Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Wednesday Close

S&P 500 1,123.75.75 +1.17%
NASDAQ 1,976.76 +1.73%


Leading Sectors
Iron/Steel +4.05%
Airlines +3.40%
Biotech +2.82%

Lagging Sectors
HMO's +.39%
Drugs -.67%
Homebuilders -1.22%

Other
Crude Oil 38.19 +.03%
Natural Gas 5.74 +.31%
Gold 407.30 +.05%
Base Metals 112.09 +.56%
U.S. Dollar 88.66 +.08%
10-Yr. Long-Bond Yield 3.68% +.05%
VIX 18.11 -10.96%
Put/Call .80 -23.08%
NYSE Arms .67 -9.46%

After-hours Movers
TIBX +4.6% after beating 1Q earnings estimates.
PLNR -17.7% after lowering 2Q guidance.
ESMC -12.8% on announcing that it sold 800,000 shares in a private placement 32% below Wed. close.
MLHR -6.6% after meeting 3Q estimates and lowering 4Q guidance.

Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Outperform on PKG. TheStreet.com's Chris Edmonds thinks oil will fall to around $30/bbl in the next 3-6 months. CNBC had guests that were positive on VECO and FEIC, providers of the "picks and shovels" for nanotechnology.

After-hours News
U.S. stocks rallied today on strong earnings from economic bell-weather FedEx and strength in other cyclicals. Martha Stewart's daughter said she isn't interested in running her mother's company, CNNMoney.com reported. Crude oil futures closed above $38 a barrel for the first time since the 1990-91 Gulf War, after the U.S. Energy Dept. reported a decline in nationwide gasoline inventories. Afghanistan is aiming to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in the middle of the year, President Karzai said.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio was up today as I added quite a few new long positions into the afternoon strength. The Portfolio is now 100% net long. The market's strength in the face of 13-year highs in the price of oil and a hotel bombing in Iraq was impressive. I am seeing a number of stocks stabilize and begin to break-out to the upside. It is too early to tell whether or not the recent correction is over, but signs are pointing to continued strength in the short-term. Most of the longs I added were beaten up technology and base metal stocks with exceptional fundamentals.

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