EARLY AFTERNOON

The NAZ and the tech brethren continue to act poorly and I suspect they have taken a little steam out of the major market indexes. NAZ internals have also turned flat and NYSE internals are green by 800 issues which is down from the 1,300 earlier.

Sector outperformers are airlines, consumers, banks, retailers, defense and internets, while semis and techs continue to lag. Metals have come back a bit while oils have sold off from the morning highs. The DJIA is still looking to be the best of the major indexes with twenty four winners and six losers. The losers, not surprisingly, include HPQ INTC MMM and IBM.

Briefing.com has picked up some research on the oils from Oppenheimer and I find it kind of interesting being a long term/long time energy bull:

"Oppenheimer remains positive on oil and gas stocks as they believe their upside potential is greater than the downside risk from a sharp drop in oil and gas prices or refining margins, which they expect to remain volatile, but fluctuate in ranges above historical levels. While there is no shortage of crude oil or refined products, most of the new world oil supply is heavy sour crude, which is straining world refining capacity and widening the light-heavy spread to record levels.

Firm expects the differential to continue for several years, which should bode well for refining margins, profits, and stock prices. Firm thinks the industry long-term outlook is very favorable and investors could benefit from the price volatility. Active investors can maximize returns buying on dips and selling on spikes, while long-term investors should add to their positions on a meaningful pullback."

OK, sounds good and bullish for my friends at FTO VLO SUN etc.

I don't have much of a feel for the afternoon trade so basically sitting it out and waiting for better clues.