Monday, March 13, 2006

Stocks Finish Slightly Higher, Led by Energy Shares

Indices
S&P 500 1,284.13 +.20%
DJIA 11,076.02 unch.
NASDAQ 2,267.03 +.22%
Russell 2000 728.04 +.23%
Wilshire 5000 12,914.81 +.22%
S&P Barra Growth 606.82 +.15%
S&P Barra Value 673.86 +.25%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 611.68 +.32%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 780.99 -.35%
Morgan Stanley Technology 529.87 +.27%
Transports 4,454.02 -.05%
Utilities 400.81 +.22%
Put/Call .85 -2.30%
NYSE Arms .75 -.43%
Volatility(VIX) 11.37 -4.05%
ISE Sentiment 118.00 -24.36%
US Dollar 90.54 -.34%
CRB 322.99 +1.12%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 61.95 +.30%
Unleaded Gasoline 176.85 +1.45%
Natural Gas 7.07 +.91%
Heating Oil 174.93 +.66%
Gold 547.20 -.05%
Base Metals 165.75 +.66%
Copper 224.50 -.02%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.71% -.36%

Leading Sectors
Oil Service +1.99%
Energy +1.97%
Computer Hardware +1.47%

Lagging Sectors
Oil Tankers -.91%
Steel -1.07%
Airlines -1.16%

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:
- Lowered STTX to Underperform.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Bill Gross, CIO at PIMCO, told CNBC he expects one or two more interest-rate increases from the Fed.
- AstraZeneca Plc’s(AZN) cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor reduced artery-clogging plaque in test patients, the first time a pill has ever reversed the years of damage that lead to heart attacks, researchers said.
- Rambus Inc.(RMBS), after six years of pursuing patent litigation against memory chip makers, presents its first case to a jury this week at a trial against Hynix Semiconductor.
- General Motors(GM) will offer buyers as much as $1,000 per vehicle on older cars and trucks in US dealer inventories.
- Australian troops will stay in Iraq “well into” 2007, Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said.
- Crude oil is rising a second day in NY as the UN prepares to consider Iran’s refusal to end its nuclear research and colder weather in the northern US boosted heating fuel prices.
- Apple Computer(AAPL) paid CEO Jobs $1 in salary and no bonus in 2005 after he guided the maker of the iPod music player and iMac computer to its biggest profit ever.

DPA-AFX:
- BMW AG, the world’s largest luxury carmaker, plans to build a hydrogen-powered car within the next two years.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished unchanged today as gains in my Computer longs and Networking longs offset losses in my Energy-related shorts. I did not trade in the final hour, thus leaving the Portfolio 50% net long. The tone of the market was slightly positive today as the advance/decline line finished modestly higher, sector performance was mixed and volume was below average. Measures of investor anxiety were mostly lower into the close. Overall, today's market performance was mildly bearish. The continuing weakness in semis is of concern. As well, investors continue to ignore most good news and focus on potential negatives. The major averages are not acting as though they are done with the recent correction.

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