Indices
S&P 500 1,174.14 +.89%
Dow 10,509.00 +1.35%
NASDAQ 2,031.31 +1.13%
Russell 2000 608.29 +.62%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,524.81 +.77%
S&P Barra Growth 565.48 +1.14%
S&P Barra Value 604.20 +.63%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 584.73 +1.05%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 750.38+1.49%
Morgan Stanley Technology 461.85 +1.22%
Transports 3,547.03 +2.67%
Utilities 334.15 -.07%
Put/Call .80 +9.59%
NYSE Arms .74 -41.73%
Volatility(VIX) 13.96 -4.71%
ISE Sentiment 151.00 +1.34%
US Dollar 84.00 +.90%
CRB 285.34 -.19%
Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 48.80 -.02%
Unleaded Gasoline 132.00 +1.62%
Natural Gas 6.32 -2.41%
Heating Oil 140.65 +.24%
Gold 421.70 -1.26%
Base Metals 119.49 -1.21%
Copper 142.90 -.07%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.19% +1.75%
Leading Sectors
Airlines +5.66%
Iron/Steel +2.09%
Semis +2.0%
Lagging Sectors
Foods -.29%
Telecom -.29%
Boxmakers -.84%
Market Movers
BEV +24.5% after saying that a group representing 8.1% of shares outstanding is interested in buying it for about $1.41 billion.
SIMG -24.04% after missing 4Q estimates and announcing the resignation of CEO Laub after less than 3 months on the job.
SLAB +15.6% after beating 4Q estimates, raising 1Q guidance and multiple upgrades.
ENR +14.53% after substantially beating 1Q estimates.
OSK +13.7% after substantially beating 1Q estimates and raising 05 outlook.
TZOO +8.58% on bounce from recent sell-off.
AVY +6.31% after beating 4Q estimates and raising guidance range for 1Q/05.
CRDN +10.7% on strong 4Q results.
X +5.93% after substantially beating 4Q estimates, making positive comments on 05 outlook and Bear Stearns upgrade to Outperform.
BNI +4.9% after beating 4Q estimates and raising 1Q guidance.
IMN +6.42% after meeting 4Q estimates and raising 05 guidance.
SNDA +6.29% on bounce from recent sell-off and strong Chinese GDP report.
FILE -11.5% after missing 4Q estimates and Friedman, Billings downgrade to Market Perform.
CAI -11.3% after meeting 2Q estimates, but lowering 3Q/4Q outlook and Jeffries downgrade to Hold.
SLE -7.01% after meeting 2Q estimates and lowering 3Q guidance.
PLMO -5.94% after saying CEO Bradley will resign.
MON -5.19% on Lehman Brothers downgrade to Underweight.
JDAS +8.91% after substantially beating 4Q estimates.
NFLX +8.5% after beating 4Q estimates and raising 1Q outlook.
Market Internals
NYSE Unusual Volume
NASDAQ Unusual Volume
NASDAQ 100 Heatmap
DJIA Quick Charts
Chart Toppers
Hot Spots
Option Dragon
Market Pulse Video(bottom right)
Economic Data
Consumer Confidence for January rose to 103.4 versus estimates of 101.0 and 102.7 in December.
Existing Home Sales for December fell to 6.69M versus estimates of 6.80M and 6.92M in November.
Recommendations
-Goldman Sachs: Reiterated Outperform on X, MO, TRI, HMA, BLS, EMC and SLB. Reiterated Underperform on SGP, PBG, AKS and UIS.
-Citi SmithBarney: Raised YHOO to Buy, target $43 Raised MERQ to Buy, target $54.
-CSFB: Rated KMA Outperform, target $13. Rated IBI Outperform, target $21. Raised PPC to Outperform, target $30.
-JP Morgan: Raised VRNT to Overweight. Cut POT to Underweight.
-Morgan Stanley: Raised DRQ to Overweight, target $40. Raised ETN to Overweight, target $75. Rated AEA Underweight, target $17. Rated BXC Overweight, target $16.
-UBS: Raised RIMM to Buy, target $95.
-Legg Mason: Rated TJX Buy, target $32. Rated JOSB Buy, target $36. Rated MW Buy, target $40. Rated URBN Buy, target $50. Rated GPS Buy, target $26. Rated AEOS Buy, target $60. Raised PNFP to Buy, target $26.
-Thomas Weisel: Raised OPWV to Outperform.
-Banc of America: Rated SE Buy, target $28.
-Bear Stearns: Raised X to Outperform, target $63.
-Merrill Lynch: Rated IACI Buy, target $31. Rated HLF Buy, target $20.
-Prudential: Raised SAFC to Overweight, target $53.
Mid-day News
US stocks are sharply higher mid-day on better-than-expected economic data and earnings reports. US shopping mall vacancies declined to the lowest level in three-and-a-half years as retailers added space, the Wall Street Journal reported. Gillette has begun an aggressive campaign to advise consumers that “super heavy duty” AA batteries go dead faster than more expensive alkaline batteries, the Wall Street Journal reported. The US Congress is closer to passage of a bill limiting the growth of class-action lawsuits, which would shift many suits to federal courts and remove a legal tactic, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Social Security system is being strained by earlier retirements and longer life spans, USA Today reported. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation wants to revise rules governing how its scientist and physicians work with device makers and drugmakers, to ease conflicts of interest, the NY Times reported. OAO Yukos Oil stopped shipping crude abroad through pipelines starting Jan. 1 as the company struggled to maintain supplies to its refineries, Bloomberg said. Iraq’s Jan. 30 vote is the first step toward the gradual departure of coalition forces, interim Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi said. General Motors bonds may extend their rally after Lehman Brothers Holdings added a third ratings company to its calculation of creditworthiness, Bloomberg said. The National Association of Securities Dealers plans to sell $137.7 million of Nasdaq Stock Market shares, cutting its stake in the largest market place for exchange-listed companies by about a third, Bloomberg reported. Nickel, the best performer on the London Metal Exchange since 2003, may record its first annual drop in four years as buyers such as Wal-Mart and Ikea use cheaper alternatives in products ranging from coffee tables to desks and mirrors, Bloomberg reported. The US budget deficit will narrow to $368 billion this year from $412 billion last year, the US Congressional Budget Office said. Michael Leavitt won the endorsement of the US Senate Finance Committee as secretary of Health and Human Services on a voice vote, Bloomberg reported. The German government lowered its forecast for 05 economic growth for the third time in nine months, Bloomberg said. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley agreed to an $80 million settlement with regulators over claims the firms improperly induced investors to buy shares of IPOs in 1999 and 2000, Bloomberg reported. US sales of previously owned houses fell 3.3% in December as the supply dropped to a record low. Sales for all of 2004 reached an all-time high, Bloomberg reported. US consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in January to a six-month high after the economy added more jobs and incomes grew, raising the odds that spending will spur the economy, Bloomberg said. US Treasury notes are falling, ending the longest rally for the 10-year security since August, after the Conference Board’s consumer sentiment index for January unexpectedly rose, Bloomberg said. The US Dollar is gaining against the euro and rose the most in three weeks versus the yen after the consumer confidence index climbed to the highest in six months, Bloomberg said.
Bottom Line: The Portfolio is slightly higher mid-day on gains in my oil service and software shorts. I have not traded and the Portfolio remains market neutral. The tone of the market is better today. The fact that consumer confidence rose in the face of higher gas prices, increased violence in Iraq, domestic terrorism worries and falling stock prices is a big positive. The decline in the supply of houses for re-sale to an all-time low is also a positive for that sector and the economy. I would use any weakness in the homebuilding stocks related to a temporary spike in interest rates to accumulate shares. On the negative side, today’s rally is not very broad-based and volume is lighter than I would like. As well, measures of investor anxiety are mostly lower again. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-weaker into the close on rising energy prices and interest rates.
