Stocks Higher Heading Into Final Hour on Bargain Hunting and Short Covering

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is higher heading into the final hour on gains in my Retail longs, Semi longs and Medical longs. I covered the remainder of my (IWM) and (QQQQ) shorts today, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market is positive as the advance/decline line is higher, almost every sector is higher and volume is below average. The U.S. Dollar Index is rising .6% today. The dollar continues to trade as though at the very least a short-term bottom is in place. This is a positive for equities given the bears' arguments revolving around a collapsing dollar. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-higher into the close from current levels on lower long-term rates, a rising dollar, short-covering and bargain hunting.