Tuesday, February 03, 2004

Mid-day Update

S&P 500+.05%
NASDAQ+21%

Leading/Lagging Sectors
Homebuilders+1.64%
Retail+.87%
Restaurants+.69%
Disk Drives-1.73%
HMO's-1.51%
Airlines-2.05%

Market Movers
SINA,SOHU,NTES,CHINA down on SOHU earnings guidance...instant messaging was weak
CHTR down on "Heard on the Street" column stating relationship with Paul Allen deteriorating..financial troubles
HUM down on earnings results and analyst's lowered estimates
TBL up on strong earnings report...Asian sales strong
AMZN weak on volume...at 200 day moving avg...can't find any reason...doesn't bode well for net stocks
SNDK down on comments by CFO at Thomas Weisel conference that flash prices will drop last half of yr
ACH,BYH,SNP up as Chinese cyclicals find technical support
INTC up on Bear Stearns comments about semi sector

Other Movers
Crude Oil-1.2%
Natural Gas+1.36%
US Dollar Index-.66%

Mid-Day News
US senate offices close on Ricin detection.
Pakistan's top nuclear scientist said President Musharraf knew he was helping N.Korea prepare facilities
to make weapons-grade uranium.
US budget doubles anti-terror funds to cities.
US equities quiet waiting for CSCO earnings after close...CSCO estimates are for $.17..whisper is $.20.

BOTTOM LINE: The Markets are surprisingly strong today given the late-day sell-off yesterday and overnight news. I haven't made any trades. My portfolio is basically flat on the day. Technicals are starting to weaken a bit. I will closely watch the final hour and the markets reaction to a strong CSCO report. I will then add a couple of new positions, but will not go net long or short more than 20% as I think we are still correcting.

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