Monday, March 20, 2006

Stocks Finish Mixed Ahead of Bernanke Speech

Indices
S&P 500 1,305.08 -.17%
DJIA 11,274.53 -.05%
NASDAQ 2,314.11 +.33%
Russell 2000 745.62 -.06%
Wilshire 5000 13,137.07 -.14%
S&P Barra Growth 615.94 -.06%
S&P Barra Value 685.75 -.27%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 616.08 +.19%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 810.63 -.31%
Morgan Stanley Technology 538.11 +.12%
Transports 4,587.53 +.53%
Utilities 403.43 -1.15%
Put/Call .87 +10.13%
NYSE Arms 1.06 +4.03%
Volatility(VIX) 11.78 -2.81%
ISE Sentiment 149.00 +14.62%
US Dollar 89.12 +.22%
CRB 320.64 -1.59%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 60.34 -.13%
Unleaded Gasoline 182.90 -.06%
Natural Gas 6.84 +.07%
Heating Oil 174.00 -.10%
Gold 554.60 -.27%
Base Metals 172.52 -.68%
Copper 233.20 -.09%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.65% -.39%

Leading Sectors
Airlines +3.07%
HMOs +.71%
Internet +.54%

Lagging Sectors
Coal -1.95%
Energy -2.21%
Oil Service -3.12%

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
Banc of America:
- Started (PAYX), (CXW) and (RHI) with Buy ratings.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue will retire at the end of July after more than 16 years on the job.
- Elliott Associates LP said it bought a 6.5% stake in Lexar Media(LEXR) and opposes the company’s planned $680 million sale to Micron Technology(MU).
- Crude oil fell over $2/bbl., the most in seven months, as US inventories approach a seven-year high.
- Frank Quattrone, who made $120 million in 2000 as CSFB’s top technology banker, won the right to a new trial today, after a federal appeals court in New York threw out his conviction for obstructing justice.
- Samsung Electronics said semiconductor profit in the current period will fall from the fourth quarter after a glut of chips that go into digital music players drove down prices.
- VeriSign Inc.(VRSN) said it agreed to buy closely held m-Qube for about $250 million to add wireless network management software products.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished higher today on gains in my Networking longs, Internet longs, Medical longs and Energy-related shorts. I exited my (IWM)/(QQQQ) shorts and another existing short in the final hour, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market was slightly negative today as the advance/decline line finished about even, sector performance was mostly lower and volume was above average. Measures of investor anxiety were mixed into the close. Overall, today's market action appeared to be a healthy consolidation of recent gains. Throughout the day, tech stocks outperformed and Google (GOOG) traded better than it has for quite some time. The CRB Index broke back below its 200-day moving-average. The 10-year yield remained slightly lower, ahead of Bernanke's speech tonight. span>

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