Stocks Slightly Higher into Final Hour on Central Bank Hopes, Short-Covering, Investor Performance Angst, Utility/Tech Sector Strength

Broad Equity Market Tone:

• Advance/Decline Line: Slightly Lower
  

• Sector Performance: Mixed
  

• Volume: Around Average

• Market Leading Stocks: Underperforming

Equity Investor Angst:

• Volatility(VIX) 12.93 -2.56%

• Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 139.11 +.47%

• Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 9.05 +1.12%

• S&P 500 Implied Correlation 37.09 -5.84%

• ISE Sentiment Index 76.0 -32.14%

• Total Put/Call .82 +19.48%

• NYSE Arms .74 -34.29% 

Credit Investor Angst:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 73.02 -1.98%

• European Financial Sector CDS Index 112.71 -1.39%

• Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 67.0 unch.

• Emerging Market CDS Index 280.72 -1.19%

• 2-Year Swap Spread 12.0 unch.

• TED Spread 19.25 unch.

• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -4.0 +.25 basis point

Economic Gauges:

• 3-Month T-Bill Yield .05% unch.

• Yield Curve 235.0 -1 basis points

• China Import Iron Ore Spot $137.10/Metric Tonne +.22%

• Citi US Economic Surprise Index .4 +.4 point

• Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index -11.70 +.7 point

• 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.19 +5 basis points

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei Futures: Indicating +79 open in Japan

• DAX Futures: Indicating +1 open in Germany

Portfolio: 

• Slightly Higher: On gains in my tech sector longs and index hedges

• Disclosed Trades: Added to my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges, then covered some of them

• Market Exposure: 50% Net Long