110.0 -1.79%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil $91.20 -.04%
Reformulated Gasoline 233.73 +.23%
Natural Gas 7.11 -.89%
Heating Oil 259.43 -.14%
Gold 799.80 -.70%
Base Metals 212.28 +1.92%
Copper 297.0 +.41%

Economy
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.04% +1 basis point
US Dollar 77.78 +.26%
CRB Index 349.63 -.16%

Leading Sectors
Software +2.22%
Wireless +2.11%
Computer Hardware +2.08%

Lagging Sectors
Insurance -.55%
Oil Tankers -1.04%
Airlines -1.17%

Evening Review
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In Play

Afternoon Recommendations
Needham:
- Rated (SINA) Buy.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The US housing market will bottom out in the second quarter of 2008 and become a positive force on the national economy by the end of the year, said David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.
- Research In Motion Ltd.(RIMM) said third-quarter profit doubled and gave a forecast that topped analysts’ estimates on consumer demand for the BlackBerry e-mail phone, spurring an 11% surge in the stock in after-hours trading.
- GE Commercials Finance and Allied Capital Corp. raised $3.6 billion to fund smaller private-equity transactions after lenders tightened financing requirements. Unitranche Fund LLC will provide loans of as much as $500 million.
- Red Hat Inc.(RHT) named former Delta Air Lines(DAL) COO James Whitehurst as CEO and said third-quarter profit rose 39%. Red Hat jumped 7.4% in extended trading.
- Campbell Soup(CPB) agreed to sell its Godiva chocolate unit to Yildiz Holding AS for $850 million.
- NetSuite Inc.(N), the software maker majority-owned by Oracle’s(ORCL) Larry Ellison, surged 37% in its first day of trading, underscoring investors’ confidence in business software spending.

NY Times:
- GM’s Fuel-Cell Test: 100 Cars, No Charge.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished higher today on gains in my Software longs, Medical longs, Semi longs and Internet longs. I did not trade in the final hour, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market was positive today as the advance/decline line finished higher, most sectors rose and volume was about average. Measures of investor anxiety were slightly above average into the close. Today's overall market action was bullish. After the close, Research In Motion(RIMM) beat earnings estimates and boosted its guidance, saying it sees “strong” enterprise demand. This report is a huge positive, given RIMM’s exposure to the financial services sector. There still remains little evidence of the imminent recession that so many have been expecting since housing began deteriorating over two years ago. A further lifting of the uncertainty in the financial services sector, lower energy prices, more fed rate cuts and non-recessionary data in 1Q should provide the catalysts for a very good 1Q for US stocks. I expect the broad market to participate in another tech sector-driven rally tomorrow. Nikkei futures are indicating a +120 open in Japan.