Indices
Dow + 62.74 at 10,489.94  -   Nasdaq + 26.58 at 2,062.41  -  S&P 500 + 9.91 at 1,181.27 

Market Wrap
(From Briefing):

The market opened on an upbeat note, in the wake of successful elections in Iraq, large M&A deals, respectable earnings and encouraging economic data, and maintained the bulk of its gains to keep nearly every sector well in positive territory... A better than expected 60-75% Iraqi voter turnout that passed without a considerable increase in violence laid the foundation for buyers in the early going... Also lending to an improved underlying sentiment was SBC Communications' (SBC 23.85 +0.23) confirmation that it will spend roughly $16 bln to buy former parent company AT&T (T 19.22 -0.49)... Further suggesting the strong financial health of the US economy was MetLife's (MET 39.79 -0.15) proposed $12 bln bid for Citigroup's Travelers Life & Annuity Co. (C 49.10 +0.72), Lee Enterprises' (LEE 44.52 +0.61) plans to buy Pulitzer (PTZ 63.45 +0.55) for $1.5 bln and a $15 bln joint bid between Time Warner (TWX 18.00 +0.07) and Comcast (CMCSA 32.19 -0.07) to acquire bankrupt cable operator Adelphia... Airline (+2.3%) paced the way to the upside following some positive remarks from Merrill Lynch, which helped transportation touch two-week highs... Semiconductor (+1.1%), following an SIA report that showed global chip sales reached a record $213 bln in 2004, helped technology maintain broad-based strength, while financial also surged, assisted in part by Marsh & McLennan's (MMC 32.48 +1.39) $850 mln settlement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer... Also showing strength were retail, materials, utility, biotech and energy... The latter, which was under pressure early on, following a 2.0% sell off in oil prices after reports showed no pipeline disruptions over the weekend and OPEC's decision to maintain its current rate of oil production at 27 mln barrels a day, recovered lost ground as crude-oil futures ($48.20/bbl +$1.02) rebounded... But not even a late 2.2% rebound in the commodity was enough to remove an underlying positive bias that kept market internals firmly bullish from start to finish... Homebuilding had been weak following Dec New Home Sales that came in slightly below forecasts (1.09 mln units versus consensus of 1.2 mln), but found renewed buying interest in afternoon trading... Other notable economic news included Jan Chicago PMI, which showed Midwest manufacturing activity expanded for the 21st consecutive month with a better than expected read of 62.4 (consensus 59.8)... Dec personal income (3.7% versus consensus 3.3%) and consumption (0.8% versus 0.9%) figures came in as expected while better than expected quarterly results from blue chips like XOM, MWV and VC helped offset disappointments from WYE, SYY and TSN... Worse than expected Q4 earnings and an FY05 profit warning from drug maker Wyeth (WYE 39.68 -3.30), due in large part to $4.5 bln in additional litigation reserves, kept pharmaceutical (-0.5%) under pressure most of the day... Treasuries, which were under modest pressure early on following generally positive economic data, turned around in late trading and close slightly positive... The benchmark 10-year note closed up 3 ticks yielding 4.12%...NYSE Adv/Dec 2566/792...NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2258/872.

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Today's Picks - February 01, 2005

1.   BTU - Peabody Energy

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
02-01		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open do not enter the trade unless it trades above 85.17

2.   VLO - Valero Energy

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
02-01		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open do not enter the trade unless it trades above 52.18

3.   CMC - Commercial Metals

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
02-01		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open do not enter the trade unless it trades above 29.10

4.   NX - Quanex

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
02-01		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open do not enter the trade unless it trades above 52.92

5.   ATVI - Activision

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
02-01		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open do not enter the trade unless it trades above 22.67

6.   PDCO - Patterson Companies

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
02-01		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open do not enter the trade unless it trades above 46.61

7.   FO - Fortune Brands

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
02-01		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open do not enter the trade unless it trades above 84.00

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EOD = End of day.
LOD = Low of day.
PDC = Previous Day's Close.
S/R = Support/Resistance.
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