Thursday, September 29, 2005

Stocks Finish Sharply Higher on Short-Covering and Quarter-End Window Dressing

Indices
S&P 500 1,227.68 +.89%
DJIA 10,552.78 +.76%
NASDAQ 2,141.22 +1.22%
Russell 2000 665.03 +1.37%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,255.69 +.92%
S&P Barra Growth 586.11 +.73%
S&P Barra Value 637.35 +1.04%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 584.44 +.70%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 725.61 +.53%
Morgan Stanley Technology 502.04 +1.06%
Transports 3,718.42 +1.70%
Utilities 432.98 +.92%
Put/Call .78 +6.85%
NYSE Arms .78 -1.14%
Volatility(VIX) 12.24 -3.09%
ISE Sentiment 169.00 +18.18%
US Dollar 89.40 -.08%
CRB 334.85 +.46%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 66.74 -.07%
Unleaded Gasoline 221.10 -1.80%
Natural Gas 14.09 -.75%
Heating Oil 212.47 -.77%
Gold 475.40 -.08%
Base Metals 131.13 +.54%
Copper 173.95 unch.
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.29% +.92%

Leading Sectors
Disk Drives +2.37%
Homebuilders +1.93%
Software +1.90%

Lagging Sectors
Broadcasting -.45%
Airlines -.63%
HMOs -2.30%

Evening Review
Detailed Market Summary
Market Gauges
Daily ETF Performance
Style Performance
Market Wrap CNBC Video(bottom right)
S&P 500 Gallery View
Economic Calendar
Timely Economic Charts
GuruFocus.com
PM Market Call
After-hours Movers
Real-time/After-hours Stock Quote
In Play

Afternoon Recommendations
Goldman Sachs:
- Reiterated Outperform on FCX and SGMS.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The New Orleans Police Dept. is investigating 12 officers for allegedly looting homes around the city during the Hurricane Katrina rescue and recovery effort.
- Gasoline futures retreated from a four-week high on expectations rising imports will help make up for output lost from refineries that are shut because of hurricane damage.
- President Bush’s job approval rating rose after he took a more visible role in the government response to Hurricane Rita than he did for Hurricane Katrina, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showed.

Wall Street Journal:
- Bats were the source of the deadly SARS virus that killed more than 700 people in 2002 in an epidemic that began in southern China.

AP:
- Pictures showing abuses of Abu Ghraib prisoners in Iraq must be released to the public, a federal judge in NY ruled today. US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled in favor of the ACLU and against the US military, which argued that the unnecessary images might aid al-Qaeda recruitment and result in more loss of life in the Middle East.

Die Welt:
- UPS will step up acquisitions in Europe and may consider a bid for Dutch package deliverer TNT NV.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished substantially higher today on gains in my Internet longs, Semiconductor longs, Medical longs and Medical Information System longs. I did not trade in the afternoon, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market was positive today as the advance/decline line finished at session highs, most sectors rose and volume was above average. Measures of investor anxiety were mostly lower into the close. Overall, today’s market action was very positive. The AAII % Bulls fell to 31.88% this week from 39.47% the prior week; this reading is approaching depressed levels. Likewise, the % Bears rose to 39.13% from 32.46% the prior week; this is approaching elevated levels. I expect more choppy trading over the next few weeks as bullish sentiment becomes depressed. This should pave the way for an upside breakout in late October/early November.

No comments: