Market Commentary for April 25, 2007

The markets were clearly controlled by the Bulls today with the major indices climbing higher through out the trading session. Trading volume was moderate to heavy with the north bound trend producing a nice amount of higher highs today. At the closing bell, here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) moved nicely higher by 135.95 points to end the session at 13,089, hitting the 13,000 mark for the first time ever; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) posted a gain of 98.07 points to end at 9,746.57; the NASDAQ posted a gain of 23.35 points today for a close at 2,547.89; the S&P 500 moved higher by 15.01 points to end at 1,495.42 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved higher by 5.71 points to close at 832.07. 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 1.79 to close at 255.95 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 closed higher by 59.85 at 6,275.34.

Economic data released for the day:

MBA Purchase Applications: Compilation from the Mortgage Bankers’ Association of various mortgage loan indexes. This data is the leading indicator for single-family home sales as well as, housing construction. Released for today: U.S. MBA Refinancing Index rises 3.6% to 2081.6 from 2008.4; U.S. MBA Purchase Index rises 3.7% to 411 from 396.5 and U.S. MBA Market Index rises 3.6% to 653.3 from 630.6.

Durable Goods Orders: Reflecting new orders with domestic manufactures for immediate and future delivery of factory hard goods. U.S. March Durable Goods Orders rose by 3.4% compared to consensus of an increase by 2.7%; March Durable Goods Orders, Excluding Transportation rose by 1.5%; March Durable Goods Orders, Excluding Defense rose by 4.5% and February Durable Goods Orders was revised to an increase by 2.4% from an increase by 1.7%.

New Home Sales: Number of newly constructed homes with a committed sale, for the month. The economic momentum and consumer purchases of furniture and appliances helps determine the housing market trends for, new home sales. March New Home Sales rose by 2.6% to 858,000 compared to consensus of 890,000 and U.S. February New Home Sales was revised to 836,000 from 848,000.

EIA Petroleum Status Report: EIA (Energy Information Administration) provides weekly petroleum inventories in the United States whether they are produced here or abroad. Prices for petroleum products are determined by the level of inventories. Department of Energy reported today: U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles fell by 2.8 Million Barrels in the week compared to estimates of an increase by 200,000; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles remained unchanged in the week compared to estimates of an increase by 400,000; U.S. Refineries ran at 87.8% capacity, was seen higher by 0.5 percent at 90.9% and U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles rose by 2.1 Million Barrels in the week compared to estimates of a drop by 1.2 Million Barrels.

Beige Book: The Beige Book is a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions from each of the 12 Federal Reserve districts. Notes from the Beige Book released today: commercial real estate 'continued to be active'; most districts saw homebuilding decrease; manufacturing 'slow,' but services better; labor markets 'tight,' retail sales positive; several districts saw only modest wage gains; consumer prices 'remained generally stable' and 'only' modest, moderate economy in most areas.

On the commodities markets, the trend was higher across the board today for the Energy sector: Light crude moved higher by $1.26 today to close at $65.84 a barrel; Heating Oil moved higher by $0.05 to close at $1.90 a gallon; Natural Gas closed higher by $0.07 at $7.78 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas closed higher by $0.07 today at $2.28 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session mixed across the board today: Gold moved lower by $0.30 to close at $687.40 an ounce; Silver moved lower today by $0.02 to end the session at $13.90 an ounce; Platinum moved higher today by $5.70 to close at $1,317.20 an ounce and Copper ended the day higher by $0.04 today to end at $3.61 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly higher across the board today: Lean Hogs moved higher today by 0.70 again today to close at 76.15; Pork Bellies ended the day higher by 1.55 to close at 104.00; Live Cattle moved higher by 0.03 to end the day at 93.33 and Feeder Cattle ended the day lower by 1.10 to close at 111.00.

Other Commodities: Corn posted a gain today by 10.50 points to end at 381.75 and Soybeans posted a heavy gain today by 11.50 to close at 737.75.

Bonds were lower across the board today: 2 year bond closed lower by 2/32 at 99 24/32; 5 year bond closed lower by 5/32 at 99 25/32; 10 year bond closed lower by 7/32 at 99 25/32 and the 30 year bond closed lower by 13/32 at 98 22/32.

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 2,837,864; Open Interest for Futures moved higher by 120,838 points to close at 9,783,043; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 73,513 points to close at 6,777,420 and the Open Interest for OTC closed lower by 60 points at 4,383 for a total Open Interest of 16,564,846 for a total gain on the day by 194,291.

The e-mini Dow ended the session nicely higher by 116 at 13123. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 140,229 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.

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 2,260; decliners totaled 961; unchanged came in at 141; new highs came in at 425 and new lows came in at 14. New York Stock Exchange movers for the day today: Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI) fell today by 4.87 points to end at $112.89; AmerisourceBergen Corporation (ABC) gave up 4.04 points to close at $52.32; Tesoro Corporation (TSO) ran higher today by 7.72 points to end the day on the Big Board at $116.55; Advanced Medical Optics Incorporated (EYE) gained 3.41 points to close at $42.37 and XL Capital Limited (XL) climbed higher on the Big Board by 4.79 points to close at $78.55.

On the NASDAQ today, advancers came in at 1,827; decliners totaled 1,251; unchanged came in at 127 new highs came in at 174 and new lows came in at 44. Gainers and losers for the day on the NASDAQ: XenoPort Incorporated (XNPT) rallied higher by 44.01% for a gain on the day of 12.70 points for a close at $41.51; Amazon.com Incorporated (AMZN) rallied today by 26.97% for a rise by 12.07 points to end the session at $56.89; Chaparral Steel Company (CHAP) moved higher by 12.44% to gain 7.96 points on the trading session for a closing price at $71.93; The Corporate Executive Board Corporation (EXBD) fell sharply by 18.26% for a loss on the day by 13.42 points to end at $60.07 and Akamai Technologies Incorporated (AKAM) shed 4.71 points for a closing price at $49.88.

Thanks for reading
Millennium-Traders