Market Commentary for August 15, 2007


The law of gravity had the upper hand on the market trading action today. Although we saw the major indices move into the green zone several times during the day, into the final hour of trading, the trend was definitely, moving much lower. At the close of the session, amidst moderate trading volume, the major indices closed near their lows of the day.

At the closing bell, here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) posted a triple digit loss again today of 167.45 points to end the session at 12,861.47; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) posted a triple digit loss again as well by 165.23 points to end the session at 9,089.04; the NASDAQ posted a loss of 40.29 points for a close at 2,458.83; the S&P 500 moved lower by 19.84 points to end at 1,406.70 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved lower by 11.33 points to close at 751.54. 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) posted a loss of 4.91 points to close at 243.45 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 posted a loss of 89.34 points to close at 5,825.31.

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. As released today: U.S. Mortgage Bankers’ Association Index Rises 2.6% to 1929.6 from 1881.1; U.S. Mortgage Bankers’ Association Purchase Index Rises 3.9% to 464.9 from 447.4 and U.S. Mortgage Bankers’ Association Market Index Rises 3.4% to 678.7 from 656.5.

Consumer Price Index (CPI): The measure of the average price level of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by consumers; monthly changes represent the rate of inflation. CPI data released today: U.S. July Consumer Prices rose 0.1% versus consensus of an increase by 0.1%; U.S. July CPI Excluding Food & Energy rose 0.2% versus consensus of an increase by 0.2%; U.S. July CPI Unrounded rose 0.117%; U.S. July Core CPI rose 0.236%; U.S. July CPI Energy Prices fell 1.0%; U.S. July CPI Food Prices rose 0.3% and U.S. Real Average Weekly Earnings fell 0.1% in July.

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. Empire State Manufacturing Survey Index data released today: New York Fed's August Manufacturing Index came in at 25.06 versus 26.46 in July; New York Fed August New Orders 22.21 versus 26.52 in July; New York Fed August Employment 11.62 versus 11.39 in July and New York Fed August Prices Received 3.23 versus 8.64 in July.

Treasury International Capital: The flow of financial instruments into and out of the United States is tracked by this Treasury data. Tracking is included for: Treasury Securities, agency securities, corporate bonds and corporate equities.

Data released today: Net Foreign Buys of U.S. Equities came in at $28.8 Billion in June; Net Foreign Capital Inflow To U.S. $58.8 Billion in June; Net Foreign Buys of U.S. Treasury Notes, Bonds $54.3 Billion in June; Net Foreign Buys of U.S. Agency Debt $39.7 Billion in June; Net Foreign Buys of U.S. Corp Bonds $25.9 Billion in June and June Net Foreign Acquisition of Long-Term U.S. Securities $107.0B.

Industrial Production: The physical output of the nation’s factories, utilities and mines. The Industrial sector accounts for less than one fifth of the economy with a mostly cyclical variation. The usage of available resources amount utilities, mines and factories is the capacity utilization rate. A warning sign of inflationary pressure is detected by an increase operating rate. Industrial Production data released today: U.S. June Capacity use was revised to 81.8% from 81.7%; U.S. June Industrial Production revised to +0.6% from an increase by 0.5%; U.S. July Capacity Utilizations rose 0.1-Pt at 81.9 versus consensus of 81.7% and U.S. July Industrial Production rose 0.3% versus consensus of an increase by 0.2%.

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 our Petroleum Status Report today: U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles fell by 5.2 Million Barrels in the week compared to consensus of a drop by 2.1 Million Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles -1.1 Million Barrels in the week compared to consensus of a drop by 400,000 Million Barrels; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles Up 200,000 Barrels in the week compared to consensus of a an increase by 1.0 Million Barrels and U.S. Refineries ran at a capacity of 91.8% compared to consensus of a rise by 0.5 Pt. at 91.8%.

Housing Market Index: Survey created by the National Association of Home Builders for a rating on the general economy and housing market conditions. Released today by the U.S. National Association of Home Builders: Aug Housing Index came in at 22 versus 24 in July.

Commodities Markets

The trend was mostly higher across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved higher by $0.95 today to close at $73.33 a barrel; Heating Oil ended the session higher by $0.04 today to close at $2.03 gallon; Natural Gas moved lower today by $0.09 to close at $7.04 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher by $0.04 again today to close at $2.01 a gallon.

Metals Market ended the session mostly lower across the board today: Gold closed with no change at $679.70 an ounce; Silver closed lower today by $0.19 to close at $12.56 per ounce; Platinum moved lower today by $5.50 to close at $1,271.50 an ounce and Copper moved lower by $0.04 to close at $3.32 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly higher across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day lower by 1.23 to close at 68.58; Pork Bellies ended the day higher by 0.08 to close at 92.85; Live Cattle moved higher by 0.78 to close at 95.93 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by 0.53 at 116.55.

Other Commodities: Corn moved higher on the day with a small gain of 0.25 at 345.25 and Soybeans moved sharply lower again today for a loss of 11.50 points to end the session at 854.50.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 12,902 with another sharp loss of 187 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 253,773 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 higher across the board today amidst another strong market sell off: 2 year bond moved higher by 4/32 today to close at 100 19/32; 5 year bond moved higher by 7/32 yet again today to close at 100 25/32; 10 year bond moved higher by 2/32 at 100 7/32 and the 30 year bond moved lower by 17/32 to close at 99 20/32 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 4,503,570; Open Interest for Futures moved higher by 195,300 points to close at 10,002,545; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 87,085 points to close at 9,251,463 and the Open Interest for OTC closed at 7,581 for a total Open Interest of 19,261,589 for a total Open Interest on the day for a gain of 282,385 points.

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 544; decliners totaled 2,725; unchanged came in at 63; new highs came in at 12 and new lows came in at 709. Gainers and losers for the day as well as active day trading stocks on the NYSE: Perini Corporation (PCR) moved sharply lower today by 10.79% for a loss of 5.99 points with a high on the trading day of $55.50, a low of $48.51 with a closing price at $49.51; CME Group Incorporated (CME) plummeted lower again today by 22.40 points with a high on the trading session of $567.00, a low of $538.75 with a closing price on the day of $539.90; VMware Incorporated (VMW) a recent IPO, bolted higher today to post a gain of 6.71 points to rise 13.16% with a high on the trading day of $59.87, a low of $51.50 with a closing price on the Big Board at $57.71; Copa Holdings S.A. (CPA) was a very active trading stock for day traders today with a high on the session of $50.80, a low of $44.21 with a loss of 10.88% to shed 5.73 points for a final trading price at $46.95; Cummins Incorporated (CMI) moved lower again today for a loss of 4.20 points to provide active trading for day traders with a high on the trading day of $115.28, a low of $107.15 to close on the day at $107.82 and Thornburg Mortgage Incorporated (TMA) was very active on the trading day with a high of $12.18, a low of $7.68 with a very nice gain on the session of 38.76% to tack on 2.95 points with a closing price of $10.56.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 923; decliners totaled 2,159; unchanged came in at 108, new highs came in at 12 and new lows came in at 198. Gainers and losers for the day as well as, active day trading stocks on the NASDAQ: Coleman Cable Incorporated (CCIX) was a very active day trading stock with a high on the session of $19.35, a low of $10.67 to shed a whopping 42.22% for a sharp loss of 8.28 points with a closing price on the trading session of $11.33; Apple Incorporated (AAPL) moved lower today with a loss of 4.13 points for a final trading price of $119.90; Google Incorporated (GOOG) shed a whopping 11.05 points on the day with a closing price on the session of $497.55 and Research in Motion Limited (RIMM) moves sharply lower on the trading day with a strong following by day traders by 8.25 points on the session for a final trading price of $197.75.

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Millennium-Traders