THE CLOSE

Markets finished near where they began with the DJIA a red 2, NAZ green by 8 and SPX a green 4 as it benefited from higher prices in the oil patch. For those who thought they missed a lot of trading this week, well not exactly as the DJIA had a range for the week of about 90, while the SPX had a range of 11. Again, that is for the week, so if low volatility begets high volatility, get some rest as the action next week should be volatile.

Strongest sectors today were oils, metals, gaming, homies, biotech, airlines and small caps while internets and tech lagged.

Market internals were very strong with the SPX showing about 330/170 winner to loser ratio while the OEX was even better with over 70 of the 100 issues closing in the green. The DJIA was clearly the weakest link with GE and IBM accounting for 35 points of the red action.

The OIH, which was very strong all day due to higher crude and excellent numbers from SLB, was pinned exactly at 132.36. Amazing, right between the two option strikes.

Biggest winners included COF SLB AA XLNX LRCX JOYG JDSU ADCT CNX while WMFI IBM TXT GE XMSR SIRI ROST RF and AXP were the biggest losers.

Revshark at realmoney.com had an article early this morning about the lack of participation by the small caps[ well the $RUT finished the day up .9%, and at its 50 day SMA, way outdoing the other major market indexes. It was also growth over value so maybe some higher prices next week.