Thursday, November 17, 2005

Stocks Finish Sharply Higher on Falling Energy Prices, Lower Long-term Rates and Increasing Optimism

Indices
S&P 500 1,242.80 +.94%
DJIA 10,720.22 +.43%
NASDAQ 2,220.46 +1.49%
Russell 2000 667.14 +1.91%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,415.41 +1.07%
S&P Barra Growth 595.45 +.72%
S&P Barra Value 643.02 +1.15%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 592.93 +.56%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 757.79 +1.44%
Morgan Stanley Technology 525.30 +2.05%
Transports 4,082.39 +2.02%
Utilities 397.53 +1.55%
Put/Call .71 -7.79%
NYSE Arms .67 -21.11%
Volatility(VIX) 11.25 -8.24%
ISE Sentiment 182.00 +21.33%
US Dollar 91.88 -.49%
CRB 313.21 -.67%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 56.49 +.27%
Unleaded Gasoline 146.20 +.17%
Natural Gas 11.92 -.14%
Heating Oil 170.20 +.29%
Gold 486.70 -.04%
Base Metals 139.01 +.14%
Copper 187.60 -.16%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.45% -.31%

Leading Sectors
Airlines +3.50%
Homebuilders +3.12%
Networking +2.75%

Lagging Sectors
Foods +.42%
Energy +.10%
Tobacco -.27%

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 GILD.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler will offer free gasoline and maintenance for two years and extended warranties on most new 2005 and 2006 models to win back buyers.
- Crude oil fell to a five-month low after an Energy Department report showing an increase in inventories of natural gas eased concern that heating-fuel supplies would be low this winter.
- Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought 20 million Wells Fargo shares in September.
- GM CEO Wagoner told employees that the automaker doesn’t intend to file for bankruptcy and has “a robust balance sheet.”
- Wal-Mart will be the first participant in a new Salvation Army holiday fund-raising program where companies and groups can put a virtual version of the charity’s red kettle on their Internet site.
- The Environmental Protection Agency will issue new rules next month to reduce parasites in the nation’s drinking water.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished substantially higher today on gains in my Internet longs, Retail longs, Medical longs, Medical Information Systems longs and Airline longs. I did not trade in the afternoon, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market was very positive today as the advance/decline line finished substantially higher, almost every sector rose and volume was above average. Measures of investor anxiety were lower into the close. Overall, today's market action was positive. The homebuilders and airlines, arguably the two most hated sectors, led all gainers, both rising over 3%. I especially like the way stocks ground higher throughout the day rather than gapping up on the open. Today's action bodes well for further gains over the near-term and a successful breakout to new highs for the year in the major averages.

No comments: