Monday, February 02, 2004

Monday Close

S&P 500+.37%
NASDAQ-.15%


Leading/Lagging Sectors
Telecom+2.14%
Broadcasting+1.78%
Biotech+1.53%
Airlines-1.88%
Semis-1.63%
Iron/Steel-1.43%

Market Movers
ACS down on Florida contract difficulties
ANDW up on strong earnings report
RDWR down on earnings report that just met expectations
NT,SUNW,CSCO up on anticipation of strong corp. spending

Commodity Movers
Crude Oil+5.6%
Natural Gas+3.02%
Gold unchanged.....rallied as stocks fell on bird flu and profit taking

End-of-Day News
The S&P 500 rose modestly today led by telecom and healthcare companies. The final hour saw a round of futures related selling. Semis also seemed to lead the market to the downside. PFE paced the gains in drug stocks as regulators approved its drug for lung disease. SBC says it will raise high-speed internet access by 11% to some customers, helping the telecom sector. Smith Barney said strength in the enterprise will continue to accelerate throughout 04. Volatility(VIX) is creeping back up to more healthy levels finishing the day at 17.11. Insider buying was reported at SNDK,CHK,FDX.

Bottom Line
The weak rally that occurred early in the day, due to a terrorism-free Super Bowl and strong economic numbers, gave way to concerns over the Asian bird flu as CNBC talked about it a good part of the day. The market still feels heavy to me and seems to be in a corrective phase. I made no new trades today as my longs greatly out-performed and my shorts under-performed. A very good day for relative performance. My portfolio is still market neutral and I am looking for more down-side near-term.


After-Hours
JCOM+5.3% up on strong earnings and guidance...raising 04 estimates significantly
TASR+11.2% up on strong earnings and guidance...sees 04 sales up 100%...also short squeeze
Goldman downgrades semi. equipment stocks after close-I view this as a short-sighted call
Goldman makes positive comments on MSFT-I agree
Morgan Stanley makes positive comments on ANDW-I agree

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