Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Stocks Finish Mostly Lower on Weakness in Tech and Healthcare Shares

Indices
S&P 500 1,325.14 +.04%
DJIA 11,639.77 +.48%
NASDAQ 2,338.25 -.29%
Russell 2000 780.72 -.11%
Wilshire 5000 13,421.90 +.01%
S&P Barra Growth 612.30 -.08%
S&P Barra Value 711.15 +.15%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 618.35 +.22%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 888.23 +.22%
Morgan Stanley Technology 545.02 -.78%
Transports 4,998.95 +.83%
Utilities 405.90 -.49%
Put/Call .83 -9.78%
NYSE Arms .87 -4.78%
Volatility(VIX) 11.99 -.08%
ISE Sentiment 208.00 +.97%
US Dollar 84.83 -.47%
CRB 354.93 +1.31%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 70.55 -.20%
Unleaded Gasoline 204.50 -.08%
Natural Gas 6.55 -.46%
Heating Oil 199.51 +2.08%
Gold 702.40 +.13%
Base Metals 236.45 +2.59%
Copper 360.70 +.31%
10-year US Treasury Yield 5.12% +.29%

Leading Sectors
Gold & Silver +4.38%
Airlines +1.43%
Oil Service +.78%

Lagging Sectors
Semis -1.02%
HMOs -1.13%
Hospital -2.0%

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:
- Rated (VTIV) Buy, target $37.

UBS:
- Upgraded (USB) to Buy, target $37.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The US will give $10 million in medical supplies to the Palestinian people as Palestinian Authority President Abbas cautions that outside aid is needed to prevent the collapse of his administration.
- General Motors(GM) shares rose to their highest price this year after the automaker revised quarterly results to its first profit since 2004 and CEO Wagoner said talks to avoid a strike at Dephi Corp., its biggest supplier, are progressing.
- The UK, France and Germany might make a new offer to help Iran develop a peaceful nuclear program as a way to convince Iranian leaders to halt uranium enrichment, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the UN.
- Republicans readied more than $80 billion in tax cuts for votes in both chambers of Congress, including extending low rates on dividends and most capital gains and preventing the alternative minimum tax from affecting 16 million households this year.

AP:
- New Jersey lawmakers will consider a bill that would legalize medical marijuana for people with certain medical conditions.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished unchanged today as gains in my Internet longs and Medical longs offset losses in my Retail longs and Computer longs. I did not trade in the final hour, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. The tone of the market was slightly negative today as the advance/decline line finished lower, sector performance was mostly negative and volume was about average. Measures of investor anxiety were mostly lower into the close. Overall, today's market performance was slightly bearish. On the positive side, another rise in oil and long-term rates didn't do much damage to equities. Natural gas finished near session lows and looks poised to take another dive lower. Semis rebounded from session lows, notwithstanding Dell’s (DELL) disappointment. Google (GOOG) finished near session highs on good volume. I doubt Google (GOOG) will close below $400 again this year. Google remains my largest long position.

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