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Wednesday's US Market Wrap

Mar 22 2006, 18:39 by: SA Editors

From Between the Hedges:

Stocks Finish at Session Highs on Above-average Volume


Indices
S&P 500 1,305.04 +.60%
DJIA 11,317.43 +.73%
NASDAQ 2,303.35 +.40%
Russell 2000 744.85 +1.19%
Wilshire 5000 13,131.13 +.64%
S&P Barra Growth 615.68 +.49%
S&P Barra Value 685.99 +.72%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 617.31 +.64%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 810.97 +.96%
Morgan Stanley Technology 537.21 +.07%
Transports 4,614.94 +1.18%
Utilities 401.30 +.56%
Put/Call .97 +2.11%
NYSE Arms .83 -14.33%
Volatility(VIX) 11.21 -3.53%
ISE Sentiment 157.00 -7.10%
US Dollar 89.73 +.12%
CRB 320.27 -.77%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 62.12 +.57%
Unleaded Gasoline 174.15 +.29%
Natural Gas 7.0 +.75%
Heating Oil 174.67 +.09%
Gold 550.90 -.15%
Base Metals 172.29 -.26%
Copper 233.90 unch.
10-year US Treasury Yield 4.69% -.38%

Leading Sectors
Airlines +2.83%
Drugs +2.01%
I-Banks +1.03%

Lagging Sectors
Gold & Silver -.01%
Broadcasting -.14%
Computer Hardware -.24%

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
Oppenheimer:
- Rated QCOM Buy, target $60.

Afternoon/Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed confidence that American diplomats will settle differences with China and Russia on a UN statement intended to persuade Iran to rein in its nuclear program.
- The American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU) filed suit seeking to overturn a US law that makes students ineligible for federally backed college loans once they have been convicted on a drug charge.
- Chinese President Hu Jintao and President Bush will discuss the fight against terrorism and halting the spread of nuclear weapons when they meet April 20 in Washington.
- Humans with H5N1 avian influenza evidently can’t spread the virus easily through coughing and sneezing, scientists said.

BOTTOM LINE: The tone of the market was positive today as the advance/decline line finished higher, almost every sector rose and volume was above-average. Measures of investor anxiety were mixed into the close. Overall, today's market performance was bullish. The major averages are up between 5%-10% for the year already and most of my positive catalysts haven't even occurred. Given the skepticism regarding this rally, I expect any pullbacks to be relatively muted on the way to substantial gains for the year. I still expect the S&P 500 to return around 15% for the year.