Market Commentary for April 03, 2007


The weather has been spectacular in the North East, providing a much anticipated break from the harsh cold winter giving residents, investors and day traders a reason to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Trading was generally lack luster through out the session, with light to moderate trading volume, ahead of the Easter holiday weekend just ahead. Many traders have busted out to enjoy an extended holiday weekend with family and friends, leaving the rest of us here to fight the markets swings, over the next few days. The Bulls had the markets in their control today and here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) moved higher today by 128.00 points to end the session at 12510.30; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) moved higher by 75.45 points to end at 9381.00; the NASDAQ moved higher by 28.07 points today for a close at 2450.33; the S&P 500 moved higher by 13.22 points to end at 1437.77 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved higher by 8.55 points to close at 811.77. 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 1.66 to close at 246.38 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 moved higher by 44.89 to close at 6043.67.

Comments today from President George W. Bush: "Significant Consequences" if War Funding Bill delayed; meetings with Syria's Assad send "mixed signals"; "No Quid Pro Quo" for release of UK Sailors in Iran and takes Supreme Court ruling on Emissions "very seriously".

U.S. March Domestic Auto Sales said to be in range of 12.2 to 12.4 million rate and U.S. March total Auto Sales said to be in range of 16.1 to 16.2 million rate.

Economic data released for the day:

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 rose by 0.3% for week of March 31st.

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. U.S. Retail Sales rose by 0.9% for first four weeks of March versus February

Pending Home Sales Index: Reported by the National Association of Realtors, leading indicator of housing activity. U.S. Pending Home Sale Index was higher by 0.7% in February and U.S. February Pending Home Sales came in at 8.5% which is below February 2006 reading.

On the commodities markets, the trend was lower across the board today for the Energy sector: Light crude moved lower by $1.29 today to close at $64.65 a barrel; Heating Oil closed lower by $0.02 at $1.84 a gallon; Natural Gas moved lower by $0.25 today to end at $7.43 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas closed lower by $0.03 at $2.00 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session mostly higher across the board today: Gold moved lower by $1.80 to close at $669.70 an ounce; Silver moved higher today by $0.08 to end the session at $13.43 an ounce; Platinum moved higher today by $3.30 to close at $1,252.30 an ounce and Copper ended the day higher by $0.14 to end at $3.31 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mixed across the board today: Lean Hogs closed higher by 0.55 at 76.08; Pork Bellies ended the day lower by 0.08 to close at 101.28; Live Cattle moved lower by 1.40 to end the day at 95.00 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by 0.30 to close at 111.53.

Other Commodities: Corn moved lower again today by 8.50 points to end at 346.25 and Soybeans moved sharply lower today by 15.25 to close at 763.75.

Bonds were lower across the board today: 2 year bond closed lower by 3/32 at 99 24/32; 5 year bond closed lower by 4/32 at 99 23/32; 10 year bond closed lower by 6.32 at 99 21/32 and the 30 year bond closed lower by 5/32 at 98 14/32.

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 2,828,773 Open Interest for Futures moved lower by 25,300 to close at 9,730,390; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 48,658 to close at 7,351,848 and the Open Interest for OTC moved lower by 24 at 2,716 for a total Open Interest of 17,084,954 for a total gain on the day by 23,334.

The mini Dow ended the session surprisingly higher by 127 at 12576. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 121,385 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 2,021; decliners totaled 1,220; unchanged came in at 123; new highs came in at 224 and new lows came in at 31. New York Stock Exchange movers for the day today: Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings (CME) moved nicely higher on the listed market today by 7.02 points to end the session at $550.90; Rio Tinto plc (RTP) made a nice gain of 7.73 points for a closing prices at $238.33; Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Incorporated (POT) gained 4.17 points to end the day at $164.19; Marshall & IIsley Corporation (MI) posted a gain of 3.97 points to close at $49.83 and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Incorporated (JTX) gave up 18.12% for a loss on the day of 5.87 points to end at $26.53.

On the NASDAQ today, advancers came in at 1,520; decliners totaled 1,518; unchanged came in at 140; new highs came in at 95 and new lows came in at 63. Gainers and losers for the day on the NASDAQ: Google Incorporated (GOOG) rallied higher today by 14.07 points to close at $472.60; Foster Wheeler Limited (FWLT) ran higher by 4.26 points to end the session at $62.86 and Research In Motion Limited (RIMM) climbed higher on the market session by 3.60 points for a closing price of $140.83.

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Millennium-Traders