Daily Market Commentary 1571

The markets got the week off on a down note as a majority of the major indices were controlled by the Bears on this trading day. At the end of the trading day, here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) moved lower today by 15.22 points to end the session at 12632.26; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) moved higher by just 0.81 points to end at 9421.01; the NASDAQ moved lower by 10.58 points to close at 2504.52; the S&P 500 moved lower by 1.82 points to end at 1449.37 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved lower by 2.95 points to close at 823.69.
The FTSE All-World Index ex-US (top Large/Mid Cap aggregate from over 2,700 stocks from the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS) which covers 90% of the worlds investable market capitalization) moved higher by 0.36 to close at 248.10 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 moved lower by 2.26 to end at 6098.57 for the day.

Federal Reserve Board Member, Susan Schmidt Bies commented today: Fed is sympathetic to big banks' Basel II concerns; Basel II ambiguity to be addressed by regulators; banking committee workload reassigned next week; sub-prime market very small section of healthy mortgage market and sees no big impact on mortgage market from sub-prime woes.

Dallas Fed February Manufacturing Production Index came in at 18.1 compared to January reading of 13.8 and Dallas Fed February Business Activity came in at 26.0 compared to January reading of 4.7.

For the NASDAQ markets during the month of January 2007 for the 20 trading days, we saw an average daily share volume of 1,632,388,638 and an average daily dollar exchange of $41,407,581,655.95.

Top ten largest percentage decreases for the NASDAQ as of today, include the following: October 19.1987 a drop by 11.35%; April 14, 2000 a drop by 9.66%; October 20, 1987 a drop by 9%; October 26, 1987 a drop by 9%; August 31, 1998 a drop by 8.56%; April 3, 2000 a drop by 7.64%; January 2, 2001 a drop by 7.23%; April 12, 2000 a drop by 7.06% and October 27, 1997 a drop by 7.02%.

Economic data released for the day: N/A

On the commodities markets, the trend was quiet across the board today for the Energy sector: Light crude moved higher by $0.25 to close at $61.39 a barrel; Heating Oil closed with no change at $1.75 a gallon; Natural Gas moved lower by $0.10 to end the day at $7.70 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas closed higher by $0.01 again today to end the session at $1.78 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session higher across the board again today: Gold moved higher by $3.10 to close at $689.80 an ounce; Silver closed higher by $0.10 at $14.83 an ounce; Platinum moved higher today by $4.40 to close at $1,242.00 an ounce and Copper ended the day higher by $0.02 to close at $2.87 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly higher across the board today: Lean Hogs closed higher by 0.13 to close at 66.88 Pork Bellies ended the day lower by 0.28 to close at 104.30; Live Cattle closed higher by 1.13 to end the day at 97.30 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by 1.88 to close at 103.80.

Other Commodities: Corn moved lower today by 4.00 points to end at 438.50 and Soybeans moved higher today by 0.50 to close at 794.50.

The end of day results for the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) which is comprised of the total Exchange Volume for Futures and Options (EVFO) including Electronic, Open Auction and Cash Exchange ended the day at 6,191,886 Open Interest for Futures moved lower by 107,192 to close at 9,503,770 and the Open Interest for Options moved lower by 1,063,161 to close at 5,760,115 for a total Open Interest of 15,265,335 for a total loss on the day by 1,170,257.

Bonds were higher across the board yet again today: 2 year bond closed higher by 3/32 at 99 31/32; 5 year bond closed higher by 6/32 at 100 1/32; 10 year bond closed higher by 12/32 at 99 31/32 and the 30 year bond closed higher by 24/32 at 100 9/32.

The mini Dow ended the session today with a loss of 9 to close at 12655. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 92,267 which are comprised of Electronic, Open Auction and Cash Exchange. Traders should review workshops available at the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) Educational in-person seminars schedules available on CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) website.

New York Stock Exchange movers for the day: Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings (CME) moved lower by 8.25 points for a closing price at $536.59; International Exchange Incorporated (ICE) fell by 4.73 points to end at $157.21 for the day; Hub International Limited (HBG) made a nice run today with a gain by 5.10 points to tack on 14.79% for the day to close at $39.59; Station Casinos Incorporated (STN) climbed by 3.20 points for a closing price of $86.50 and TXU Corporation (TXU) rallied higher by 13.18% to gain 7.91 points for a closing price at $67.93.

On the NASDAQ today, advancers came in at 1,224; decliners totaled 1,796; unchanged came in at 149; new highs came in at 156 and new lows came in at 32. Gainers and losers for the day on the NASDAQ: Force Protection Incorporated (FRPT) fell by 14.53% to shed 2.89 points for a close at $17.00; Wynn Resorts Limited (WYNN) moved lower by 3.43 points for a closing price of $100.38; Double Eagle Petroleum Company (DBLE) fell by 2.03 points to close at $18.36 for the day and Huron Consulting Group Incorporated (HURN) gave up 1.19 points to end at $63.96.

Thanks for reading.
Millennium-Traders