MARKET COMMENT
January 17, 2007

Like I said over the weekend and yesterday, “patience thru
this week is paramount”.
The theme for
2007 has been to sell energy and buy tech.
That’s been working out until today as a combination of bad news hit the
markets with Producer Prices rising, Intel’s poor earnings and then a positive
Beige Book report that killed for “today” chances of an interest rate cut.
Crude oil rallied, bonds fell and tech
reversed course.
Inside the numbers, the advance/decline data wasn’t as bad
as we might have thought.

However, as we’ve been repeatedly noting the drag in tech
has been semi’s.
The pummeling Intel and Advanced Micro Devices have taken has exacerbated
the problem.


Still in tech AAPL reports tonight and the earnings just
came thru well ahead of expectations so…



I combed thru the earnings release for Lennar
Homes as stated on MarketWatch here
and read it a few times but couldn’t see much good news for the stock to be up
4%, can you?


In commodity markets, grains led by corn [think ethanol] and
less so by wheat [massive drought in Australia] are driving prices
higher.
DBC has some of each as
components while DBA [Deutsche Bank PowerShares
Agricultural ETF] also features both as constituents.

In the meantime, with few exceptions, overseas markets
remain more upbeat.





Tomorrow there will be more data and options expiration
begins Thursday and ends Friday.
Expect
more not less volatility so patience is required more than ever.
Have a pleasant evening.
Disclaimer:
Among
other issues, the ETF Digest maintains positions in: IGN, GLD, DBA, EFA, EEM,
FXI, ILF and INP.