Market Commentary for May 2, 2007

The Bulls maintained control of the market trend, on the first hump day for the month of May. Trading volume was moderate with decent trading ranges for the day trader and the investors. At the closing bell, here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) moved higher by 75.74 points to end the session at 13,211.88; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) posted a gain today of 78.21 points to end at 9,718.00; the NASDAQ posted a gain of 26.31 points today for a close at 2,557.84; the S&P 500 moved higher by 9.62 points to end at 1,495.92 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved higher by 12.21 points to close at 828.46. 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 1.35 to close at 255.61 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 closed higher by 43.52 at 6,277.10.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. commented today: continued fiscal strength may mean more auction cuts; China faces economic risks by reforming too slowly; China needs more Forex flexibility in short term and China Forex reform won't eliminate trade imbalance.

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. U.S. MBA Market Index rises by 0.6% to 657.2 from 653.3; U.S. MBA Purchase Index rises by 4% to 427.3 from 411 and U.S. MBA Refinancing Index falls 3.2% to 2015.8 from 2081.6.

Challenger Job-Cut Report: Corporate layoffs comprised in a monthly, not seasonally adjusted report which indicates a trend in the labor market. Challenger: U.S. April Job Cuts came in at 70,672, higher by 44.2% from March.

ADP Employment: This report is a national employment report computed from a subset of ADP records that cover roughly 225,000 business establishments and approximately 14 million employees. Macroeconomic Advisors was contracted by ADP to compute a monthly report to assist in predicting monthly non-farm payrolls from the Bureau of Labor Statistics employment situation covering private payrolls. ADP-Macroeconomic Advisers see April Payrolls higher by 64,000.

Factory Orders: Dollar level of new Factory Orders for both durable and non-durable goods. U.S. Factory Orders rose by 3.1% in March compared to consensus of an increase by 2.2%; March Factory Orders, Excluding Transportation rose by 1.9%; March Factory Orders, Excluding Defense rose by 3.5%; March Durable Goods were revised to an increase by 3.7% from an increase by 3.4% and February Factory Orders were revised to an increase by 1.4% from an increase by 1.0%.

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 released the EIA Petroleum Status Report today: U.S. Refineries ran at 88.3% capacity compared to expectations of an increase by 0.8 percentage at 88.6%; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles fell by 200,000 Barrels in the week compared to expectations of an increase by 210,000 Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles fell by 1 Million Barrels in the week compared to expectations of a decrease by 1.14 Million Barrels; U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles rose by 1.1 Million Barrels in the week compared to expectations of an increase by 1.15 Million Barrels and U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles were down for the 12th straight week, 2nd time ever.

The e-mini Dow ended the session higher by 68 points to close at 13246. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 162,569 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.

Commodities Markets

The trend was mostly lower across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved lower by $0.72 today to close at $63.68 a barrel; Heating Oil moved lower by $0.03 to close at $1.85 a gallon; Natural Gas closed higher by $0.01 at $7.73 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas closed lower by $0.01 at $2.23 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session mostly lower across the board today: Gold moved lower by $2.20 to close at $675.10 an ounce; Silver moved lower by $0.04 to close at $13.34 an ounce; Platinum moved lower by $1.80 to close at $1,299.10 an ounce and Copper ended the day higher by $0.01 today to end at $3.64 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly lower across the board today: Lean Hogs moved lower today by 1.33 today to close at 74.20; Pork Bellies ended the day lower by 1.28 to close at 101.33; Live Cattle moved lower by 0.03 to end the day at 93.85 and Feeder Cattle ended the day at 112.60.

Other Commodities: Corn moved higher today with a gain of 4.50 points to end at 382.00 and Soybeans posted a loss today by 7.75 to close at 748.50.

Bonds were mostly lower across the board today: 2 year bond closed lower by 1/32 at 99 23/32; 5 year bond closed lower by 1/32 at 99 25/32; 10 year bond closed lower by 2/32 at 99 26/32 and the 30 year bond closed with no change at 98 29/32.

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 3,618,660; Open Interest for Futures moved higher by 55,254 points to close at 10,027,424; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 74,613 points to close at 6,807,052 and the Open Interest for OTC closed lower by 115 points at 4,328 for a total Open Interest of 16,838,804 for a total gain on the day by 129,752.

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 2,411; decliners totaled 840; unchanged came in at 119; new highs came in at 270 and new lows came in at 13. New York Stock Exchange movers for the day today: Chipotle Mexican Grill Incorporated (CMG) rallied higher on the Big Board for a gain on the trading day of 17.85% to tack on 11.83 points to close at $78.09; CPI Corporation (CPY) made a nice run higher by 14.33% to tack on 9.41 points to close the session at $75.08; CB Richard Ellis Group Incorporated (CBG) moved higher by 14.09% for a rise by 4.74 points to close the trading day at $38.39; Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) rallied higher for a gain on the trading day of 12.69% to gain 13.52 points on the trading session for a closing price at $120.10 and MasterCard International (MA) posted a nice gain of 10.01% to climb higher by 11.50 points for a close at $126.35.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 2,136, decliners totaled 949; unchanged came in at 105, new highs came in at 143 and new lows came in at 44. Gainers and losers for the day on the NASDAQ: Voxware Incorporated (VOXW) rallied higher by a whopping 223.91% on the day for a gain of 5.15 points to close at $7.45; Interactive Intelligence Incorporated (ININ) climbed higher by 19.89% for a gain of 3.04 points to close the trading session at $18.34; Harris Stratex Networks Incorporated (HSTX) fell hard by a hard 20.11% to shed 3.99 points for a end of day closing price at $15.85 and Invitrogen Corporation (IVGN) moved nicely higher by 3.37 points to end the day at $69.24.

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Millennium-Traders