Close Dow +111.70 at 10240.08, Nasdaq +40.82 at 1984.71, S&P +13.82 at 1120.60: Stocks reversed course and shot straight up after four days of hefty losses as traders took advantage of the recent price weakness... Just about every industry group was the recipient of buying activity with the most beaten down area - tech - finding the most interest... The sector capitalized off two separate upgrades (JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley) of Dell (DELL 33.00 +1.01) that helped reverse the recent downtrend and launch the Nasdaq 2.1% higher... The blue chip averages followed suit, although their gains were not nearly as robust... Basic material, broker/dealer, and transportation performed especially well, and offset mild selling pressure in gold and tobacco... The latter group stumbled on account of a Prudential downgrade of Altria Group (MO 54.42 -1.90) to Neutral-Weight from Overweight based on valuation... Economic reports were fairly numerous today, but did not attract much attention from traders... The Q4 Current Account Deficit unexpectedly narrowed to -$127.5 bln, January Business Inventories rose just 0.1% (consensus of 0.3%), and the March Consumer Sentiment index checked in at 94.1 (consensus of 95.0)... The bond market, conversely, lost ground in the session in response to its recent upswing, and the relief rally in equities... SOX +2.2... NYSE Adv/Dec 2388/931... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2329/831.
- 15:20 ET Treasuries push lower into close, eye stocks and ponder gold : The market fell off going into the close, contrary to what many had expected, which was a flight to quality-driven rally. The mantra of the day had been "no one wants to go home short," but if gold is any indication then safe-haven status has apparently become a muddied issue. Treasuries had spent the day in a very narrow range bouncing the 10-year between 3.681% and 3.758% as traders take off positions for the weekend on heightened terror conditions. The dollar and other "safe" currencies rallied as cash moved into perceived lower risk countries as a precautionary measure against weekend terror threats. The 10-year has not seen much of a correction of last Friday's rally, finishing the week a tenth of a basis point lower in yield. The tens are currently -17/32nds yielding 3.762%; twos are -03/32nds yielding 1.511%; threes -05/32nds yielding 1.907%; fives are -11/32nds yielding 2.723%; thirties are -24/32nds yielding 4.710%.
- 12:57 ET Floor Talk : In speaking with desks, the tone going into this weekend is cautiously optimistic. The fundamentals driven crowd has been anxiously awaiting a pullback in order to move money out of cash into stocks. In fact, this crowd has seemed to perk up more with each decline (notice the double upgrade of Dell today?). The technicians, on the other hand, have been bearish for a number of weeks (e.g., Briefing.com's Swing Trader column repeatedly has been an advocate of shorting tech into rallies over the past month)... Many traders are looking for recoveries above breakdown points before showing any commitment on the long side. Until that confirmation occurs, the thought is to short into rallies, take advantage of short-term oversold situations, and keep stops tight... This morning, talk of an explosion in
Turkey - 09:17 ET Gold Oil and Dollar Summary: The
Gold (400.50), usually considered a safe-haven for investors, remains little changed around the 400 range as the Dollar shrugged off terror fears. Speculators continue to focus on other metals like Palladium, Platinum, and Silver as they trade at multi-year highs.
Guy Boscart,