Portfolio Manager's Commentary on Investing and Trading in the U.S. Financial Markets
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Tuesday Watch
Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Federal prosecutors are seeking to schedule a trial for former Enron Corp. Chairman Ken Lay on bank fraud charges as soon as next month, at least 6 months before his separate trial on broader fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from Enron's collapse.
- The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges will start a unified benchmark index that will include China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia's largest oil refiner, and Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., a unit of the world's sixth-largest steelmaker.
Financial Times:
- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is among a group of three private equity firms which may have offered $1.3 billion for 60% of General Motors' commercial mortgage unit.
Wall Street Journal:
- Goldman Sachs Group acquired a 24-story office tower in Shanghai for $107.6 million from Singapore's CapitaLand.
South China Morning Post:
- The Vatican plans to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan to resume relations with China.
Chosun Ilbo:
- North Korea told China that it was agreeing "in principle" to resume six-nation talks over its nuclear weapons program.
Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
None of note
Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.12%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.13%.
Morning Preview
US AM Market Call
NASDAQ 100 Pre-Market Indicator/Heat Map
Pre-market Commentary
Before the Bell CNBC Video(bottom right)
Asian Indices
European Indices
Top 20 Business Stories
In Play
Bond Ticker
Analyst Actions
Macro Calls
Rasmussen Consumer/Investor Daily Indices
CNBC Guest Schedule
Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
AM/.47
Splits
COH 2-for-1
CMTL 3-for-2
ORCT 3-for-1
Economic Releases
None of note
Bloomberg:
- Federal prosecutors are seeking to schedule a trial for former Enron Corp. Chairman Ken Lay on bank fraud charges as soon as next month, at least 6 months before his separate trial on broader fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from Enron's collapse.
- The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges will start a unified benchmark index that will include China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia's largest oil refiner, and Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., a unit of the world's sixth-largest steelmaker.
Financial Times:
- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is among a group of three private equity firms which may have offered $1.3 billion for 60% of General Motors' commercial mortgage unit.
Wall Street Journal:
- Goldman Sachs Group acquired a 24-story office tower in Shanghai for $107.6 million from Singapore's CapitaLand.
South China Morning Post:
- The Vatican plans to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan to resume relations with China.
Chosun Ilbo:
- North Korea told China that it was agreeing "in principle" to resume six-nation talks over its nuclear weapons program.
Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
None of note
Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
S&P 500 indicated +.12%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated +.13%.
Morning Preview
US AM Market Call
NASDAQ 100 Pre-Market Indicator/Heat Map
Pre-market Commentary
Before the Bell CNBC Video(bottom right)
Asian Indices
European Indices
Top 20 Business Stories
In Play
Bond Ticker
Analyst Actions
Macro Calls
Rasmussen Consumer/Investor Daily Indices
CNBC Guest Schedule
Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
AM/.47
Splits
COH 2-for-1
CMTL 3-for-2
ORCT 3-for-1
Economic Releases
None of note
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher as a decline in energy prices spurred shares in the region. I expect US equities to open modestly higher in the morning on a follow-through from today's afternoon strength and stabilizing energy prices. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into tomorrow.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Monday Close
Indices
S&P 500 1,176.12 +.27%
DJIA 10,421.14 +.16%
NASDAQ 1,991.07 +.32%
Russell 2000 613.76 +.36%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,597.85 +.24%
S&P Barra Growth 567.11 +.36%
S&P Barra Value 604.67 +.18%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 575.45 +.59%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 742.44 +.09%
Morgan Stanley Technology 454.17 +.43%
Transports 3,707.79 +.57%
Utilities 361.18 +.24%
Put/Call .87 -16.35%
NYSE Arms 1.05 -45.49%
Volatility(VIX) 14.11 +.14%
ISE Sentiment 166.00 +50.91%
US Dollar 84.80 +.02%
CRB 310.10 -.57%
Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 56.67 -.60%
Unleaded Gasoline 171.25 -.53%
Natural Gas 7.56 -.38%
Heating Oil 163.85 -.23%
Gold 426.80 +.19%
Base Metals 127.92 -.01%
Copper 149.10 -.27%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.45% +.14%
Leading Sectors
Insurance +2.02%
Airlines +1.90%
Telecom +1.35%
Lagging Sectors
Energy -.81%
Iron/Steel -.92%
Papers -2.80%
After-hours Movers
MSSN +4.5% after Moody's placed its ratings under review following the announcement that HAWK is acquiring it. HAWK +5.6%.
ATRS -4.1% after cutting 1Q forecast.
PLCM -5.6% after cutting 1Q outlook.
NAVR -10.2% after saying that is previously announced offering of senior notes has been terminated due to the recent weakness of the bond market.
RSAS -20.0% after cutting 1Q forecast.
MENT -21.25% after cutting 1Q outlook and saying book-to-bill was "extremely weak."
Evening Review
Detailed Market Summary
Daily ETF Performance
Style Performance
Market Wrap CNBC Video(bottom right)
Futures Recap
S&P 500 Gallery View
Timely Economic Charts
PM Market Call
Real-time/After-hours Stock Quote
In Play
Afternoon Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on AET, UTX, WAG and WLP.
- Reiterated Underperform on CVH.
Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Microsoft offered to make it easier for rivals to get its proprietary information to allay regulatory concerns the company isn't doing enough to comply with a European antitrust order.
- Shares of Morgan Stanley rose as much as 5.7% after Dow Jones Newswires reported that the company's board backed the sale of the Discover credit card unit.
- Verizon said it will abandon an effort to purchase MCI Inc. if MCI says a competing offer from Qwest Communications is superior.
- The US Commerce Dept. launched an investigation of imports from China of trousers, knit shirts and underwear, following a first-quarter surge in those imports.
- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's re-election to Coca-Cola's board should be opposed by the company's shareholders because his business ties pose a conflict, Institutional Shareholder Services, the biggest adviser to funds on proxy votes, said today.
- Major League Baseball suspended 38 minor-league players who failed tests for steroids, a day after announcing the first penalty against a major-leaguer involving the muscle-building drugs.
- President Bush pledged US support for Ukraine's quest to enter the WTO and join the North Atlantic defense alliance to help nurture democracy in Eastern Europe.
- Crude oil futures fell a second day after the European Union cut its growth forecast and OPEC began talks on another output increase to swell stockpiles and lower prices.
- Shares of AIG rose 4.6% after New York AG Spitzer said a civil resolution of his accounting probe was "achievable."
Berliner Zeitung:
- Germany's BDI industry group, which represents 107,000 companies including DaimlerChrysler AG and Siemens AG, cut its 2005 growth forecast for the German economy to about 1%.
S&P 500 1,176.12 +.27%
DJIA 10,421.14 +.16%
NASDAQ 1,991.07 +.32%
Russell 2000 613.76 +.36%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,597.85 +.24%
S&P Barra Growth 567.11 +.36%
S&P Barra Value 604.67 +.18%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 575.45 +.59%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 742.44 +.09%
Morgan Stanley Technology 454.17 +.43%
Transports 3,707.79 +.57%
Utilities 361.18 +.24%
Put/Call .87 -16.35%
NYSE Arms 1.05 -45.49%
Volatility(VIX) 14.11 +.14%
ISE Sentiment 166.00 +50.91%
US Dollar 84.80 +.02%
CRB 310.10 -.57%
Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 56.67 -.60%
Unleaded Gasoline 171.25 -.53%
Natural Gas 7.56 -.38%
Heating Oil 163.85 -.23%
Gold 426.80 +.19%
Base Metals 127.92 -.01%
Copper 149.10 -.27%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.45% +.14%
Leading Sectors
Insurance +2.02%
Airlines +1.90%
Telecom +1.35%
Lagging Sectors
Energy -.81%
Iron/Steel -.92%
Papers -2.80%
After-hours Movers
MSSN +4.5% after Moody's placed its ratings under review following the announcement that HAWK is acquiring it. HAWK +5.6%.
ATRS -4.1% after cutting 1Q forecast.
PLCM -5.6% after cutting 1Q outlook.
NAVR -10.2% after saying that is previously announced offering of senior notes has been terminated due to the recent weakness of the bond market.
RSAS -20.0% after cutting 1Q forecast.
MENT -21.25% after cutting 1Q outlook and saying book-to-bill was "extremely weak."
Evening Review
Detailed Market Summary
Daily ETF Performance
Style Performance
Market Wrap CNBC Video(bottom right)
Futures Recap
S&P 500 Gallery View
Timely Economic Charts
PM Market Call
Real-time/After-hours Stock Quote
In Play
Afternoon Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on AET, UTX, WAG and WLP.
- Reiterated Underperform on CVH.
Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Microsoft offered to make it easier for rivals to get its proprietary information to allay regulatory concerns the company isn't doing enough to comply with a European antitrust order.
- Shares of Morgan Stanley rose as much as 5.7% after Dow Jones Newswires reported that the company's board backed the sale of the Discover credit card unit.
- Verizon said it will abandon an effort to purchase MCI Inc. if MCI says a competing offer from Qwest Communications is superior.
- The US Commerce Dept. launched an investigation of imports from China of trousers, knit shirts and underwear, following a first-quarter surge in those imports.
- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's re-election to Coca-Cola's board should be opposed by the company's shareholders because his business ties pose a conflict, Institutional Shareholder Services, the biggest adviser to funds on proxy votes, said today.
- Major League Baseball suspended 38 minor-league players who failed tests for steroids, a day after announcing the first penalty against a major-leaguer involving the muscle-building drugs.
- President Bush pledged US support for Ukraine's quest to enter the WTO and join the North Atlantic defense alliance to help nurture democracy in Eastern Europe.
- Crude oil futures fell a second day after the European Union cut its growth forecast and OPEC began talks on another output increase to swell stockpiles and lower prices.
- Shares of AIG rose 4.6% after New York AG Spitzer said a civil resolution of his accounting probe was "achievable."
Berliner Zeitung:
- Germany's BDI industry group, which represents 107,000 companies including DaimlerChrysler AG and Siemens AG, cut its 2005 growth forecast for the German economy to about 1%.
BOTTOM LINE: US stocks rose modestly today as energy prices fell from early morning highs and AIG rebounded. The Portfolio finished unchanged as gains in my Base Metal shorts offset losses in my Software longs. I took profits in a few shorts from various sectors in the afternoon and added a few new Tech longs, thus leaving the Portfolio 50% net long. One of my new longs is AAPL and I am using a $40 stop-loss on this position. The tone of the market strengthened into the afternoon as the advance/decline improved substantially, almost every sector advanced and volume was light. Consumer-oriented stocks and Tech outperformed, while Commodity-related stocks underperformed and measures of investor anxiety were mostly lower. Overall, today’s market action was modestly positive. I would like to see the advance/decline line continue to improve before adding any additional trading longs.
Mid-day Scoreboard
Indices
S&P 500 1,174.76 +.16%
DJIA 10,421.37 +.16%
NASDAQ 1,987.02 +.11%
Russell 2000 610.93 -.10%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,576.77 +.07%
S&P Barra Growth 566.17 +.20%
S&P Barra Value 604.18 +.10%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 574.95 +.50%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 741.25 -.06%
Morgan Stanley Technology 453.11 +.19%
Transports 3,696.34 +.26%
Utilities 360.01 -.08%
Put/Call .87 -16.35%
NYSE Arms 1.08 -45.16%
Volatility(VIX) 14.44 +2.48%
ISE Sentiment 144.00 +30.91%
US Dollar 84.86 +.51%
CRB 310.90 -.31%
Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 57.70 +.66%
Unleaded Gasoline 173.10 unch.
Natural Gas 7.66 -1.15%
Heating Oil 166.50 +.07%
Gold 430.425.90 -.56%
Base Metals 127.92 -.01%
Copper 149.50 +.71%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.44% -.04%
Leading Sectors
Insurance +2.56%
Airlines +1.08%
Telecom +1.01%
Lagging Sectors
Energy -1.44%
Oil Service -1.57%
Papers -3.04%
S&P 500 1,174.76 +.16%
DJIA 10,421.37 +.16%
NASDAQ 1,987.02 +.11%
Russell 2000 610.93 -.10%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,576.77 +.07%
S&P Barra Growth 566.17 +.20%
S&P Barra Value 604.18 +.10%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 574.95 +.50%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 741.25 -.06%
Morgan Stanley Technology 453.11 +.19%
Transports 3,696.34 +.26%
Utilities 360.01 -.08%
Put/Call .87 -16.35%
NYSE Arms 1.08 -45.16%
Volatility(VIX) 14.44 +2.48%
ISE Sentiment 144.00 +30.91%
US Dollar 84.86 +.51%
CRB 310.90 -.31%
Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 57.70 +.66%
Unleaded Gasoline 173.10 unch.
Natural Gas 7.66 -1.15%
Heating Oil 166.50 +.07%
Gold 430.425.90 -.56%
Base Metals 127.92 -.01%
Copper 149.50 +.71%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.44% -.04%
Leading Sectors
Insurance +2.56%
Airlines +1.08%
Telecom +1.01%
Lagging Sectors
Energy -1.44%
Oil Service -1.57%
Papers -3.04%
BOTTOM LINE: US stocks are mixed mid-day as worries over slowing economic growth and corporate scandals are being offset by lower energy prices and long-term interest rates. The Portfolio is unchanged as gains in my Base Metal shorts and Internet shorts are offsetting losses in my Software longs. I have not traded today, thus leaving the Portfolio’s market exposure at Market Neutral. The tone of the market is negative as the advance/decline line is lower, sector performance is mixed and volume is light. Consumer-related stocks are outperforming, while Energy-related shares are underperforming and measures of investor anxiety are mostly lower. Today’s overall market action is negative considering another decline in long-term interest rates, the market’s oversold state, a pullback in energy prices from highs and rising US dollar. I continue to believe the lows for the year will be made over the coming weeks, making for a much more positive second half in equities. I expect US stocks to trade mixed into the close as optimism over falling long-term interest rates is offset by concerns over slowing global growth.
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