Monday, August 22, 2005

Stocks Mixed Mid-day with Small-caps Outperforming

Indices
S&P 500 1,220.06 +.03%
DJIA 10,561.05 +.02%
NASDAQ 2,137.59 +.10%
Russell 2000 655.63 +.48%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,155.73 +.06%
S&P Barra Growth 583.69 -.01%
S&P Barra Value 632.27 +.05%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 584.12 -.12%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 742.33 +.17%
Morgan Stanley Technology 496.14 -.20%
Transports 3,730.51 +.04%
Utilities 396.40 +.49%
Put/Call .87 -16.35%
NYSE Arms 1.26 +8.66%
Volatility(VIX) 13.63 +1.56%
ISE Sentiment 165.00 +37.50%
US Dollar 88.17 -.49%
CRB 317.83 +.84%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 65.55 +.31%
Unleaded Gasoline 186.00 -2.31%
Natural Gas 9.60 +5.37%
Heating Oil 182.25 -.02%
Gold 443.20 +.23%
Base Metals 131.54 +1.95%
Copper 164.10 +1.80%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.20% unch.

Leading Sectors
Steel +1.97%
Wireless +.86%
Broadcasting +.82%

Lagging Sectors
Internet -.77%
Tobacco -.88%
Oil Service -1.53%
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is unchanged mid-day as gains in my Medical and Semi longs are offsetting losses in my Internet and Retail longs. I pared back a few longs and added IWM/QQQQ trading shorts again this morning, thus leaving the Portfolio 50% net long. The tone of the market is modestly positive as the advance/decline line is slightly higher, sector performance is mixed and volume is light. Measures of investor anxiety are mixed. Today’s overall market action is neutral, considering the decline in the US dollar and increased merger activity. During the week ended Aug. 19, the information technology industry saw the greatest net insider selling in the S&P 500 again. Insiders sold $87,612,256 worth of stock and bought $109,650. Insider buying in the financial industry picked up to $21,484,464 for the week. However, insiders still sold $47,626,000 worth of stock. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-weaker from current levels into the close on worries over high energy prices.

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