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Dow + 21.06 at 10,833.03  -   Nasdaq - 9.10 at 2,058.40  -  S&P 500 + 0.39 at 1,210.47 

Market Wrap
(Briefing):

Despite another surge in oil prices, blue chips found modest buying interest amid encouraging economic data and strong retail comps, while weakness in chips kept tech under pressure... Most signs early on pointed toward a healthy rebound for stocks, as the majority of catalysts were upbeat... U.S. workers were more productive than economists expected last quarter, as an upward revision in Q4 productivity to 2.1%, versus consensus of 1.5% and a prior read of +0.8%, eased inflation concerns... Initial jobless claims fell to 310K, in line with forecasts and below 315K for the fourth straight week, pushing the four-week average to its lowest level (307K) since Oct 2000 and suggesting fewer layoffs... Then, the Feb ISM non-manufacturing index showed a rebound in business activity when it checked in at a strong 59.8 (consensus 60.0), as new orders rose to their highest levels (61.6) since Oct and the employment component jumped to a record high (59.6)... While the employment component didn't provide much accuracy in estimating payroll growth, which will be out Friday morning (8:30 ET), the record high did underscore improving labor conditions so far in 2005... Couple those data with better than expected Feb same store sales from more than 80% of retailers and stable oil prices in the early going, and the underlying sentiment was bullish... But when crude oil futures surged past $54/bbl due to disruptions at U.S. refineries and gasoline shortages, and then briefly surpassed $55/bbl following comments from OPEC's Secretary-General regarding $80/bbl oil over the next two years, broad-based selling took its toll on virtually every sector... A sharp pull back in oil prices to below $54/bbl ($53.57/bbl +$0.52) late in the day, however, lent enough support to renew interest in blue chips, as the Dow led the major indices to the upside... Energy (+1.3%), however, took full advantage of higher oil and retained much of its gains on the day... The sector also got a boost after reports suggested that ChevronTexaco (CVX 61.20 -0.37) may be in the market to acquire Unocal Corp (UCL 59.86 +6.36)...pharmaceutical (+0.6%) was strong, led by gains in AstraZeneca (AZN 41.39 +1.43) which surged after the FDA approved labeling revisions for its statin drug Crestor... Retail, despite closing slightly lower was a focal point all day, led by strong gains in Wal-Mart (WMT 52.84 +0.89)... The retailing giant grew Feb comps 4.1% (it's largest monthly rise since May), guided similar or better growth for March comps and also increased in its annual dividend 15.4%... Dept. stores (i.e. KSS, DDS), sellers of specialty apparel (i.e. ARO, BEBE) and drug retailers (i.e. CVS) all surged as the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) showed Feb comps rose 4.4% (consensus 3.3%)... Broad-based selling in semiconductor (-2.0%), spurred by downbeat analyst comments concerning sharp declines in memory chip prices and depressed demand, carried over into every other area of technology except storage... Homebuilding, despite better than expected Q1 EPS and guidance from Hovnanian (HOV 56.44 +0.97), also lost ground while profit taking pressured biotech and financial was weak across the board... Treasurys, which maintained modest buying interest early on, traded in rather tight ranges most of the session ahead of Friday's employment report, as the 10-year note finished off 1 tick to yield 4.38%... The dollar, however, strengthened against the euro (1.3108) and the yen (105.33), sending gold futures ($430.80/oz. -$3.00) in the opposite direction...NYSE Adv/Dec 1756/1532...NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1457/1649.

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Trade system guidelines (edited):
Only available to Newsletter Subscribers.

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Today's Picks - March 04, 2005

1.   HXL - Hexcel

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
03-04		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 17.19

2.   NSC - Norfolk

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
03-04		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 36.86

3.   CSX - CSX Corp

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
03-04		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 42.42

4.   APD - Air Products & Chem

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
03-04		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 64.20

5.   FOX - Fox Entertainment

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
03-04		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 35.28

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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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