Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Stocks Finish Near Session Lows on Rate Worries and Profit Taking

Indices
S&P 500 1,249.48 -.64%
DJIA 10,805.87 -.76%
NASDAQ 2,232.82 unch.
Russell 2000 677.29 +.53%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,496.61 -.45%
S&P Barra Growth 598.34 -.42%
S&P Barra Value 646.80 -.84%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 588.09 -.75%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 774.21 -.36%
Morgan Stanley Technology 528.95 +.07%
Transports 4,113.80 -.39%
Utilities 400.15 -.85%
Put/Call .84 -22.22%
NYSE Arms 1.64 +26.04%
Volatility(VIX) 12.06 +1.43%
ISE Sentiment 165.00 +29.92%
US Dollar 91.57 -.05%
CRB 314.27 +.98%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 57.51 +.33%
Unleaded Gasoline 150.00 +.19%
Natural Gas 12.67 +.66%
Heating Oil 170.10 +.67%
Gold 496.90 -.36%
Base Metals 145.42 +.48%
Copper 192.10 -.26%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.48% +.22%

Leading Sectors
Oil Service +1.89%
Oil Tankers +1.64%
Semis +1.23%

Lagging Sectors
Foods -1.10%
Banks -1.61%
Gold & Silver -2.43%

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 RDEN.
- Reiterated Underperform on RAI.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- US short-term Treasury yields may plunge next year as the economy slows and central bank including the Federal Reserve lower interest rates, said Bill Gross, manager of the world’s largest bond fund.
- Atlantic Ocean current changes may reduce temperatures in Europe within a few decades, the BBC said on its Web site, citing research by the UK’s National Oceanography Centre.
- Ford Motor, whose Explorer has outsold all other sport-utility vehicles in the US for 15 years, is falling short of sales targets with its latest redesigned version.
- The US economy bounced back in October and November from the hurricanes as more workers found jobs and retailers took an “optimistic” view of the holiday shopping season, the Federal Reserve said.
- South Korea’s consumer prices posted the biggest decline in 19 years in November as food costs and oil prices fell, giving the central bank more room to keep interest rates near a record low.
- The deaths of four US women who used Danco’s RU-486 abortion pill were caused by toxic shock from severe bacterial infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a study.
- Research In Motion’s BlackBerry e-mail pager service came closer to being blocked in the US after a federal judge ruled that a $450 million patent settlement isn’t enforceable and rejected a request for a delay in the case.
- Crude oil and gas rose today on speculation that US economic growth will spur fuel consumption.

Financial Times:
- Fidelity Investments will expand into institutional business to increase its funds by up to fourfold under new management.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished slightly higher today on gains in my Internet longs, Semi longs and Medical longs. I did not trade in the afternoon, thus leaving the Portfolio 50% net long. The tone of the market was neutral today as the advance/decline line finished higher, sector performance was mixed and volume was above average. Measures of investor anxiety were mixed into the close. Overall, today's market action was slightly negative given the decline in the DJIA and Bank stocks. I am still of the opinion that the action over the past few days is just a healthy consolidation after a strong run higher.

No comments: