Monday, May 08, 2006

Stocks Finished Mixed, Consolidating Recent Gains Ahead of FOMC Meeting

Indices
S&P 500 1,324.66 -.08%
DJIA 11,584.54 +.06%
NASDAQ 2,344.99 +.10%
Russell 2000 781.60 -.03%
Wilshire 5000 13,420.79 -.03%
S&P Barra Growth 612.77 -.04%
S&P Barra Value 710.11 -.12%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 616.98 +.02%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 886.30 +.08%
Morgan Stanley Technology 549.30 -.31%
Transports 4,957.91 unch.
Utilities 407.90 -.77%
Put/Call .92 +16.46%
NYSE Arms .92 +22.36%
Volatility(VIX) 12.00 +3.27%
ISE Sentiment 206.00 +38.26%
US Dollar 85.18 +.05%
CRB 350.35 -.45%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 69.93 +.23%
Unleaded Gasoline 200.90 +.27%
Natural Gas 6.71 +.28%
Heating Oil 195.80 +.18%
Gold 680.80 +.13%
Base Metals 230.48 -.09%
Copper 350.85 +.20%
10-year US Treasury Yield 5.11% +.21%

Leading Sectors
Broadcasting +2.18%
HMOs +1.65%
Retail +.83%

Lagging Sectors
Gold & Silver -.90%
Homebuilders -1.12%
Defense -1.70%

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
- None of note

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- President Bush asked Sudan to back UN peacekeepers for Darfur and is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the world body tomorrow to seek a resolution on speeding up their deployment.
- Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Citigroup’s(C) biggest individual shareholder, said he and Goldman Sachs Group(GS) CEO Henry Paulson may consider investing together, and offered to help Goldman win business in the kingdom.
- Man Group’s US brokerage and seven of its employees were sued for fraud and racketeering by a court-appointed receiver seeking to recoup investor assets lost in the collapse of a Philadelphia hedge fund.
- A decline in US newspaper circulation accelerated in the six months through March, led by drops at the LA Times and San Francisco Chronicle, as more readers got their news from Web sites.
- Chipotle Mexican Grill(CMG) said first-quarter profit more than tripled as it opened new stores and margins rose.
- Dell Inc.(DELL) said price cuts caused first-quarter profit to miss its forecast and revenue to hit the bottom of a previously announced range.

Nikkei English News:
- Toyota Motor(TM) plans to develop an inexpensive compact car, the company’s cheapest yet, for sale in India and other emerging markets.

Financial Times Deutschland:
- Time Warner’s(TWX) AOL Germany Internet unit plans to stop charging users for content as it forecasts increased revenue from online advertising.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished slightly higher today on gains in my Networking longs and Software longs. I did not trade 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 modestly lower, sector performance was mixed and volume was about average. Measures of investor anxiety were mostly higher into the close. Overall, today's market performance was neutral considering recent gains. The 10-year yield was stable ahead of Wednesday's FOMC meeting. I expect the yield to head lower later this week as shorts cover. I am still long (TLT).

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