Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Stocks Finish Lower on Rising Energy Prices and Profit-taking

Indices
S&P 500 1,282.93 -.36%
DJIA 10,896.32 -.58%
NASDAQ 2,302.69 -.62%
Russell 2000 703.62 -.68%
S&P Barra Growth 614.22 -.34%
S&P Barra Value 664.22 -.39%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 598.28 -.37%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 784.56 -1.14%
Morgan Stanley Technology 548.18 -.82%
Transports 4,090.95 -1.35%
Utilities 421.29 +1.31%
Put/Call .77 -1.28%
NYSE Arms 1.10 -14.71%
Volatility(VIX) 11.91 +6.06%
ISE Sentiment 188.00 -2.08%
US Dollar 89.24 +.13%
CRB 342.45 +1.67%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 66.72 +.62%
Unleaded Gasoline 183.40 +.59%
Natural Gas 9.29 +1.36%
Heating Oil 179.76 +.34%
Gold 555.40 +.20%
Base Metals 160.89 -.37%
Copper 211.10 unch.
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.32% -.68%

Leading Sectors
Energy +2.21%
Oil Service +1.58%
Utilities +1.31%

Lagging Sectors
Networking -1.42%
Semis -1.56%
Airlines -6.07%

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 (COH), (WFC) and (CAL).
- Reiterated Underperform on (MU).
- Lowered (BUD) to Underperform.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- A California public school district agreed to cancel an intelligent design course and never offer it again to settle a lawsuit filed by parents who said their children were being taught religion.
- The ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights sued President Bush and the National Security Agency to stop them from conducting wiretaps on US citizens suspected of terrorism without court approval.
- Russia isn’t ready to support economic penalties on Iran for its nuclear program, Foreign Minister Lavrov said today, as his government weighed whether to send the issue to the UN Security Council.
- Crude oil in NY rose for a second day, nearing $67/bbl., on concern shipments may be disrupted from Iran, which accounts for almost 5% of world output.
- Yahoo!(YHOO) said fourth-quarter profit rose 83% on higher ad sales and a gain from the sale of a unit, missing analysts’ estimates.
- Intel Corp.(INTC) posted fourth-quarter profit and revenue that disappointed investors as sales of chips for desktop computers trailed the company’s forecasts.
- IBM(IBM) said profit rose 13% after the sale of its unprofitable pc unit.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished slightly lower today on losses in my Semi longs, Retail longs and Energy-related shorts. I did not trade in the final hour, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. The tone of the market was negative today as the advance/decline line finished lower, most sectors fell and volume was about average. Measures of investor anxiety were mixed into the close. Overall, today's market performance was mildly negative considering the fall in long-term rates, positive economic data and rise in oil. Bear Stearns said today to buy Apple Computer(AAPL), one of my longs, ahead of its quarterly report tomorrow. I don't usually add to longs ahead of earning's releases, however I still don't think it is too late for longer-term investors to begin building a long position in AAPL now into after-hours weakness related to (INTC) and (YHOO).

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