Weekly Investor – April 04, 2011
Steady as She Goes
Market Summary:
The major U.S. equity averages posted another week of solid gains across the board. Although situations are still developing in both Japan and the Middle East, the absence of significant bad news last week seemed to calm investors’ nerves. On the home front, a slew of merger activity, including the Nasdaq OMX Group joining the competition to acquire financial exchange leader NYSE Euronext, provided support to the market. Good news regarding the growth of private payrolls during March and a slight decline in the unemployment rate also contributed to the positive momentum for the week.
Over the past week, top-performing sectors in the S&P 500® Index included Telecommunications (+4.2%) and Industrials (+2.4%), while bottom-performing sectors included Technology (-0.1%) and Financials (+1.1%). In the fixed-income market, the 10-year Treasury remained level during the week with the yield ending at 3.5%.
We continue to seek those companies possessing identifiable catalysts, and focusing on those stocks with favorable odds.
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A Technology Leader
Intel Corp. (INTC) develops and manufactures semiconductor chips to be used in the technology and communications industries. INTC’s products, which include chips and boards, are integral components for computers, networking utilities, servers, handheld devices and additional consumer electronics. The company’s numerous products are integrated at various stages, thus allowing for advanced systems within the realm of computing and communication.
After aggressively revamping its research and development efforts, INTC regained market share from its rival, AMD. The company has also launched additional products to target high growth mobile markets including netbooks and smartphones. While INTC is certainly not immune to the economic downturn, we believe the company has the know-how and the resources to maintain its technology leadership position for the long-term and thus should outperform its peers and the market.
Top 10 Equity Holdings
| . | |
|---|---|
| Danaher Corp. | 4.1% |
| Google Inc. | 3.9% |
| Qualcomm Inc. | 3.8% |
| EMC Corp. | 3.6% |
| FactSet Research | 3.5% |
| Biogen Idec Inc. | 3.5% |
| Jabil Circuit Inc. | 3.4% |
| Oracle | 3.3% |
| Energizer Inc. | 3.3% |
| Maxim Integrated | 3.2% |
U.S. Equity Indices
| Index | 04/01/11 | Week % Chg | YTD % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|
| DJIA | 12,376.7 | 1.3% | 6.9% |
| NASDAQ | 2,789.6 | 1.7% | 5.2% |
| S&P 500 | 1,332.4 | 1.4% | 5.9% |
| Russell 1000 G | 610.1 | 1.6% | 6.2% |
U.S. Credit Rates
| Index | 04/01/11 | 03/25/11 | 12/31/10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Month T-Bill | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 5 Year T-Note | 2.3% | 2.2% | 2.0% |
| 10 Year T-Note | 3.5% | 3.5% | 3.3% |
| 30 Year T-Bond | 4.5% | 4.5% | 4.3% |
| Prime Rate | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.3% |
This newsletter presents selected recommendations from portfolio managers of Argent Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Opinions reflect the portfolio manager’s judgment on the date above and are subject to change. A list of stocks recommended by Argent is available upon request. You should not assume that these recommendations are or will be profitable. In the course of it’s business, Argent’s client accounts may be buying and selling these stocks.
