Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Stocks Finish Near Session Highs as Energy Prices Resume Downtrend and Long-term Rates Decline

Indices
S&P 500 1,292.67 +.75%
DJIA 11,137.17 +.62%
NASDAQ 2,283.17 +.89%
Russell 2000 733.53 +.93%
Wilshire 5000 13,005.76 +.73%
S&P Barra Growth 611.14 +.69%
S&P Barra Value 678.02 +.82%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 605.37 +.57%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 804.14 +.66%
Morgan Stanley Technology 533.85 +1.05%
Transports 4,449.17 +1.23%
Utilities 412.47 +.32%
Put/Call .70 -22.22%
NYSE Arms 1.08 +.64%
Volatility(VIX) 11.88 -4.27%
ISE Sentiment 136.00 -6.85%
US Dollar 90.63 +.10%
CRB 326.03 -1.28%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 60.83 -.33%
Unleaded Gasoline 147.00 -.31%
Natural Gas 7.25 -.38%
Heating Oil 164.90 -.19%
Gold 558.10 +.27%
Base Metals 167.46 -.19%
Copper 226.15 -.13%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.52% -.99%

Leading Sectors
Homebuilders +2.82%
Airlines +2.29%
Banks +2.15%

Lagging Sectors
Telecom -.74%
Energy -1.68%
Oil Service -2.35%

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).
- Reiterated Underperform on (RAI).

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Public-health advisers expanded the list of Americans who should get vaccinated against the flu to include healthy children ages 2 years to 5 years, an industry supported group said.
- The largest-ever lottery prize of $365 million was won by a group of eight workers from a meat processing plan in Lincoln, Nebraska, Powerball officials announced today.
- Campbell Soup(CPB) will introduce new versions of its most popular soups and beverages that contain at least 25% less sodium to appeal to health conscious consumers.
- Former Fed Chairman Greenspan told a forum organized by ABN Amro Holding NV that the US economy is in good shape, according to people present.
- US Treasuries rose after a government report on consumer prices tempered speculation that inflation is poised to accelerate.
- Merrill Lynch(MER) is paring back its bond research dept.
- UAL Corp. CEO Tilton said US airlines inevitably will find ways to merge and his company won’t sit idly by if its UAL unit would benefit.
- Crude oil fell on speculation that surging US supplies, which are 12% above the 5-year average, are sufficient to make up for any disruption in Nigerian shipments.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
- The American collaborator of the South Korean scientist who faked stem cell research data used the once-vaunted results to obtain a $16 million federal science grant.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished substantially higher today on gains in my Biotech longs, Semi longs, Computer longs, Retail longs and Energy-related shorts. I did not trade in the final hour, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market was positive today as the advance/decline line finished higher, most sectors rose and volume was above average. Measures of investor anxiety were mixed into the close. Overall, today's market performance was good for the bulls. The major averages and breadth finished near session highs, while oil and the 10-year T-note yield finished near session lows. Better performance by high-growth equities is mainly a result of lower long rates. As well, I expect oil to break back below $60 on tomorrow's inventory data. Stocks should continue to build on gains in the short run as once again too many are pessimistic and underexposed on the long side. The Value Line Geometric Index, a good measure of the broad-based market, is making another cycle high and has risen 6.21% this year.

No comments: