Dow + 133.23    I  Nasdaq + 8.99    I  S&P 500 + 12.39    

Market Wrap
(Briefing):

There was a lot of green on stock monitors Thursday thanks to the leadership of blue chip issues, which drafted off reassuring announcements from McDonald's (MCD 54.30, +3.10) and Countrywide (CFC 18.93, +2.31), and brokerage upgrades of General Motors (GM 33.29, +3.04) and Merck (MRK 49.86, +0.19).

The jump in stock prices came in the face of a new record close for oil prices, which were down modestly most of the day before getting an upside push late in the session to close at $80.09 (+$0.19) per barrel.

The transportation stocks weren't derailed by the move in oil prices; in fact, they were among Thursday's best performers as evidenced by the 1.3% gain in the Dow Jones Transportation Average.

Thursday's session was mostly a blue chip affair as a weakening dollar sparked buying interest in multinational companies while an underlying sense of angst ahead of next week's FOMC meeting left participants favoring liquid, large-cap names.

McDonald's led the Dow's winning effort as investors charged into the stock after the company announced a 50% increase in its annual cash dividend to $1.50 per share. General Motors was close behind as it surged on a Citigroup upgrade to Buy and reports that the UAW is close to agreeing to a union-controlled health care trust fund that would create a good deal of expense relief for the auto makers.

Speaking of relief, Countrywide investors got some with the news that the mortgage lender was able to secure an additional $12 billion in borrowing capacity through new and existing credit facilities. That announcement gave Countrywide's stock a much needed lift and it helped spur a bargain hunting bid in the financial sector (+1.6%), which was Thursday's best-performing area.

Quality sector leadership was a key reason why sellers didn't make many waves Thursday. It was noteworthy, though, that the tech sector (+0.05%) trailed the action. A revenue warning from Alcatel-Lucent (ALU 9.16, -0.88) and an underperforming semiconductor group were largely to blame.

For the most part, the market was focused on all things positive Thursday, including a better than expected initial claims report and word from Target (TGT 64.42, +1.70) that it is considering the sale of its credit card receivables.

The Treasury market for its part didn't have much to focus on that was positive. Selling was seen across the yield curve as the rally in stocks led to an unwinding of flight-to-quality trades and possibly some asset re-allocation. The 10-year note dropped 17 ticks, bringing its yield up to 4.48%.

Volume in the equity market was again on the light side, which has been the case throughout the week. The low volume Thursday was attributed in part to the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

Looking to Friday there is nothing of note on the earnings calendar. Economic data, however, will be a focal point as the release of the retail sales and industrial production reports for August carry market-moving potential.

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

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Today's Picks - September 14 2007

1.   HCBK - Hudson City Bancorp

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
09-14-07		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 14.59

2.   FCX - Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
09-14-07		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 96.47

3.   PAYX - Paychex Inc

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
09-14-07		Short	Below 15 low	Cover 1/2 once risk covered	Above HOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps up at the open do not enter the trade unless it trades below 42.92

Previous Trades

EQIX - Equinix Inc

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* did not setup

TMO - Thermo Fisher Scientific

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
09-13-07		Long	56.06	Reached (56.26)	Below 56.06	up to + 53 cents per share (56.59)

JEC - Jacobs Engineering Group

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
09-13-07		Long	70.07	Reached (70.39)	Below 70.07	up to + $1.22 per share (71.29)

CAM - Cameron International

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
09-12-07		Long	87.74	88.84	Below 87.00	up to + 80 cents per share (88.54)
	* 09-13-07 - stock gapped down

SMTC - Semtech

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
09-12-07		Long	18.63	Reached (18.75)	Below 18.86	up to + 77 cents per share (19.40)
	* 09-13-07 - stock gapped down

AKS - AK Steel Holding

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
09-10-07	09-13-07	Short	38.68	Reached (37.76)	Closed Above 38.69	up to + $1.50 per share (37.18)
	* 09-10-07 - stock gapped up. * 09-11-07 - the stock gapped up past our stop at the open forcing us to set an emergency stop just above 39.40 (15min high). The emergency stop held, keeping us in the trade.

ICE - IntercontinentalExchange Inc

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
09-06-07		Short	140.03	Reached (138.04)	Above 132.53	up to + $11.53 per share (128.50)
	* 09-06-07 - stock gapped up