Monday, May 24, 2004

Monday Close

S&P 500 1,095.34 +.16%
NASDAQ 1,922.98 +.57%


Leading Sectors
Oil Service +4.38%
Homebuilders +3.08%
Disk Drives +2.27%

Lagging Sectors
Drugs -.78%
Telecom -.90%
Tobacco -3.60%

Other
Crude Oil 41.68 -.10%
Natural Gas 6.69 -.07%
Gold 385.60 -.03%
Base Metals 106.28 +1.23%
U.S. Dollar 90.50 +.01%
10-Yr. T-note Yield 4.73 -.46%
VIX 18.08 -2.22%
Put/Call .76 -37.70%
NYSE Arms 1.18 +22.92%

After-hours Movers
NOVL -7.72% on profit-taking after meeting 2Q estimates.
CHTR +5.2% after S&P revised outlook to positive.

Recommendations
Doug Kass, hedge fund manager and writer for TheStreet.com, says the market looks headed for a pretty good year.

After-hours News
U.S. stocks finished mostly higher today led by homebuilders and energy-related stocks as oil rose and interest rates fell. After the close, Virgin USA said it expects to choose between San Francisco and New York when selecting a U.S. location to house the national headquarters for the company's low-cost domestic carrier, CNN reported. Medtronic, the world's largest maker of devices that regulate heartbeats, said 4th quarter revenue rose 24%, beating expectations. Crude oil and gasoline futures in New York surged today on concern Saudi Arabia's promised production rise and any increase in OPEC quotas at a meeting next week won't satisfy expanding demand, Bloomberg reported. New York City had a 5.18% drop in crime in 2003, making it the safest of the nation's 10 largest cities, according to FBI statistics.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio had a very good day today as my internet and basic materials longs rose substantially. I took profits in a couple of airline longs and added a couple of internet longs, leaving the Portfolio with 125% net long market exposure. I added AMZN in the afternoon and will use a $40.50 stop-loss on the position. The advance/decline line continues to improve and small-caps are outperforming again. The fact that most stocks rose today with oil rising substantially is a very good sign for the Bulls. As well, the stabilization of interest rates is a big positive.

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