Market Commentary for September 17, 2007


Do we believe that former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan can still move the markets with his comments and personal thoughts? Ahead of the FOMC decision on Interest Rates tomorrow, the markets held firmly in the red zone through out the trading day, where they closed at the ringing of the final bell on Wall Street. Overall amidst the negative tone, trading activity was very sluggish ahead of the Fed’s announcement tomorrow. Light trading volume put a damper on the session, as we closed the first trading day of the week, ahead of a very import Fed decision, tomorrow. Expectations are that the Fed will cut key Federal Funds rate to 5% from the current 5.25%.

At the closing bell, here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) posted a loss of 39.41 points on the day to end the session at 13,403.42; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) posted a loss of 65.90 points to end the session at 9,607.75; the NASDAQ posted a loss of 20.52 points for a close at 2,581.66; the S&P 500 moved lower with a loss of 7.60 points to end at 1,476.65 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved lower by 7.68 points to close at 775.81. 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 loss of 2.02 points to close at 254.14 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 posted a loss of 28.16 points to close at 6,095.58.

Excerpts from the Memoirs of Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: Capability For U.S. Housing Prices To Decline; Dismayed With Democrats As Well As With GOP and U.K.'s Housing Market Faces Shock. In The Age of Turbulence, Alan Greenspan takes a tone bordering on contempt for the economic policy of President Bush and the Republican Party that called the shots in Congress until the end of last year. President Bush and his allies in the Senate and House of Representatives discarded all the traditional Republican principles of fiscal responsibility, according to Mr. Greenspan: They spent what they didn't have, turning the budget surplus created by President Clinton into an enormous budget deficit in record time. “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says. Greenspan, 81, is understood to believe that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the security of oil supplies in the Middle East. Britain and America have always insisted the war had nothing to do with oil. Bush said the aim was to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and end Saddam’s support for terrorism.U.S. Household Net Worth was reported up 2.1% to $57.86 Trillion in 2nd Quarter and U.S. Non-financial Debt grew at 7.1% Annual Rate in 2nd Quarter.

Economic Data:

Empire State Manufacturing Survey Index: A survey conducted by the New York Fed of manufacturers in the state of New York. The participants are from a variety of industries across the state and give their view of the likely direction of certain indicators, throughout the upcoming next six months. Data released today: New York Fed September Prices Received came in at 11.70 versus 3.23 in August; New York Fed September Employment came in at 18.22 versus 11.62 in August; New York Fed September New Orders came in at 13.56 versus 22.21 in August and New York Fed September Mfg Index came in at 14.70 versus 25.06 in August.

Commodities Markets

The trend was higher across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved higher today by $1.47 to close at $80.57 a barrel; Heating Oil moved higher today by $0.02 to close at $2.24 a gallon; Natural Gas moved higher today by $0.25 to close at $7.32 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher today by $0.01 again, to close at $2.04 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session higher across the board today: Gold moved decently higher today by $6.00 to close at $723.80 an ounce; Silver moved higher by $0.20 to close at $12.90 per ounce; Platinum higher today by $3.40 to close at $1,302.60 an ounce and Copper closed higher by $0.03 at $3.42 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was lower across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day lower by 1.48 to close at 67.15; Pork Bellies ended the day lower by 1.55 at 88.55; Live Cattle ended the day lower by 0.60 to close at 98.55 and Feeder Cattle ended the day lower by 1.35 at 115.50.

Other Commodities: Corn moved higher on the day to post a gain of 3.25 at 352.25 and Soybeans moved sharply higher yet again today with a gain of 13.75 points to end the session at 968.50.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 13,509 with a loss of 42 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 174,264 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 mostly lower, across the board today: 2 year bond closed lower by 2/32 at 99 27/32; 5 year bond closed lower by 4/32 at 99 20/32; 10 year bond moved lower by 1/32 today to close at 102 8/32 and the 30 year bond moved higher by 8/32 to close at 104 22/32 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 3,918,521; Open Interest for Futures moved higher by 6,698 points to close at 8,824,112; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 179,559 points to close at 8,419,493 and the Cleared Only closed lower by 120 points to close at 8,464 for a total Open Interest on the day of 17,252,069 with a total Change on the day of a gain of 186,137 points.

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 1,023; decliners totaled 2,188; unchanged came in at 92; new highs came in at 52 and new lows came in at 85. Gainers and losers for the day as well as active day trading stocks on the NYSE: CME Group Incorporated (CME) moved lower on the new start of a week by 8.50 points with a high on the session of $548.00, a low of $537.05 with a closing price of $540.10; Rio Tinto plc (RTP) continued it trend into lower territory today with a posted loss on the session of 6.34 points with a high on the session of $295.67, a low of $290.28 for a final trading price of $292.51; VMware Incorporated (VMW) shed 4.22 points today for a closing price on the session of $73.70; Suncom Wireless Holdings Incorporated (TPC) posted a nice gain on the session by 16.59% to tack on 3.65 points for a closing price of $25.65; EDO Corporation (EDO) moved higher on the day by 3.33 points with a closing price of $54.84; Las Vegas Sands Corporation (LVS) made a nice move into higher territory today with a high of $125.98, a low of $119.41 for a gain of 4.71 points with a closing price at the bell of $125.40 and PHH Corporation (PHH) fell sharply lower today to post a loss of 14.95% to shed 4.26 points with a closing price of $24.24.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 878; decliners totaled 2,112 unchanged came in at 121; new highs came in at 45 and new lows came in at 83. Gainers and losers for the day as well as, active day trading stocks on the NASDAQ: Business Objects S.A. (BOBJ) posted a gain on the day of 3.02 points for a closing price of $45.40; InfoSpace Incorporated (INSP) rallied higher on the day with a gain of 4.05 points for a move higher by 30.57% with a closing price of $17.38; iRobot Corporation (IRBT) posted a strong loss on the day by 5.35 points to shed 22.65% with a closing price of $18.27; Life Partners Holdings Incorporated (LPHI) plummeted on the session with a loss of 15.62% to give up 6.21 points with a high on the day of $39.26, a low of $33.06 for a closing price at the bell of $33.55 and Baidu.com Incorporated (BIDU) roared higher on the session to post a gain of 18.01 points with a high on the day of $253.48, a low of $239.53 for a closing price of $252.89.

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