Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Stocks Higher Mid-day on Merger Activity

Indices
S&P 500 1,264.47 +.38%
DJIA 10,855.42 +.47%
NASDAQ 2,232.42 +.45%
Russell 2000 678.50 +.85%
DJ Wilshire 5000 12,632.89 +.42%
S&P Barra Growth 605.62 +.38%
S&P Barra Value 654.38 +.39%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 601.07 +.31%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 786.94 +1.09%
Morgan Stanley Technology 527.29 +.47%
Transports 4,197.43 +2.30%
Utilities 410.71 -.61%
Put/Call .58 -49.12%
NYSE Arms .79 -30.04%
Volatility(VIX) 11.67 -4.83%
ISE Sentiment 226.00 -8.50%
US Dollar 91.03 +.28%
CRB 325.69 -.04%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 58.35 +.45%
Unleaded Gasoline 151.70 +.54%
Natural Gas 14.11 +.21%
Heating Oil 175.20 +1.84%
Gold 495.30 -.34%
Base Metals 151.67 +.39%
Copper 201.75 -.12%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.48% +.57%

Leading Sectors
Disk Drives +6.78%
Steel +1.75%
Gaming +1.62%

Lagging Sectors
Semis -.09%
Telecom -.37%
Utilities -.70%
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is higher mid-day on gains in my Semi longs, Medical longs and Medical Information System longs. I covered the rest of my IWM and QQQQ shorts this morning and was stopped-out of a short, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market is positive as the advance/decline line is higher, most sectors are higher and volume is about average. Measures of investor anxiety are mostly lower. Overall, today’s market action is mildly positive considering recent trading. The Fed's Lacker is saying that he sees 3.5% real GDP growth next year, with household spending rising 3.5% as well. However, he said he sees "substantially faster" business investment. He said core inflation has been low and steady, but the Fed must respond vigorously to inflation signs. Finally, he says housing activity will cool next year. It is a positive that the Fed is acknowledging the slowing housing market. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-higher into the close on short-covering.

No comments: