Thursday, August 26, 2004

Thursday Close

S&P 500 1,105.09 +.01%
NASDAQ 1,852.92 -.42%


Leading Sectors
Oil Service +1.88%
Gaming +1.05%
I-Banks +.78%

Lagging Sectors
Semis -1.01%
Iron/Steel -1.02%
Disk Drives -2.40%

Other
Crude Oil 43.14 +.09%
Natural Gas 5.14 -.94%
Gold 408.60 -.24%
Base Metals 108.43 +.49%
U.S. Dollar 89.30 -.13%
10-Yr. T-note Yield 4.21% -1.23%
VIX 14.91 -.47%
Put/Call .81 +3.85%
NYSE Arms 1.0 +26.58%

After-hours Movers
TECD +4.27% after beating 2Q estimates and raising 3Q forecast.
COH +3.17% after announcing it would replace Charter One Financial in S&P 500.
CHS -4.28% on profit-taking after beating 2Q estimates and making positive comments.
CHIR -6.30% after saying it will delay shipments of its Fluvirin flu shots until October because testing indicated some products might not be sterile.

Recommendations
Goldman reiterated Outperform on FS, GDT and GILD.

After-hours News
U.S. stocks finished mostly lower today as investor apprehension over terrorism rose ahead of the Republican convention, offsetting a continuing fall in energy prices. After the close, Rebel cleric al-Sadr's militia is set to leave the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf today, abandoning the focal point of a three-week siege involving U.S. and Iraqi forces, Agence France-Presse reported. U.S. authorities arrested or obtained convictions of 156 people since June 1 in an investigation of economic crimes committed on the Internet, Attorney General John Ashcroft said. Health insurers including Aetna, Kaiser Permanente and WellPoint Health are considering discouraging use of Merck's Vioxx painkiller because of concerns about the drug's heart risk, Bloomberg reported. The U.S. women's soccer team beat Brazil 2-1 in extra time for its second Olympic title, hitting the winning goal with eight minutes left, Bloomberg reported.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished lower today as my technology and restaurant longs declined. A few of my longs hit stop-losses in the afternoon and I exited the positions, leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. Volume was very light today and the market's tone remains positive. Further gains are likely next week, barring any domestic terrorism. Natural Gas futures are now down 24% from their recent highs. This is very positive and, as usual, is barely mentioned by the mainstream press.

No comments: