Lehigh Upends Apple Cart;Market Smiles

The Lehigh University Mountain Hawks dismissed the expert opinion Friday evening when they handled the Duke Blue Devils 75-70 at the NCAA college basketball tournament at Greensboro,North Carolina.Lehigh,the number 15 seed,upended number 2-ranked Duke's apple cart with strong defensive play and a superior proficiency in 3-point shots of 33.3% versus 23.1%.The two teams had identical regular season records of 27-7.
Also sustained by the performance of number 5 NCAA scorer C.J. McCollum's 30 points,the Mountain Hawks gave the entire Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania one of the happiest memories of their lives.They also greatly pleased University of North Carolina fans who loudly cheered them on,detesting rival Duke University's team.
Lehigh coach Brett Reed said they ignored the prognosticators and just believed in themselves.Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski felt that his team wasn't a juggernaut.In fact,they hadn't been doing well offensively the last few weeks of the season.
It wasn't just our doing,he added-they played that well.
The stock market also excelled this week,with the S&P 500 Index posting a weekly gain of 2.43% on a decline in new filings for jobless benefits,as well as solid manufacturing reports.On the year,the S&P is up 11.65%.
Next week,the market will evaluate housing numbers,plus earnings reports from General Mills,Oracle and FedEx.The S&P futures tacked on 2.50 Friday evening,while bond index futures slipped in price.
General Mills(GIS),Oracle(ORCL),FedEx(FDX)

Tech Titans' Blowout Quarters

Strong earnings reports from tech titans Research In Motion and Oracle kept the market above water this week.Both companies beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines.The market dwelt on that,and brushed aside poor manufacturing results from the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve banks,as well as a low consumer confidence reading.The Federal Reserve's Open Market Commitee meeting next week will not be so easy to cloak,should it say anything unsettling to traders.
The Philadelphia Phillies weren't cloaking anything tonight,creaming the Washinton Nationals 9-1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.As Atlanta topped New York 6-4,the Phils stay at 3 games ahead in the National League East.In golf,England's John Parry led the Austrian Open,shooting a 67 for eight under par after the second round at the Diamond Country Club.Three players shared second place at -7,including U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland.
Stock futures were flat to modestly higher this evening,and bond futures dipped.

Tech Sector Leading

The S&P futures were up 1.4 tonight,while the Dow futures were down 1.0,and the NASDAQ futures were up 17.0.Only the NASDAQ had a positive week,rising 0.98.Oracle and Research In Motion posted strong quarters,with growth on both the top and bottom lines.Commodities futures were up across the board this evening.At this point,the shortened week ahead looks promising for investors-especially tech investors.Tech could well lead the way the remainder of the year.It's earning it's leadership.Retail can only hope that shoppers will go online this weekend,since a major east coast snow storm will cost them brick and mortar sales.This can't be emphasized enough at this critical time in the holiday cycle.