Market Commentary for March 01, 2007

The markets reversed on their trend today from the attempted rebound of yesterday’s session. The red zone was the place to be for the major indices through out the session. Trading volume was heavy today amidst the follow through down draft that occurred two days ago. The DOW made a nice rebound off the days lows of over 200 points during the trading session. 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 34.29 points to end the session at 12234.34; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) moved lower by 50.27 points to end at 9074.27; the NASDAQ moved lower by 11.94 points to close at 2404.21; the S&P 500 moved lower by 3.65 points to end at 1403.17 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved lower by 2.27 points to close at 791.03. 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 lower by 1.18 to close at 238.05 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 moved lower by 15.30 points to close at 5907.04.

Economic data released for the day:

Challenger Job-Cut Report: Corporate layoffs comprised in a monthly, not seasonally adjusted report which indicates a trend in the labor market. Announced Layoffs came in at 84,014 for February 2007.

Jobless Claims: A weekly compilation of new unemployment claims to show the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. The condition of the labor market is determined by an increase of the number of claims which suggests a deteriorating labor market. U.S. Jobless Claims rose by 7,000 to 338K for week of February 24th compared to survey of a drop by 7,000; U.S. Continuing Claims hit their highest level since December 2005 and U.S. Continuing Claims for week of February 17th rose by 134K to 2,640,000.

Personal Income and Outlays: Personal Income, received from all sources by individuals, is the dollar amount of income. Personal Outlays include purchase by consumers for both durable and non-durable goods and services. U.S. Personal Income rose by 1.0% in January compared to consensus of an increase by 0.3%; U.S. Personal Spending rose by 0.5% in January compared to consensus of an increase by 0.4%; January PCE Price Index excluding Food and excluding Energy rose at a rate of 2.3% versus a year ago; January PCE Price Index excluding Food and excluding Energy rose at a rate of 0.3% versus a month ago; December Spending was left Unrevised at an increase by 0.7% and December Personal Income was left Unrevised at an increase by 0.5%.

Construction Spending: New construction activity on residential, non-residential and public projects measured in dollar value which is available in nominal and inflation adjusted dollars. U.S. Construction Spending fell by 0.8% in January compared to consensus of a drop by 0.4% and December Construction Spending was revised to an increase by 0.6% from a drop by 0.4%.

ISM Manufacturing Survey: Compiled from approximately 400 manufacturing firms on inventories, employment, production supplier deliveries and new orders. Includes export orders, import orders backlog orders as well as, prices paid for raw and unfinished materials. Institute for Supply Management reported the ISM Manufacturing Survey: concern over prices 'still minimal'; February was 'a good month' for factories; February Manufacturing Business Index came in at 52.3 versus January reading of 49.3; February Manufacturing Business Index was expected at 50; February Prices Index came in at 59.0 versus January reading of 53.0; February Employment Index came in at 51.1 versus January reading of 49.5; February New Orders Index came in at 54.9 versus January reading of 50.3; February Production Index came in at 54.1 versus January reading of 49.6 and February Inventories came in at 44.6 versus January reading of 39.9.

EIA Natural Gas Report: Weekly information provided by the EIA (Energy Information Administration) on natural gas stock piles in underground storage in the United States and three regions of the country. Prices for natural gas products are determined by the level of inventories. Natural Gas Inventory fell by 132 Bcf to 1733 Bcf; analysts were expecting a draw of 142 Bcf ranging from a draw of 115-165 Bcf.

On the commodities markets, the trend was mostly higher across the board again today for the Energy sector: Light crude moved higher by $0.25 again today to close at $62.00 a barrel; Heating Oil closed with no change again today at $1.78 a gallon; Natural Gas moved lower by $0.01 to end the day at $7.29 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas closed higher by $0.04 again today to end the session at $1.91 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session mostly lower across the board yet again today: Gold moved lower by $7.40 to close at $665.10 an ounce; Silver closed lower today by $0.59 at $13.65 an ounce; Platinum moved lower today by $11.20 to close at $1,245.20 an ounce and Copper ended the day with no change at $2.75 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly lower across the board today: Lean Hogs closed lower by 1.63 to close at 66.13 Pork Bellies ended the day lower by 1.00 to close at 104.10; Live Cattle closed lower by 0.90 to end the day at 96.15 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by 0.03 to close at 105.98.

Other Commodities: Corn moved lower today by 7.50 points to end at 428.00 and Soybeans moved strongly lower today by 25.50 to close at 762.00.

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 7,802,138 Open Interest for Futures moved lower by 82,843 to close at 9,383,496 and the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 272,963 to close at 6,503,534 for a total Open Interest of 15,888,480 for a total gain on the day by 190,120.

Bonds were higher across the board today: 2 year bond closed higher by 2/32 at 100 8/32; 5 year bond closed higher by 3/32 at 100 17/32; 10 year bond closed higher by 3/32 at 100 17/32 and the 30 year bond closed higher by 1/32 at 101 4/32.

The mini Dow ended the session today with a loss of 24 to close at 12250. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 262,227 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: Laboratory Corporation of America (LH) plummeted by 9.51 points to shed 11.94% for a closing price at $70.17; iShares Silver Trust (SLV) fell 5.85 points to close at $135.40; Rio Tinto Plc (RTP) fell 5.15 points for a closing price of $211.51; NCI Building Systems Incorporated (NCS) moved sharply lower by 11.09% to give up 6.20 points for a closing price of $49.71 and Valhi Incorporated (VHI) rallied higher by 39.70% to gain 8.90 points to end at $31.32 for the day.

On the NASDAQ today, advancers came in at 1,052; decliners totaled 2,005; unchanged came in at 130; new highs came in at 39 and new lows came in at 108. Gainers and losers for the day on the NASDAQ:

Hyperion Solutions Corporation (HYSL) rallied higher by 8.72 points to tack on a gain of 20.35% to close at $51.56 on the day; PharmaNet Development Group Incorporated (PDGI) moved higher by 3.89 points for a gain of 19.14% to close on the day at $24.21; Horizon Offshore Incorporated (HOFF) fell by 2.58 points to give up 15.56% for a closing price at $14.00; Dealer Track Holdings Incorporated (TRAK) gained 3.66 points on the day to close at $32.61 and TeleTech Holdings Incorporated (TTEC) gained 3.42 points for a closing price of $34.90.

Thanks for reading.
Millennium-Traders