Market Commentary for May 30, 2007


The trading session today provided a nice trading atmosphere for both day traders and investors. Trading ranges were very nice and trading volume was heavy with the Bulls and Bears in a tug of war through out the trading session. At the closing bell, here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW
(Dow Jones Industrial Average) moved higher with a nice triple digit gain of 111.74 points to end the session at 13,633.08; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) posted a gain of 71.12 points to end at 9,963.61 the NASDAQ posted a gain of 20.53 points today for a close at 2,592.59; the S&P 500 moved higher by 12.12 points to end at 1,530.23 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved higher by 5.82 points to close at 843.35. 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 0.62 to close at 259.86 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 moved higher by 47.82 to close at 6,423.37.

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. As reported today: U.S. MBA Purchase Index Falls 2.5% to 427 from 438.1; U.S. MBA Market Index Falls 7.3% to 636.4 from 686.2 and U.S. MBA Refinancing Index Falls 13% to 1874.6 from 2154.7.

ICSC-UBS Store Sales: Weekly measure of comparable store sales at major retail chains which is related to the general merchandise portion of retail sales, as reported by the International Council of Shopping Centers. This date accounts for approximately 10% of total retail sales. ICSC-UBS Chain Store Sales reported today as Unchanged for week of May 26th.

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 reported today that they see May Payrolls higher by 97,000.

Redbook: General merchandise portion of retail sales covering only approximately 10% of total retail sales, this data is a weekly measure of sales at department stores, chain stores and discounters. As released today, Redbook U.S. Retail Sales were up 2.2% for the first 3 weeks in May versus April.

FOMC Minutes: economic growth to pick up this year and next; inflation main risk; not 'convincingly' on down path; core inflation 'uncomfortably high,' must come down; downside economic risks have 'diminished slightly'; economy may be in better shape than GDP data suggest; housing to 'weigh heavily' on economy for most of 2007; sub-prime turmoil 'relatively well contained'; high gasoline, flat home prices to weigh on spending; business spending likely to move higher; labor market may not be as tight as it seems; construction may hold down job gains in coming quarters; sees 'tension' between slow economy, strong jobs market and lower dollar could put pressure on import prices.

Commodities Markets

The trend was mostly higher across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved higher by $0.34 today to close at $63.49 a barrel; Heating Oil closed with no change at $1.87 a gallon; Natural Gas moved higher by $0.21 at $7.94 million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved lower by $0.03 to close at $2.27 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session lower across the board today: Gold moved lower by $4.10 to close at $659.30 an ounce; Silver closed with no change at $13.22 an ounce; Platinum moved lower today by $0.80 to close at $1,264.00 an ounce and Copper moved lower today by $0.02 to end at $3.30 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly lower across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day higher by 0.50 to close at 74.43; Pork Bellies ended the day lower by 0.88 to close at 101.20; Live Cattle moved lower by 0.33 to end the day at 91.10 and Feeder Cattle ended the lower by 1.20 to close at 110.35.

Other Commodities: Corn moved nicely higher today for a gain of 13.75 points to end at 381.25 and Soybeans moved higher today with a gain of 10.00 points to end at 808.5025.

The e-mini Dow ended the session higher by 1 point to close at 13,657. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 137,274 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.

Bonds were mostly higher across the board today: 2 year bond closed at 99 31/32; 5 year bond closed higher by 1/32 at 98 18/32; 10 year bond closed higher by 4/32 at 97 3/32 and the 30 year bond closed higher by 8/32 at 96 3/32.

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 7,349,764; Open Interest for Futures moved higher by 25,908 points to close at 10,605,537; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 68,969 points to close at 6,449,912 and the Open Interest for OTC closed with no change at 4,959 for a total Open Interest of 17,060,408 for a total gain on the day by 94,877.

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 2,259; decliners totaled 1,005; unchanged came in at 123; new highs came in at 227 and new lows came in at 28. Gainers and losers for the day on the NYSE: Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation (PVH) moved higher on the Big Board for a gain of 4.27 points to end the session at $60.59; Public Storage Incorporated (PSA) moved higher on the trading day by 4.32 points to end the day at $89.40 and Avalon Bay Communities (AVB) tacked on a nice gain of 5.83 points to close at $132.93.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 1,699 decliners totaled 1,336; unchanged came in at 147 new highs came in at 130 and new lows came in at 47. Gainers and losers for the day on the NASDAQ: CDW Corporation (CDWC) moved higher by 2.09 points to end the day at $85.20; Coldwater Creek Incorporated (CWTR) tacked on 16.89% to move higher by 3.53 points for a closing price on the trading day of $24.43; Joy Global Incorporated (JOYG) climbed higher by 4.97 points to end the trading session at $55.78 and Google Incorporated (GOOG) plowed higher on the session for a gain of 11.89 points to end at $499.00.

Thanks for reading
Millennium-Traders