Market Commentary for September 12, 2007


Trading activity was rather quiet again today with the markets bouncing in and out of positive territory through out the session. The struggle between the Bulls and the Bears resulted in a mostly red close for the day. Crude oil spiked today to hit the $80 mark ahead of the storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico.

At the closing bell, here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) posted a loss of 16.74 points on the day to end the session at 13,291.65; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) posted a slight gain of 1.06 points to end the session at 9,598.67; the NASDAQ posted a loss of 5.40 points for a close at 2,592.07; the S&P 500 moved higher with a minor gain of 0.07 points to end at 1,471.56 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved lower by 4.37 points to close at 777.90. 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 1.36 points to close at 254.99 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 posted a loss of 3.54 points to close at 6,057.46.

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. Data released today: U.S. MBA Refinancing Index Rises 6% to 1876.6 from 1770.2; U.S. MBA Purchase Index Rises 5.2% to 448 from 425.8 and U.S. MBA Market Index Rises 5.5% to 657.4 from 622.9.

Quarterly Services Survey: Provided by the Census Bureau, the information includes: professional, scientific and technical services, administrative, support services, waste management and remediation services. Data released today: U.S. Service Sector Revenues increase 3.5% in 2nd Quarter.

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 released Petroleum Status data today: U.S. Distillate Stockpiles were Up 1.8 Million Barrels in the week compared to expectations of an increase by 1.4 Million Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles were down 700,000 Barrels in the week compared to expectations of a decrease by 500,000 Barrels and U.S. Refineries ran at capacity of 90.5% as compared to expectations of a drop by 0.1 Pt at 92.0%.

Commodities Markets

The trend was higher across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved higher today by $1.68 to close at $79.91 a barrel; Heating Oil ended the session higher by $0.04 today at $2.22 a gallon; Natural Gas moved higher today by $0.50 to close at $6.44 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher today by $0.03 to close at $2.02 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session mostly lower across the board today: Gold moved lower today by $0.40 to close at $720.70 an ounce; Silver moved lower by $0.04 to close at $12.79 per ounce; Platinum moved higher today by $2.10 to close at $1,304.0 an ounce and Copper closed lower by $0.03 at $3.36 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly lower again across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day lower by 0.41 to close at 68.00; Pork Bellies ended the day higher by 0.40 at 87.23; Live Cattle ended the day lower by 0.98 to closer at 94.73 and Feeder Cattle ended the day lower by 1.63 at 116.70.

Other Commodities: Corn moved sharply higher on the day to post a nice gain of 15.25 at 356.50 and Soybeans moved nicely higher today with a gain of 18.00 points to end the session at 938.50.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 13,333 with a gain of 12 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 176,929 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 again across the board today: 2 year bond closed lower by 1/32 at 100 2/32; 5 year bond closed lower by 5/32 at 100 3/32; 10 year bond moved lower by 8/32 again today to close at 102 24/32 and the 30 year bond moved lower by 15/32 to close at 105 3/32 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 3,528,984; Open Interest for Futures moved lower by 74,855 points to close at 8,916,791 the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 154,972 points to close at 7,970,014 and the Cleared Only closed with no change at 8,344 for a total Open Interest on the day of 16,895,149 with a total Change on the day of a gain of 80,117 points.

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 1,275; decliners totaled 1,948; unchanged came in at 91; new highs came in at 75 and new lows came in at 97. Gainers and losers for the day as well as active day trading stocks on the NYSE: Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (ACH) moved lower on the trading day for a loss of 5.96 points with a final trading price of $60.22; BlackRock Incorporated (BLK) gave up 2.86 points on the session with a closing price of $154.72; Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC (WBD) shed 4.11 points on the day with a high on the session of $109.40, a low of $103.04 for a final trading price on the day of $107.84; MasterCard Incorporated (MA) posted a gain on the day of 4.66 points with a high on the day of $137.36, a low of $131.11 with a final trading price of $136.83; General Cable Corporation (BGC) moved higher on the session by 3.82 points with a final trading price at $57.02; Ameron International Corporation (AMN) posted a favorable gain amidst very light trading volume, of 5.60 points with a high on the session of $94.50, a low of $87.55 for a closing price on the day of $93.13 and Las Vegas Sands Corporation (LVS) rallied higher on the trading session to post a gain of 8.10 points with a high on the day of $117.50, a low of $108.93 with a closing price of $116.95.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 1,247; decliners totaled 1,763; unchanged came in at 125; new highs came in at 79 and new lows came in at 101. Gainers and losers for the day as well as, active day trading stocks on the NASDAQ: Cardica Incorporated (CRDC) posted a favorable gain on the trading day of 16.44% to tack on 1.42 points for a closing price on the trading session of $10.06 and Life Partners Holdings Incorporated (LPHI) moved sharply lower on the session to post a loss of 16.71% to shed 7.90 points for a closing price of $39.38.

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Millennium-Traders