Weekly Scoreboard*

Indices
S&P 500 1,330.63 -1.66%
DJIA 12,266.39 -.93%
NASDAQ 2,271.48 -1.38%
Russell 2000 686.18 -1.33%
Wilshire 5000 13,398.02 -1.55%
Russell 1000 Growth 551.92 -1.18%
Russell 1000 Value 728.55 -2.10%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 681.10 -1.47%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 929.04 -1.92%
Morgan Stanley Technology 529.68 -1.69%
Transports 4,550.58 -2.79%
Utilities 477.50 -4.03%
MSCI Emerging Markets 141.70 +.80%

Sentiment/Internals
NYSE Cumulative A/D Line 59,824 +2.95%
Bloomberg New Highs-Lows Index -184
Bloomberg Crude Oil % Bulls 18.0 -37.9%
CFTC Oil Large Speculative Longs 257,989 +11.0%
Total Put/Call 1.23 +7.89%
ISE Sentiment 75.0 -7.54%
NYSE Arms 2.75 +394.44%
Volatility(VIX) 26.54 +10.31%
G7 Currency Volatility (VXY) 10.94 +11.52%
AAII % Bulls 34.3 +3.4%
AAII % Bears 45.3 +1.25%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 101.74 +2.56%
Reformulated Gasoline 266.26 -.86%
Natural Gas 9.36 +1.14%
Heating Oil 280.50 +1.98%
Gold 975.20 +2.94%
Base Metals 270.22 +5.74%
Copper 383.0 +1.18%

Economy
10-year US Treasury Yield 3.51% -29 basis points
10-year TIPS Spread 2.44% +8 basis points
TED Spread 1.22 +34 basis points
Investment Grade Credit Default Swap Index 151.26 -1.30%
Fed Fund Futures 70.0% chance of 75 cut, 30.0% chance of 50 cut on 3/18
Iraqi 2028 Govt Bonds 73.45 +.34%
4-Wk MA of Jobless Claims 360,500 -.4%
Average 30-year Mortgage Rate 6.24% +20 basis points
Weekly Mortgage Applications 665,100 -19.2%
Weekly Retail Sales +.6%
Nationwide Gas $3.16/gallon +.03/gallon.
US Heating Demand Next 7 Days right at normal
ECRI Weekly Leading Economic Index 132.40 +.15%
US Dollar Index 73.75 -2.39%
CRB Index 412.76 +3.52%

Best Performing Style
Small-cap Growth -.87%

Worst Performing Style
Mid-cap Value -2.11%

Leading Sectors
Computer Services +2.82%
Energy +1.73%
Oil Service +1.37%
Biotech +1.01%
Medical Equipment unch.

Lagging Sectors
Utilities -4.03%
Gaming -5.48%
I-Banks -5.52%
Banks -6.39%
Airlines -10.66%

One-Week High-Volume Gainers

One-Week High-Volume Losers

*5-Day Change

Stocks Finish Near Session Lows, Weighed Down by Financial, Homebuilding, Commodity Shares

Evening Review
Market Summary
Top 20 Biz Stories
Today’s Movers
Market Performance Summary
WSJ Data Center
Sector Performance
ETF Performance
Style Performance
Commodity Movers
Market Wrap CNBC Video(bottom right)
S&P 500 Gallery View
Timely Economic Charts
GuruFocus.com
PM Market Call
After-hours Commentary
After-hours Movers
After-hours Real-Time Stock Bid/Ask
After-hours Stock Quote
After-hours Stock Chart
In Play

Stocks Sharply Lower into Final Hour on Financial Sector Worries, Economic Concerns

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is lower into the final hour on losses in my Software longs, Medical longs and Computer longs. I added (IWM)/(QQQQ) hedges and added to my (EEM) short this morning, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. The overall tone of the market is very negative as the advance/decline line is substantially lower, every sector is declining and volume is about average. Investor anxiety is high again. Today’s overall market action is very bearish. The VIX is rising 10.5% today to a high 26.0. The ISE Sentiment Index is a very low 77.0 and the total put/call is a high 1.23 again today. Finally, the NYSE Arms has been running high all day and is currently 1.71. Today’s losses are mainly the result of ongoing worries over the financial sector and concerns that the bubble in commodities will prevent the Fed from acting in a more aggressive way if necessary. Considering how much US manufacturing is outsourced to emerging market countries, I suspect we will begin to see further signs of slowing in the growth rates of those countries over the coming weeks, which should provide the catalyst for a reversal lower in most commodity prices, thus giving the Fed more leeway. Google(GOOG) is trading relatively well today after comScore clarified its recent data that had pressured GOOG shares. They said that a careful analysis of the data doesn’t support inventors’ concerns that the economy is hurting Google’s biz. They also said, as I pointed out right after the release of the data, that Google’s quality initiatives drove down clicks. I suspect another surge in Google shares is in the offing on any signs of broad market stabilization. The Baltic Dry Index surged 3.8% today, the biggest gain this month. The JPMorgan Emerging Market Bond Index and Bear Stearns High Yield Index are .7% higher for the week. The Investment Grade Credit Default Swap Index is 1.3% lower for the week, which is also a positive. The Fed’s Evans said this afternoon that “fast moving events call for fast moving policy,” which could be an indication of another surprise rate cut before the March 18^th meeting. Nikkei futures indicate a -285 open in Japan and DAX futures indicate a -17 open in Germany on Monday. I expect US stocks to trade modestly higher into the close from current levels on short covering, lower long-term rates, Fed rate cut speculation and bargain hunting.

Personal Incomes, Spending Rise More Than Estimates, PCE Core at Estimates, Chicago PMI Contracts, Consumer Confidence Inches Above Estimates

- Personal Income for January rose .3% versus estimates of a .2% increase and a .5% gain in December.

- Personal Spending for January rose .4% versus estimates of a .2% increase and an upwardly revised .3% gain in December.

- PCE Core for January rose .3% versus estimates of a .3% gain and a .2% increase in December.

- The Chicago Purchasing Manager for February fell to 44.5 versus estimates of 49.5 and a reading of 51.5 in January.

- The final Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence reading for February rose to 70.8 versus estimates of 70.0 and prior estimates of 69.6.

BOTTOM LINE: Consumer spending in the US rose more than forecast in January, Bloomberg reported. The Fed’s favorite inflation gauge, the Core PCE, rose 2.2% from year ago levels. The 10-year TIPS spread, a good gauge of inflation expectations, is falling 8 basis points today to 2.39%. It has declined 17 basis points from its highs of two days ago at 2.56%. Personal incomes rose 4.9% from year ago levels. Spending on services, which account for about 60% of total spending, rose .4%. Private/Household Debt as a % of personal income continued its recent downtrend, falling to 21.1% from a high of 22.3% in August 2005. Consumers will likely take on more debt in the short term, which will help keep spending from slowing too much. Incomes will likely remain relatively healthy over the intermediate-term and inflation should decelerate meaningfully.

The Chicago Purchasing Manager Index fell more than economists expected in February, Bloomberg reported. The Prices Paid component fell to 79.4 from 81.7 the prior month. The New Orders component of the index rose to 48.8 from 44.7 the prior month. The Inventories component fell to 46.0 from 51.1 the prior month. I expect the Chicago PMI to bounce back next month on inventory rebuilding.

Consumer confidence fell less in February than previously though, Bloomberg reported. The Expectations component of the index fell to 62.4 from 68.1 the prior month. The Current Conditions component fell to 83.8 from 94.4 the prior month. Fed fund futures now imply a 44.0% chance for a 50 basis point cut at the March 18^th meeting. The odds for a 75 basis point cut are up to 56.0% today from 36.0% yesterday. As I said earlier, I suspect consumer confidence gauges are making major lows right now.

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

Large-cap Value -2.21%

Sector Underperformers:

Coal (-3.57%), Homebuilders (-3.44%) and Oil Service (-2.94%)

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:

TIE, DECK, CMED, GFIG, HANS, CAVM, HMSY, ADSK, DRQ, MSA, UNS, NFP, DF and MYE

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

Large-cap Growth (-1.75%)

Sector Outperformers:

Retail (-.53%), Restaurants (-.79%) and Medical Equipment (-.89%)

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

GXDX, JRJC, OVTI, ENOC, IART, SGMS, ESEA, GILD, LIHR, MGLN, AKAM, HWAY, ATAC, SIGM, FELE, GPS, INT, SWC, AWI, FCN, HLX, UHS and CTV