Market Commentary for October 11, 2007

What was a positive session suddenly turned stone cold red during the late afternoon trading session. Shortly after 2pm Eastern time, the major indices took a serious nose dive, with stocks following the trickle into negative territory where they ended the trading session. At the peak of the dive, the DOW was down over 180 points. The down turn came out of no where, no warning and no clear news indicating the down turn was coming. Trading volume was very heavy with wide trading ranges as the surge to the south took precedence over the days trading activity. Day traders who were alert at the onset, reaped the benefits on short selling their way to profits, by the closing bell.

At the closing bell, here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) posted a loss of 63.57 points on the day to end the session at 14,015.12 the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) posted a loss of 19.25 points to end the session at 10,245.25; the NASDAQ posted a loss of 39.41 points for a close at 2,772.20; the S&P 500 moved lower by 8.06 points to end at 1,554.41 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved lower by 10.21 points to close at 834.98. 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 world’s investable market capitalization) posted a gain of 1.33 points to close at 276.74 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 posted a loss of 16.15 points to close at 6,395.78.

U.S. Jobless Claims fell 12K to 308K in week of October 6, compared to expectations of an unchanged rate and U.S. week of September 29 Continuing Claims fell 15K to 2,521,000.

U.S. September Petroleum Import Prices rose 5.4%; U.S. September Non-Petroleum Import Prices fell 0.2%; U.S. September Import Prices rose 1.0% compared to consensus of an increase by 1.0%; August Exports came in at $138.34 Billion, an increase by 0.4%; August Imports came in at $195.92 Billion, a drop by 0.4%; U.S. August Trade Deficit came in at $57.59 Billion compared to consensus Deficit at $59.0 Billion and July Trade Balance was revised to a deficit of $59.00 Billion from deficit of $59.25 Billion.

U.S. September Petroleum Import Prices rose 5.4%; U.S. September Non-Petroleum Import Prices fell 0.2%and U.S. September Import Prices rose 1.0% compared to consensus of an increase by 1.0%.

U.S. Government Posted $111.56 Billion Surplus In September; U.S. Government Posted $162.83 Billion Total Deficit In FY 2007 and U.S. Government Posted $248.20 Billion Deficit In FY 2006.

Federal Reserve Member, Randall S. Kroszner comments released today: September rate cut aimed at housing market, economy; providing liquidity a 'critical tool' of Fed; market stability doesn't mean protection against loss; Mortgage Lenders should work with at-risk borrowers; Fed policy driven by duel mandate; must monitor inflation very closely; potential inflation pressures ahead and core inflation pressures declined.

Commodities Markets
The trend was mostly higher across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved higher today by $1.78 to close at $83.08 a barrel; Heating Oil moved higher today by $0.03 yet again to close at $2.27 a gallon; Natural Gas moved lower today by $0.13 to close at $6.88 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher today by $0.03 to close at $2.07 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session mostly higher across the board today: Gold moved sharply higher today by $10.70 to close at $756.70 an ounce; Silver moved higher by $0.32 to close at $13.99 per ounce; Platinum moved sharply higher again today by $22.40 to close at $1,420.40 an ounce and Copper closed lower by $0.03 at $3.67 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was higher across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day higher by $0.75 to close at $60.53; Pork Bellies ended the day higher by $1.50 at $87.18; Live Cattle ended the day higher by $1.15 at $97.78 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by $1.40 at $114.48.

Other Commodities: Corn moved lower today by $3.50 to close at $343.75 and Soybeans moved sharply higher yet again today by $13.25 to end the session at $981.50.

Bonds were mostly higher across the board today: 2 year bond moved higher by 1/32 today to close at 99 24/32; 5 year bond moved higher by 3/32 to close at 99 18/32 today; 10 year bond moved higher by 4/32 today to close at 100 28/32 and the 30 year bond closed lower by 1/32 at 102 for the day.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 14,080 with a loss of 56 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 152,021 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.

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 3,172,343; Open Interest for Futures moved lower by 3,057 points to close at 9,284,788; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 21,351 points to close at 8,299,957 and the Cleared Only closed 8,524 for a total Open Interest on the day of 17,593,269 with a total Change on the day with a gain of 18,294 points.

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 1,273; decliners totaled 2,022; unchanged came in at 78; new highs came in at 409 and new lows came in at 55, same as yesterday. Gainers and losers for the day as well as active day trading stocks on the NYSE: National-Oilwell Varco Incorporated (NOV) was active on the session with a high on the day of $81.04, a low of $74.01 with a minor loss of 0.42 points with a final trading price of $77.02; LDK Solar Corporation Limited (LDK) made its way through the session with quite the momentum with a high on the day of $51.79, a low of $45.00 with a loss on the day of 1.06 points for a final trading price just above the low of the day at $45.80; Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Corporation (FCX) shed 3.94 points amidst active trading with a high on the day of $120.20, a low of $111.70 for a closing price at the bell of $113.46; ; VMware Incorporated (VMW) was quite active with a loss on the day of 4.35 points, a high of $114.88, a low of $99.06 with a final trading price of $102.69; Mechel OAO (MTL) moved higher by 5.99 points with a trading day high of $74.66, a low of $66.68 for a final trading price at $71.95; Ambac Financial Group Incorporated (ABK) was a nice play for day traders with a high of $73.20, a low of $66.62 with a loss on the day of 2.84 points for a final trading price of $70.57; The Men’s Wearhouse Incorporated (MW) moved lower today for a loss of 4.15 points with a final trading price at $44.32 and The Shaw Group Incorporated (SGR) provided nice day trading action with a high on the day of $71.77, a low of $63.59 for a close at $65.48.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 1,058; decliners totaled 2,044; unchanged came in at 101; new highs came in at 400 and new lows came in at 120. Gainers and losers for the day as well as, active day trading stocks on the NASDAQ: China Natural Resource Incorporated (CHNR) moved lower on the session with a high on the day of $44.99, a low of $37.33 for a loss of 3.50 points with a final trading price at $39.00; Apple Incorporated (AAPL) moved lower on the session for a loss of 4.35 points with a high on the day of $171.88, a low of $153.21 for a closing price at $162.43; Zumiez Incorporated (ZUMZ) climbed higher by 3.23 points with a high of $53.99, a low of $48.70 with a close at $50.63 and Baidu.com Incorporated (BIDU) actually plummeted on the trading day with a heavy loss of 30.82 points with a high of $359.44, a low of $301.25 for a final trading price at $313.66.

Thanks for reading
Millennium-Traders