Market Commentary for August 29, 2007


The markets posted a nice rebound from yesterday nose dive into the red zone, amidst light trading volume. Light trading volume continues to be an expectation into the end of the week as many day traders and investors have already headed out for the Labor Day holiday, extended weekend. Trading action was actually muted through out most of the trading session creating a dismal trading atmosphere for the professional day traders.

At the closing bell, here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) posted a triple digit gain of 247.44 points on the day to end the session at 13,289.29; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) posted a triple digit gain of 216.43 points to end the session at 9,508.92; the NASDAQ posted a gain of 62.52 points for a close at 2,563.16; the S&P 500 moved higher by 31.40 points to end at 1,463.76 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved higher by 19.49 points to close at 787.32. 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 1.25 points to close at 250.79 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 posted a triple digit gain of 123.65 points to close at 6,052.78.

Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Ben S. Bernanke letter to Senator Schumer dated August 27th: GSE’s should help sub-prime borrowers if possible; 'prepared to act as needed' if markets hurt economy and Fed closely monitoring financial markets.

Economic Data:

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. Mortgage Bankers’ Association Purchase Applications reported for today: U.S. MBA Market Index falls 4% to 615.2 from 641.1; U.S. MBA Purchase Index falls 4% to 424 from 441.5 and U.S. MBA Refinancing Index falls 4.2% to 1729.6 from 1806.3.

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 reported Petroleum Status Report today: U.S. Distillate Stockpiles rose by 900,000 Barrels in the week compared to expectations of an increase of 600,000; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles fell by 3.6 Million Barrels in the week compared to expectations of a drop by 1.8 Million Barrels; U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles fell by 3.5 Million Barrels in the week compared to expectations of a drop by 800,000 and U.S. Refineries ran at capacity of 90.3% compared to expectations of unchanged at 91.6%.

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 $73.51 a barrel; Heating Oil ended the session higher by $0.04 today to close at $2.06 a gallon; Natural Gas moved lower today by $0.18 to close at $5.58 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher by $0.05 today to close at $1.91 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session higher across the board today: Gold moved higher today by $1.90 to close at $675.40 an ounce; Silver moved higher by $0.08 to close at $12.01 per ounce; Platinum moved higher today by $6.20 to close at $1,266.80 an ounce and Copper moved higher by $0.03 today to close at $3.34 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly higher across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day lower by 0.15 to close at 67.75; Pork Bellies ended the day higher by 0.58 at 91.58; Live Cattle moved higher by 0.45 to close at 98.05 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by 0.13 at 118.98.

Other Commodities: Corn moved lower again on the day with a loss of 4.50 at 340.25 and Soybeans moved higher today for a gain of 2.00 points to end the session at 874.25.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 13,315 with a hefty triple digit gain of 220 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 172,197 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 lower across the board again today: 2 year bond moved lower by 6/32 today to close at 100 26/32; 5 year bond closed lower by 12/32 at 101 12/32; 10 year bond moved lower by 15/32 today to close at 101 12/32 and the 30 year bond moved lower by 19/32 to close at 101 23/32 for the day.

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 7,161,560; Open Interest for Futures moved higher by 45,725 points to close at 9,429,305; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 196,458 points to close at 6,594,301 and the Cleared Only moved higher by 12 points to close at 8,099 for a total Open Interest on the day of 16,031,705 with a total Change on the day of a gain of 242,195 points.

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 2,711; decliners totaled 530; unchanged came in at 66; new highs came in at 37 and new lows came in at 78. Gainers and losers for the day as well as active day trading stocks on the NYSE: National-Oilwell Varco Incorporated (NOV) moved higher on the trading day by 5.18 points with a high on the session of $123.55, a low of $117.58 for a final trading price on the day at $122.76; China Life Insurance Company Limited (LFC) tacked on 4.17 points on the day for a final trading price of $72.85; PetroChina Company Limited (PTR) began to rebound today with a gain of 6.81 points with a high of $146.20, a low of $141.85 for a closing price on the trading day at its high of the session at $146.20; China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SNP) made a run higher on the session with a gain of 7.24 points for a final trading price on the session at $109.89 and Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (ACH) posted a gain on the day of 5.47 points with a closing price on the trading day of $67.37.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 2,300; decliners totaled 697; unchanged came in at 138; new highs came in at 49 and new lows came in at 122. Gainers and losers for the day as well as, active day trading stocks on the NASDAQ: PDL BioPharma Incorporated (PDLI) moved lower on the trading session for a loss of 19.65% to shed 4.63 points for a final trading price on the day of $18.96; The 9 Limited (NCTY) fell lower on the trading day with a loss of 3.83 points for final trading day price of $36.52; Apple Incorporated (AAPL) moved higher on the trading day with a gain of 7.26 points with a high of $134.18, a low of $128.00 with a final trading price on the day of $134.08 and Anaren Incorporated (ANEN) moved sharply lower on the day amidst light trading volume with a loss of 16.46% to shed 2.82 points with a closing price on the day of $14.34.

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Millennium-Traders