Reply #61: Closin' time and a whole lot of sheep calling goin' on in the blather

[54anickel]

Dow 10,796.01 +46.40 (+0.43%)
Nasdaq 2,076.66 +23.56 (+1.15%)
S&P 500 1,205.30 +8.29 (+0.69%)
10-yr Bond 4.095% +0.02
30-yr Bond 4.487% +0.02
NYSE Volume 1,560,985,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,166,635,000

Close: The market shrugged off early weakness and held broad-based gains into the close as a rising tide lifted most boats... Much like Wednesday's S&P futures-related sell off assigned the Nasdaq its second lowest daily performance in 2005, large S&P futures-relating buying, coupled with a unsubstantiated rumor that Kim Jong-Il was deposed in North Korea, helped light a fire under equities before noon and quickly reversed a modestly bearish bias, as all the major indices closed higher for the third week in a row...
The Dow closed at its highest level in 2005 and just 72 points from a 52-week high while the S&P inched closer to breakeven for the year and the Nasdaq finished just 100 points shy of its 2004 close... Stocks were under modest pressure out of the gate, however, in the wake of Dell's (DELL 39.97 -1.60) lower than expected Q1 sales outlook; but the news became arguably more company-specific as widespread buying returned and closed virtually every sector in positive territory...

Technology led the charge, spurred by a rally in semiconductor (+3.6%) based on expectations of an improving outlook for chip stocks, while news of Apple Computer's (AAPL 81.29 +2.93) first stock split (2-for-1) since June of 2000 also underpinned interest in tech... Advanced talks between Verizon (VZ 36.31 +0.27) and MCI (MCIP 20.75 +0.29), that could result in a formal deal by next week, renewed potential M&A activity among makers of telecom equipment (+1.4%)... Biotech (+2.0%) surged after an FDA official testified before Congress that Chiron (CHIR 35.50 +1.56) was "making progress" with flu-shot compliance while an upgrade on May Dept. Stores (MAY 32.06 +1.28) gave a boost to retail...

Also posting gains of around 1.0% were software, disk drive, health care and transportation while strength in the online brokerage space and insurance helped financial post solid gains... Energy closed modestly higher, despite crude oil prices ($47.16 +0.06) finishing relatively unchanged, as several leading oil & gas stocks again reached historic highs... Homebuilding (-1.1%) was the only major holdout after Smith Barney downgraded several leading names due to valuation concerns... Meanwhile, with no economic data to aggressively influence bonds in either direction, treasuries were rather quiet all day as the benchmark 10-year note closed unchanged yielding 4.09%...DJTA +1.3, DJUA -0.1, DOT +1.4, Nasdaq 100 +1.6, Russell 2000 +1.2, SOX +3.6, S&P Midcap 400 +1.0, XOI +0.8, NYSE Adv/Dec 2336/995, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2067/1060

Advances & Declines
NYSE Nasdaq
Advances 2326 (66%) 2050 (62%)
Declines 1006 (28%) 1055 (32%)
Unchanged 142 (4%) 154 (4%)

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Up Vol* 1178 (75%) 1600 (73%)
Down Vol* 342 (21%) 527 (24%)
Unch. Vol* 42 (2%) 37 (1%)

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New Hi's 294 101
New Lo's 18 65


and a quick last check on the buck:

Last trade 84.57 Change +0.06 (+0.07%)

Settle 84.57 Settle Time 15:39

Open 84.59 Previous Close 84.54

High 84.75 Low 84.42


edit to add:

Have a great weekend everyone! :hi: