Mid-day Scoreboard

Indices
S&P 500 1,155.56 -.56%
DJIA 10,193.77 -.82%
NASDAQ 1,927.62 -.98%
Russell 2000 586.81 -.87%
DJ Wilshire 5000 11,356.56 -.64%
S&P Barra Growth 559.60 -.46%
S&P Barra Value 590.66 -.81%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 583.55 -.16%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 699.02 -1.51%
Morgan Stanley Technology 429.20 -2.26%
Transports 3,413-.82%
Utilities 359.52 -1.06%
Put/Call 1.43 +31.19%
NYSE Arms 1.24 +3.38%
Volatility(VIX) 15.33 +5.51%
ISE Sentiment 140.00 -7.89%
US Dollar 84.57 -.51%
CRB 298.58 -.27%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 50.25 -1.82%
Unleaded Gasoline 147.50 -1.93%
Natural Gas 6.96 -1.54%
Heating Oil 145.50 -1.84%
Gold 426.50 +.21%
Base Metals 124.55 +.81%
Copper 144.50 +1.16%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.30% -.18%

Leading Sectors
Drugs +1.60%
HMOs +1.11%
Biotech +.36%

Lagging Sectors
Networking -3.50%
Disk Drives -3.95%
Computer Hardware -4.20%

BOTTOM LINE: US stocks are lower mid-day on continuing worries over slowing growth. The Portfolio is substantially higher on gains in my Oil Tanker, Medical Information Systems, Software and Chinese ADR shorts. I took profits in a few of my Chinese ADR shorts this morning, thus leaving the Portfolio 25% net long. The tone of the market is negative as the advance/decline line is very weak, almost every sector is lower and volume is heavy. Measures of investor anxiety are mostly higher. Today’s overall market action is negative, considering the continuing decline in commodity prices, the market’s oversold state and GE’s positive report. Investors continue to price in the possibility of an imminent recession, which I believe is an overly pessimistic view. GDP growth will likely temporarily slow to around 2%, before accelerating later in the year to around 3%. Modest growth, lower inflation and low interest rates will provide a very positive back-drop for the stock market in the second half of the year. I continue to believe investors should use further weakness to begin buying shares of favorite longs over the coming weeks. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-higher into the close on short-covering and bargain-hunting.

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal told CNBC that he doesn’t expect to add to his stake in Citigroup and sold some of his Apple stake recently.
- GE’s first quarter profit rose 25%, the most in five quarters, spurred by orders for industrial goods and a shift into faster-growing areas including health care, water treatment, security and consumer finance.
- Brookstone agreed to be acquired for $417 million by a group led by OSIM International, which plans to expand the chain internationally.
- Crude oil fell, heading for a second-straight weekly loss, as higher output from OPEC bolsters inventories.

The Wall Street Journal:
- Rising demand for water, whether it be for drinking, agriculture or industry, is proving a boon for companies involved in its delivery, purification and storage.
- US retailers are rushing to add security systems for financial information and meet a June 30 deadline set by credit-card organizations for making their Web sites and databases safe.
- Gap Inc., Liz Claiborne and other apparel companies are developing snugger, sleeker clothes for women over 35, in a shift away from fashion’s traditional focus on younger women.

Philadelphia Inquirer:
- Some of Comcast’s seven million high-speed Internet customers became angry after three service disruptions in the past week.

NY Times:
- Ford and GM aren’t doing enough to set themselves apart from rivals by offering reliability, consistent quality or compelling beauty.
- Medicare is testing a program that awards workers incentives for meeting quality goals.
- Lower Manhattan is experiencing a residential boom not seen in 50 years as people move to the area and residential buildings go up near the World Trade Center site.
- Iraqis have found several mass graves in the southern part of the country, including one near Basra that may contain 5,000 Iraqi soldiers killed after they rose up against Saddam Hussein after the 1991 liberation of Kuwait.

LA Times:
- Southern California house prices rose about 19%(YoY) in March, the first time in a year they rose less than 20%.

Economic Releases

- Empire Manufacturing for April fell to 3.1 versus estimates of 18.0 and a reading of 20.2 in March.
- The Import Price Index for March rose 1.8% versus estimates of a 1.4% increase and a .8% gain in February.
- Net Foreign Security Purchases for February rose to $84.5B versus estimates of $65.0B and an upwardly revised $92.5B in January.
- Industrial Production for March rose .3% versus estimates of a .3% increase and a .2% gain in February.
- Capacity Utilization for March rose to 79.4% versus estimates of 79.6% and 79.3% in February.
- Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence for April fell to 88.7 versus estimates of 91.5 and a reading of 92.6 in March.

Morning Buy/Sell Recommendations

Please check the new Daily Action Table on the right side of the page.

Links of Interest

Market Internals
Movers & Shakers
NYSE OrderTrac
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

Friday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Samsung Electronics posted a first-quarter profit drop of 52% on falling prices of chips and liquid crystal displays.
- Oil may fall for a third week because of an increase in US crude and gasoline inventories, a Bloomberg survey showed.
- Japan's government may agree to joint drilling with China in a gas filed in a disputed area in the East China Sea.

Financial Times:
- Increased Iraqi oil production may help meet a rise in global oil demand this year if security in the country continues to improve.

China Securities Journal:
- China's asset regulator said "conditions are right" for pilot programs to start selling government stakes in publicly listed companies.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on TPX and MXT.

Night Trading
Asian Indices are -1.75% to -1.0% on average.
S&P 500 indicated -.16%.
NASDAQ 100 indicated -.35%.

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
BE/.08
CEN/.16
C/1.02
DECK/.70
GE/.37
GPC/.61
KEY/.61
KRI/.71
MAT/.03
RF/.56
TRB/.40
WB/1.01

Splits
None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 EST
- Empire Manufacturing for April is estimated to fall to 18.0 versus a reading of 19.6 in March.
- The Import Price Index for March is estimated to rise 1.4% versus a .8% gain in February.

9:00 EST
- Net Foreign Security Purchases for February are estimated to fall to $65.0B versus $91.5B in January.

9:15 EST
- Industrial Production for March is estimated to rise .3% versus a .3% increase in February.
- Capacity Utilization for March is estimated to rise to 79.6% versus 79.4% in Februray.

9:45 EST
- Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence for April is estimated to fall to 91.5 versus a reading of 92.6 in March.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are sharply lower, led down by technology stocks in the region. I expect US equities to open lower on losses in Asia, earnings worries and disappointing economic data, however stocks may rally later in the day on short-covering, lower long-term interest rates and bargain-hunting. The Portfolio is Market Neutral heading into tomorrow.