Monday, July 31, 2006

Stocks Finish Mostly Lower on Profit-taking and Higher Energy Prices

Indices
S&P 500 1,276.66 -.15%
DJIA 11,185.68 -.30%
NASDAQ 2,091.47 -.13%
Russell 2000 700.56 +.08%
Wilshire 5000 12,780.76 -.06%
S&P Barra Growth 587.65 -.21%
S&P Barra Value 687.69 -.09%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 616.98 -.72%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 781.26 +.23%
Morgan Stanley Technology 467.23 -.28%
Transports 4,381.99 -.75%
Utilities 433.42 -.37%
Put/Call .81 -7.95%
NYSE Arms 1.15 +23.52%
Volatility(VIX) 14.95 +4.33%
ISE Sentiment 99.0 +3.13%
US Dollar 85.28 -.12%
CRB 349.83 +1.75%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 74.51 +.15%
Unleaded Gasoline 221.85 +.30%
Natural Gas 8.24 +.41%
Heating Oil 204.75 +.49%
Gold 648.80 +.31%
Base Metals 231.15 +3.11%
Copper 358.80 +.50%
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.97% -.20%

Leading Sectors
Coal +3.50%
Oil Service +2.74%
HMOs +1.82%

Lagging Sectors
Wireless -.77%
Homebuilders -.78%
Airlines -2.98%

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:
- Prime Minister Olmert said Israel hasn’t called a cease-fire in Lebanon and won’t do so until the threat form the Hezbollah Islamic fundamentalist organization has ended.
- Two Fed officials said the economic outlook may justify a break from two years of consecutive interest-rate increases, signalijng policy makers could leave the main US rate unchanged next week.
- Jon Wood, a former UBS AG trader who helped the Zurich-based bank earn $2.4 billion over a six-year span, raised more than $3 billion for a hedge fund he plans to open in September.
- Whole Foods Market(WFMI) said third-quarter profit rose 33%, lifted by sales of prepared foods. Shares dropped on lower-than-expected same-store sales growth.

Boston Globe:
- Lobster dealers are being encouraged to add identification tags to Maine lobsters to protect consumers from “imposter lobster” caught elsewhere.

San Jose Mercury News:
- Google(GOOG) and Yahoo!(YHOO), along with other Internet firms, have made agreements to compensate US news organizations for their content and help direct more traffic to their Web sites.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished slightly lower today on losses in my Medical longs and Commodity shorts. 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 about even, sector performance was mixed and volume was below average. Measures of investor anxiety were mixed into the close. Overall, today's market performance was neutral given last week's gains, the rise in energy prices and Fed comments. Trading was slow and sloppy throughout the day. It is a big positive, however, that last week's gains in both stocks and bonds held. Cyclicals and small-caps outperformed today on improving sentiment regarding the recent economic slowdown. The consumer non-cyclical industry had the greatest amount of net insider buying last week in the S&P 500. Insiders bought $738,547,767 worth of stock and sold $109,416,113 worth. This is the largest net insider buying I have seen in this industry in a long time.

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