Stocks Finish Sharply Higher, at Session Highs, Boosted by Airline, Financial, Commodity, Retail, Technology Shares

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Stocks Soaring into Final Hour on Short-Covering, Less Economic Pessimism

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is higher into the final hour on gains in my Computer longs, Medical longs, Internet longs, Alternative Energy longs and Retail longs. I covered my (IWM)/(QQQQ) hedges and some of my (EEM) short today, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market is very bullish as the advance/decline line is substantially higher, every sector is rising and volume is above average. Investor anxiety is slightly above average. Today’s overall market action is very bullish. The Morgan Stanley Tech Index is very close to a breakout from range it has been trapped in since early May. The VIX is falling 8.9% and remains above average at 18.93. The ISE Sentiment Index is below average at 126.0 and the total put/call is around average at .86. Finally, the NYSE Arms has been running around average most of the day and is currently .82. Despite news that S&P finally cut the ratings of (ABK)/(MBI), the (XLF) is trading at session highs, rising 1.8%. The European Financial Sector Credit Default Swap Index is falling 2.8% today to 73.09 basis points. A number of emerging markets remained under pressure overnight. The Vietnam Index is now down 65% from its high and down 58% just this year. The Citi US Economic Surprise Index is now up to -.9 from -100.0 in March, while the Eurozone Index has declined to -43.10 from 78.0 in March. The dollar’s weakness today seems more like profit-taking after recent gains rather than related to Trichet’s comments that the ECB may raise rates soon. I doubt the ECB will hike anytime soon and with eurozone data continuing to deteriorate, an eventual drop in rates is more likely, in my opinion. One of my longs, (AMSC), is close to hitting another new high today, which is very impressive considering the pullbacks many other alternative energy stocks have experience of late. Nikkei futures indicate an +200 open in Japan and DAX futures indicate an +47 open in Germany tomorrow. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-higher into the close from current levels on less economic pessimism, diminishing credit market angst and short-covering.

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- The cost of protecting leveraged loans from default fell the most in three weeks after Verizon Wireless(VZ) agreed to buy Alltel Corp.(AT) and assume $22.2 billion of debt that has been trading at a discount. Credit-default swaps on the Markit LCDX index, a gauge of investor confidence in the US leveraged loan market, jumped .4 percentage point to 99.3, according to Goldman Sachs Group(GS).
- Billionaire Warren Buffett’s fledgling municipal bond insurer may get a boost from a likely ratings cut for its two biggest competitors.
- Crude oil surged $4/bbl. on speculation that the US dollar would begin to weaken again after the European Central Bank said it may boost interest rates.
- UK house prices fell the most in 15 years in May as lenders restricted access to mortgages and the prospect of a recession deterred buyers.
- German manufacturing orders unexpectedly declined for a fifth month in April, adding to evidence that growth in Europe’s largest economy is slowing.
- Self-proclaimed al-Qaeda commander Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, he would welcome the martyrdom of execution for masterminding the Sept.11 terrorist attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.

Wall Street Journal:
- Supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton suggested she would like to be Senator Barack Obama’s running mate, but close advisers to Senator Obama are signaling that an Obama-Clinton ticket is highly unlikely.
- Lehaman(LEH) Is Also Open to Big US Investors.
- Obama Must Go to Iraq to Witness Gains, Says Hegseth.
- Macquarie Group Ltd., the Australian asset manager and investment bank, is planning to start a US bond insurance company for municipal and infrastructure bonds.

USA Today:
- Senators from both parties are calling for an investigation into a move by unknown foreign investors to gain more control of one of the nation’s largest railroads, which serves military bases and transports nuclear materials across the country. The six members of the Senate Banking Committee expressed concern that The Children's Investment Fund (TCI), a London-based group, could be setting the stage for the foreign investors to take control of the CSX(CSX) rail line. The fund is trying to win five seats on CSX's 12-member board. "Very little is known about the investors in the TCI group or those investors' agenda," the senators wrote. "They are anonymous and invisible to government regulators" and could be fronts for foreign governments. The investment fund refuses to divulge the names of its foreign investors. The senators' letter cited a recent investigation by the Japanese government of the fund's attempt to increase its stake in a Japanese utility company from 9.9% to 20%. The government rejected the fund's effort based on national security concerns.

Silicon Alley Insider:
- We're six months into an economic slowdown now, and search spending has so far been mostly untouched, Citi's Mark Mahaney reports from the SMX search conference in Seattle. This is obviously good news for Google(GOOG), which continues to swallow the lion's share.
- Why Apple’s(AAPL) iPhone Apps Platform Could Spark Huge iPhone Sales.

Cattlenetwork.com:
- US lawmakers are increasing pressure on regulators to probe the role of some of the oil futures markets’ biggest traders, including large investment banks, in pushing oil prices to stratospheric levels. It could cast more of a spotlight on the role investment banks such as Goldman Sachs(GS) and Morgan Stanley(MS) may have played in the oil price rally. Ultimately they could be forced to unwind some long-dated crude futures trading positions, while one of the two main energy exchanges – ICE – may have to operate under the same regulations as its NY-based counterpart. We have investment banks up to their necks in futures markets…even buying oil storage capability,” said Senator Byron Dorgan, who’s drafting legislation to raise the cash collateral requirements for crude futures trading. He alleges the banks are “for the first time” intentionally holding crude off the market to influence prices. Mark Cooper, Director of Research at the Consumer Federation of America said that almost $40 a barrel could be cut out of the market overnight if regulators or Congress moved to shut down speculation beyond traditional levels. In the first quarter, Morgan Stanley calculated that it took more risks in commodities on a daily basis than in stocks. Under scrutiny by lawmakers now are two rules that allow institutional investors to funnel billions of dollars into the crude futures market, far beyond the speculation limits imposed on trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which is owned by Nymex Holdings Inc. (NMX). One is related to the foreign boards of trade - which aren't regulated by U.S. watchdogs - and the other to waivers given to Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley that exempt them from speculation limits for certain kinds of trades.

Scotsman.com:
- A major expansion in offshore wind power has been announced, with 11 new sites identified around the UK, including two off the Scottish coast.

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

Mid-cap Value +1.05%

Sector Underperformers:

Homebuildersirlind (-.42%), Oil Tankers (-.29%) and Foods (+.30%)

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:

CRS, TGI, MDZ, WBS, MTN, REGN, CIEN, LKQX and MATK

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

1) PDE 2) PHM 3) LTR 4) CTSH 5) ADM

Initial Jobless Claims Drop, Retail Sales Exceed Estimates

- Initial Jobless Claims for this week fell to 357K versus estimates of 375K and 375K the prior week.

- Continuing Claims fell to 3093K versus estimates of 3110K and 3109K prior.

BOTTOM LINE: The number of Americans filing first-time jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in more than a month, Bloomberg reported. The four-week moving average of jobless claims fell to 368,500 from 371,250 the prior week. During the mild 2001 recession, about 415,000 workers filed jobless claims on average per week. The unemployment rate among those eligible for benefits, which tracks the US unemployment rate, held steady at a historically low 2.3%. ICSC Chain Store Sales for May rose 3.0% versus estimates of a 1.8% gain and a 3.5% increase in April. (BKE +34.7%), (BJ +13.4%), (JWN +10.9%), (PLCE +10.0%), (COST +7.0%), (ROST +7.0%), (ARO +6.0%), (CACH +5.0%), (MWRK +4.3%) and (WMT +3.9%) were retailers posting notable same-store-sales % gains in May. I expect jobless claims to continue to trend modestly lower through year-end.

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

Small-cap Growth (+1.35%)

Sector Outperformers:

Airlines (+6.64%), I-Banks (+3.08%) and Telecom (+2.74%)

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

CVBF, CCOI, UBS, NUE, VZ, MTL, COF, BCS, CMTL, ALOG, ADCT, CRAI, CACH, ACOR, BRLI, VRTX, CPRT, PLCE, ULTA, UAUA, MBLX, MDCI, HLIT, BARE, FCFS, GBL and ROC

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:

1) CTSH 2) CIEN 3) VZ 4) ESRX 5) FLEX