Five Names To Watch

Gold was the only bright spot today. 
After
yesterday’s big move, June gold
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continued its move to the
upside. With the current tensions in the Middle East and Japan’s recent economic
slowdown, many investors have flocked to gold. June Gold affects the movement of
the PHLX Gold & Silver Index
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and some of the gold mining
stocks, such as Anglogold
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, Barrick Gold
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.  Newmont
Mining
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and Placer Dome
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.  June gold looks to be forming a cup-and-handle
pattern on the daily chart. Resistance is at 305.00. June gold
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on Comex was 50 cents higher at $303.00 an ounce.

Other precious metals were mixed. May silver
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closed lower down 4.50 cents to trade at $4.58. May copper
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closed at 72.30 down .15.

Stocks tumbled today after disappointing
quarterly results for General Electric
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doused the hopes for a robust
recovery in corporate profits.

A downgrade for Yahoo
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and reports of an SEC investigation at
IBM
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exacerbated the decline.

The June Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
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sank 217.000,
or 2.09%, to 10170.00 after jumping on Wednesday. It was the worst decline in
the Dow industrials since February 4, when the blue-chip indicator sank 220.17
to 9687.09.

Meanwhile, the June Nasdaq 100
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continued its decline to
34.00, or 2.49%, to 1331.50.

The June S&P 500 futures
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closed at 1103.900 down 28.100 or 2.48%. This level is below the 1104.00
support.

Oil futures dropped sharply Thursday after the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries hinted that it might boost production if prices continue to
spike.

May crude-oil futures
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fell 1.14 or 4.36% in trading to
$24.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May unleaded
gasoline
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shed 4.57 cents or 5.48% to 78.87 cents a gallon;
May natural gas
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slid 8 cents to $3.103 per million British
thermal units and May heating oil
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was down 3.13 cents or
4.61% to 64.71 cents a gallon.

Prices slid after many Gulf states took action to reassure the market. OPEC said
Thursday that it might mull an output hike should oil prices continue to rise.
OPEC Secretary General Ali Rodriguez also said that Iran and Libya have
officially stated they won’t participate in Iraq’s oil embargo.

Grain and soybean futures trickled lower on the Chicago Board of Trade,
pressured in part by weak export sales. Corn continued its downtrend today
slipping below the $2-a-bushel mark after the U.S. Department of Agriculture
reported that net corn export sales were down 54% from the previous week. May
corn
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ended down 1cent to $1.98 3/4. Wheat for May
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delivery fell to $2.70 3/4 a bushel down 1 3/4; May soybeans
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fell to $4.58 1/4 a bushel.