Market Activity Mild On First Trading Day

Daily Market Commentary for February 1, 2008

At the closing bell on the Stock Exchange, here is how the major indices ended the session on the U.S. Markets:

DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) gain of 92.83 points on the day to end the session at 12,743.19

NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) triple digit gain of 151.42 points to end the session at 9,277.58

NASDAQ gain of 23.50 points for a close at 2,413.36

S&P 500 gain of 16.87 points for a close at 1,395.42

RUSSELL 2000 gain of 17.20 points to close at 761.15

FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS) gain of 3.25 points to close at 245.65

FTSE RAFI 1000 gain of 73.92 points to close at 5,741.74

BEL 20 gain of 87.4 points to close at 3,809.63

CAC 40 gain of 108.27 points to close at $4,978.06

FTSE100 gain of 149.4 points to close at 6,029.20

NIKKEI 225 loss of 95.3 points to close at 13,282.32

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 2,494; decliners totaled 693; unchanged came in at 74; new highs came in at 58 and new lows came in at 21.

Momentum stocks traded by active Day Traders on the NYSE today: Mastercard Incorporated (MA) gained 8.42 points with a high on the day of $217.35, a low of $209.66 for a closing price at $215.42; CME Group Incorporated (CME) shed 7.34 points with a high on the day of $621.55, a low of $602.00 for a closing price at $621.55; Rio Tinto plc (RTP) gained 34.05 points with a high on the day of $455.63, a low of $435.00 for a closing price at $441.00; Allegheny Energy Incorporated (AYE) gained 1.45 points with a high on the day of $57.11, a low of $54.63 for a closing price at $56.22; Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR) gained 2.10 points with a high on the day of $113.69, a low of $110.76 for a closing price at $113.06; PetroChina Co. Limited (PTR) gained 7.47 points with a high on the day of $150.00, a low of $145.25 for a closing price at $149.75; Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (FFH) gained 3.02 points with a high on the day of $330.00, a low of $329.02 for a closing price at $330.00; Medtronic Incorporated (MDT) gained 1.35 points with a high on the day of $50.00, a low of $46.31 for a closing price at $47.85; Cummins Incorporated (CMI) shed 1.41 points with a high on the day of $49.48, a low of $45.03 for a closing price at $46.94; Millipore Corporation (MIL) shed 5.53 points with a high on the day of $66.89, a low of $63.82 for a closing price at $64.62; Safeco Corporation (SAF) shed 2.71 points with a high on the day of $52.54, a low of $49.54 for a closing price at $50.66; Chevron Corporation (CVX) shed 0.76 points with a high on the day of $84.93, a low of $81.53 for a closing price at $82.49; Goldman Sachs Group Incorporated (GS) gained 8.23 points with a high on the day of $208.78, a low of $198.00 for a closing price at $207.78; Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated (CLF) gained 2.37 points with a high on the day of $106.41, a low of $101.92 for a closing price at $104.37.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 1,997; decliners totaled 1000; unchanged came in at 121; new highs came in at 41 and new lows came in at 84.

Momentum stocks traded by active Day Traders on the NASDAQ today: Baidu.com Incorporated (BIDU) shed 10.36 points with a high on the day of $285.44, a low of $262.43 for a closing price at $269.59; Intuitive Surgical, Incorporated (ISRG) gained 51.61 points with a high on the day of $314.43, a low of $291.00 for a closing price at $305.61; Omrix Biopharmaceuticals, Incorporated (OMRI) shed 2.83 points with a high on the day of $23.42, a low of $20.02 for a closing price at $20.43; Avid Technology Incorporated (AVID) shed 5.04 points with a high on the day of $21.89, a low of $17.61 for a closing price at $20.88; Cerner Corporation (CERN) shed 5.37 points with a high on the day of $49.86, a low of $46.75 for a closing price at $47.03; Dionex Corporation (DNEX) gained 7.64 points with a high on the day of $83.50, a low of $75.81 for a closing price at $77.74; Yahoo! Incorporated (YHOO) gained 9.20 points with a high on the day of $29.83, a low of $27.34 for a closing price at $28.38; Cerner Corporation (CERN) shed 5.37 points with a high on the day of $49.86, a low of $46.75 for a closing price at $47.03; Omnicell Incorporated (OMCL) shed 5.47 points with a high on the day of $22.11, a low of $17.61 for a closing price at $19.61; Amazon.com Incorporated (AMZN) shed 3.07 points with a high on the day of $79.40, a low of $73.37 for a closing price at $74.63; Google Incorporated (GOOG) shed 48.40 points with a high on the day of $536.67, a low of $510.00 for a closing price at $515.90.

January ranked as CME's second busiest month ever, lagging behind only August 2007 when subprime troubles were the focus of attention. CME pegged average daily volume last month at 14.3 Million contracts at an increase of 65% from January 2007. Electronic volume averaged 11.4 Million per day at an increase by 79%. Exchange posted all-time monthly record last month for e-mini equities, with average daily volume at 3.9M contracts, up 126% from a year ago. It was the second most-active month for interest complex, with an average 8.7 Million contracts per day, up 57% from year-ago levels. Nymex energy and metals on CME Globex posted record average daily volume of 953,000 contracts in January, up 42%.

U.S. January Non-farm Payrolls fell 17K versus consensus of an increase by 75K; U.S. January Unemployment Rate came in at 4.9% versus consensus of 4.9%; U.S. January Average Hourly Earnings rose $0.04 to $17.75; U.S. January Manufacturing Payrolls fell 28K; U.S. January Service-Producing Payrolls rose by 34K; U.S. January Overall Workweek fell 0.1 Hour to 33.7 Hours; U.S. December Payrolls Revised to an increase by 82K from an increase by 18K; U.S. December Unemployment Left Unrevised at 5.0%.

U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) January Inventories Index came in at 49.1 versus December reading of 45.4; U.S. ISM January Production Index came in at 55.2 versus December reading of 48.6; U.S. ISM January New Orders Index came in at 49.5 versus December reading of 46.9; U.S. ISM January Employment Index came in at 47.1 versus December reading of 48.7; U.S. ISM January Prices Index came in at76.0 versus December reading of 68.0; U.S. ISM January Manufacturing Business Index came in at 50.7 versus December reading of 48.4; U.S. ISM January Manufacturing Business Index Expected 47.0; U.S. ISM January Manufacturing Business Index came in at 50.7; Nov Construction Spending Revised to a drop by 0.4% from an increase by 0.1%; U.S. Construction Spending fell 1.1% in December compared to consensus of a drop by 0.6%.

University of Michigan 5-Year Inflation Forecast rose 3.0% compared to December reading which rose 3.1%; University of Michigan 12-Month Inflation Forecast rose 3.4% compared to December reading which rose 3.4%; University of Michigan Preliminary January Sentiment was 80.5; University of Michigan End-January Expectations 68.1 compared to December reading which came in at 65.6; University of Michigan End-January Current Index 94.4 compared to December reading which came in at 91.0; University of Michigan End-January Sentiment 78.4 compared to December reading which came in at 75.5.

Treasury Economic Update 2.1.08 "Recent data indicate that economic growth and the pace of job creation have slowed. At the same time, the unemployment rate remains low and core inflation is contained. We expect that the economy will continue to expand, even as the housing downturn and credit market strains remain a drag on growth. Rapid enactment of the bipartisan growth package passed by the House of Representatives would provide important support for the economy this year." Assistant Secretary Phillip Swagel. Job Creation Has Slowed: Job Growth: Payroll employment fell by 17,000 in January, following a gain of 82,000 jobs in December, The United States has added 1 million jobs in the past 12 months and 8.3 million jobs since August 2003. Employment increased in 47 states and the District of Columbia over the year ending in December. Low Unemployment: The unemployment rate edged down to 4.9 percent in January from 5.0 percent in December. Unemployment rates have declined in 12 states and the District of Columbia over the year ending in December. There Are Still Many Signs of Economic Strength: Business Investment: Business spending on commercial structures and equipment rose solidly in the fourth quarter. Healthy corporate balance sheets should support continued investment growth. Exports: Strong global growth is boosting U.S. exports, which grew by 7.7 percent over the past 4 quarters. Inflation: Core inflation remains contained. The consumer price index excluding food and energy rose 2.4 percent over the 12 months ending in December. Tax Revenues: Tax receipts rose 6.7 percent in fiscal year 2007 (FY07) on top of FY06's 11.8 percent increase. As a share of GDP, FY07 receipts exceeded their 40-year average. Americans Are Keeping More of Their Hard-Earned Money: Real after-tax income per person increased 1.1 percent over the past 12 months, ending in December. Pro-Growth Policies Will Enhance Long-Term U.S. Economic Strength: We are on track to make significant further progress on the deficit. The FY07 budget deficit was down to 1.2 percent of GDP, from 1.9 percent in FY06. Much of the improvement in the deficit reflects strong revenue growth, which in turn reflects strong economic growth. Looking ahead, higher spending on entitlement programs dominates the future fiscal situation; we must squarely face up to the challenge of reforming these programs.

Commodities Markets
The trend was lower across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved lower today by $2.79 to close at $88.96 a barrel; Heating Oil moved lower today by $0.08 to close at $2.45 a gallon; Natural Gas moved lower today by $0.33 to close at $7.74 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved lower today by $0.07 to close at $2.28 a gallon.

Metals Markets ended the session mostly lower across the board today: Gold moved sharply lower today by $14.50 to close at $913.50 a Troy ounce; Silver moved lower today by $0.13 to close at $16.87 per Troy ounce; Platinum moved sharply higher today by $32.80 to close at $1,770.20 per Troy ounce and Copper moved lower by $0.03 today to close at $3.27 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mixed across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day higher by $0.23 to close at $66.68; Pork Bellies ended the day lower by $0.20 to close at $94.35; Live Cattle ended the day lower by $0.23 at $94.05 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by $0.20 at $105.45.

Other Commodities: Corn ended the day lower today by $0.75 at $500.75 and Soybeans moved nicely higher today by $12.75 to end the session at $1,287.25.

Bonds were mostly higher across the board today: 2 year bond moved higher by 1/32 to close at 100 2/32; 5 year bond moved higher by 3/32 to close at 100 19/32 today; 10 year bond closed at 105 11/32 and the 30 year bond moved higher by 6/32 to close at 111 8/32 on the day.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 12,738 with a gain of 124 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 255,941 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 4,955,181; Open Interest for Futures moved higher by 60,291 points to close at 10,511,006; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 150,503 points to close at 9,437,560 and the Cleared Only closed lower by 291 points to close at 21,361 for a total Open Interest on the day of 19,969,927 for a total Change on the day with a gain of 210,503 points.