S&P 500 1,210.93 +.32%
Dow 10,870.35 +.59%
NASDAQ 2,062.82 +.07%
Russell 2000 631.61 +.08%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,912.96 +.23%
S&P Barra Growth 582.95 +.31%
S&P Barra Value 623.41 +.31%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 589.81 +.80%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 774.34 +.09%
Morgan Stanley Technology 475.71 +.10%
Transports 3,865.35 -.10%
Utilities 356.38 +.68%
Put/Call 1.06 +11.58%
NYSE Arms .84 -9.89%
Volatility(VIX) 12.51 -1.50%
ISE Sentiment 126.00 -26.32%
US Dollar 81.54 -.11%
CRB 315.47 +.56%
Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 53.80 -1.77%
Unleaded Gasoline 149.90 -2.34%
Natural Gas 6.80 -1.02%
Heating Oil 151.10 -1.40%
Gold 443.40 +.11%
Base Metals 130.89 -.30%
Copper 149.60 -.50%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.47% -.98%
Leading Sectors
Broadcasting +1.69%
Drugs +.88%
Utilities +.83%
Lagging Sectors
Airlines -1.88%
Iron/Steel -1.94%
Energy -2.0%
Market Movers
DISH -6.83% after reports that the company may have improperly booked transactions with suppliers and made suspect consulting payments to a friend of the Chairman.
NGPS +16.51% after beating 4Q estimates and giving positive guidance.
VLTR +9.61% on Thomas Weisel upgrade to Outperform.
GBX +11.6% after saying it received orders for almost 5,000 railcars valued at about $260 million.
HITK +13.2% after beating 3Q estimates.
HIBB +9.05% after beating 4Q estimates and raising 1Q outlook.
MW +4.75% after beating 4Q estimates and raising 1Q outlook.
ADRX +6.4% after beating 4Q estimates.
BXC -18.05% after reporting disappointing 4Q results.
MTEX -14.86% after reporting disappointing 4Q results.
MATK -12.81% after meeting 1Q estimates, giving disappointing guidance and First Albany downgrade to Neutral.
KWK -5.9% after missing 4Q estimates.
MTEX -14.91% after disappointing 4Q report.
Mid-day Overview
Market Internals
I-Watch Sector Overview
NYSE Unusual Volume
NASDAQ Unusual Volume
NASDAQ 100 Heatmap
DJIA Quick Charts
Chart Toppers
Hot Spots
Option Dragon
Real-time Intraday Chart/Quote
Economic Data
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week rose to 327K versus estimates of 310K and 310K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims rose to 2703K versus estimates of 2662K and 2664K prior.
- Wholesale Inventories for January rose 1.1% versus estimates of a .6% increase and a .4% gain in December.
Recommendations
- Goldman Sachs: Reiterated Outperform on HEW, CVD, MSFT and COH. Reiterated Underperform on FGP.
- Smith Barney: Reiterated Buy on ALTR, target $25. Reiterated Sell on FR, target $26. Reiterated Buy on RA, target $35. Reiterated Buy on EGP, target $40. Reiterated Buy on PKY, target $54.25. Reiterated Sell on HIW, target $21. Reiterated Sell on JBX, target $34. Reiterated Buy on MCD, target $37.
- Merrill Lynch: Named DG to Focus 1 List.
- JP Morgan: Raised ALTR to Overweight.
- Deutsche Bank: Raised MOT to Buy, target $18. Raised CK to Buy, target $18.
- Thomas Weisel: Raised VLTR to Outperform.
- Banc of America: Raised AVY to Buy, target $67.
- CSFB: Raised GSF to Outperform, target $48.
Mid-day News
US stocks are mostly higher mid-day on optimism over falling energy prices and interest rates. PalmOne, Apple Computer and other US companies have taken a lead in the $125 billion global consumer electronics market, the Wall Street Journal reported. China’s imports of steel products fell 47% to 3.5 million metric tons in the first two months this year, the Beijing-based customs office said. Nokia Oyj may benefit from holding the rights to technology used in so-called 3G cellphones, as its competitors have to pay more for license rights, the Wall Street Journal said. One of four possible bidders for Toys “R” Us, an investment group including Cerberus Capital Management LP, values the entire toy and baby-products company at about $5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. Google has put Web sites at a disadvantage by adding links using its Google Toolbar for the Internet Explorer browser, Walter Mossberg wrote in today’s Wall Street Journal. Kmart Holding plans put about 400 locations, or more than a quarter of its stores, under the Sears name after it completes the $11 billion acquisition of Sears, Roebuck & Co., the NY Post reported. “Robots,” the animated film from News Corp.’s Twentieth Century Fox that debuts tomorrow, is the latest computer-generated effort as movie studios seek to meet consumers’ growing demand for animated films, the Wall Street Journal reported. Samsung Electronics now is more profitable than Sony Corp. and has taken Sony’s position as a premium electronics brand, the NY Times reported. Hewlett-Packard’s printer business is being hurt by price undercutting from competitors such as Dell and Seiko Epson, the Wall Street Journal reported. Verizon Communications will spend $200 million this year to build a fiber-optic network in New Jersey, which will help it compete with cable companies in offering high-speed Internet, voice service and television programming, the Star-Ledger reported. Motorola delayed plans to release a phone that can play music bought from Apple Computer’s iTunes Web site, the Chicago Tribune said. Biogen Idec officials may have known that an “adverse event” occurred with a patient taking the company’s Tysabri MS drug before Feb. 18, the NY Times reported. Iraq’s main Shiite party and a Kurdish bloc have reached an agreement to form a coalition government following Iraq’s Jan. 30 election, the AP said. The US House Resources committee is sending to trade groups a draft bill that would lift Congressional bans on new offshore oil and gas drilling, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. A CBS News producer sued the network for defamation and age discrimination after she was demoted for errors in Dan Rather’s report about President Bush’s National Guard service, the NY Times reported. Citigroup removed Daniel Dantas as manager of a $651 million fund that has stakes in some of Brazil’s biggest phone companies, after years of disputes over control of its investments, Bloomberg reported. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said he wants to make more acquisitions and he’s pushing his most senior managers to help find the right candidates, Bloomberg reported. US wholesale inventories rose 1.1% in January, almost twice as much as expected, led by increased supplies of metals and cars, Bloomberg said. Microsoft agreed to buy Lotus Notes creator Ray Ozzie’s software company, Groove Networks, and to hire Ozzie as a chief technical officer, Bloomberg reported. Bill Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, said his firm bought US Treasury notes after a two-day tumble pushed yields up to levels he considered attractive, Bloomberg said. Crude oil in NY is falling for the first time in seven sessions amid strengthening US inventories and lower shipments to China, Bloomberg reported. The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance increased to a level that still reflects labor market strength, Bloomberg said.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is slightly lower mid-day on losses in my Software, Alternative Energy and Biotech longs. I exited a few longs from various sectors this morning as they hit stop-losses and added a few new energy-related and tech longs, thus leaving the Portfolio’s market exposure 75% net long. One of my new longs is SMH and I am using a $33.70 stop on this position. The tone of the market is modestly negative as the advance/decline line is slightly lower, sector performance is mixed and volume is decent. Measures of investor anxiety are mixed. However, the AAII % Bulls rose 25.7% this week to 49.66%, which is a negative. Consumer-related stocks are outperforming on declines in energy and interest rates. Today’s overall market action is modestly negative, considering the declines in energy and interest rates. I expect US shares to trade mixed-to-higher from current levels into the close as short-covering and more optimism over lower energy prices/interest rates more than offsets continued profit-taking in commodity-related stocks.