Ambac Remains on Negative Credit Watch

Daily Market Commentary for March 05, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com

At the closing bell on the Stock Exchange, here is how the major indices ended the session on the U.S. Markets:

DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) gain of 41.19 points on the day to end the session at 12,254.99

NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) gain of 70.96 points to end the session at 8,8962.41

NASDAQ gain of 12.53 points for a close at 2,272.81

S&P 500 gain of 6.95 points for a close at 1,333.70

FTSE All-World ex-U.S. gain of 2.08 points to close at 239.84

FTSE RAFI 1000 gain of 20.90 points to close at 5,463.57

BEL 20 gain of 60.97 points to close at 3,735.98

CAC 40 gain of 80.51 points to close at 4,756.42

FTSE100 gain of 85.8 points to close at 5,853.60

NIKKEI 225 unchanged at 12,992.30

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 1,848, decliners totaled 1,323; unchanged came in at 25; new highs came in at 103 and new lows came in at 103. Momentum NYSE stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) shed 0.44 points with a high on the day of $57.45, a low of $54.22 for a closing price at $56.23; iShares Silver Trust (SLV) gained 10.01 points with a high on the day of $206.80, a low of $198.34 for a closing price at $206.21; Ambac Financial Group, Incorporated (ABK) shed 2.02 points with a high on the day of $11.94, a low of $8.32 for a closing price at $8.70; CF Industries Holdings, Incorporated (CF) gained 3.86 points with a high on the day of $124.47, a low of $118.51 for a closing price at $123.48; Barr Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (BRL) shed 1.99 points with a high on the day of $49.54, a low of $46.60 for a closing price at $47.48; Baxter International Incorporated (BAX) shed 1.42 points with a high on the day of $59.40, a low of $57.55 for a closing price at $58.12; Continental Airlines, Incorporated (CAL) gained 1.48 points with a high on the day of $25.89, a low of $23.40 for a closing price at $25.66; InterContinental Exchange, Incorporated (ICE) gained 1.49 points with a high on the day of $144.26, a low of $136.01 for a closing price at $136.86; iShares Silver Trust (SLV) gained 10.01 points with a high on the day of $206.80, a low of $198.34 for a closing price at $206.21; TIM Participacoes SA (TSU) shed 2.08 points with a high on the day of $43.14, a low of $39.73 for a closing price at $40.17; CME Group, Incorporated (CME) shed 15.44 points with a high on the day of $518.89, a low of $503.00 for a closing price at $518.44; Mosaic Corporation (MOS) gained 1.72 points with a high on the day of $112.48, a low of $107.56 for a closing price at $110.64; Transocean, Incorporated (RIG) gained 4.31 points with a high on the day of $141.34, a low of $137.12 for a closing price at $141.16; NCI Building Systems Incorporated (NCS) shed 1.26 points with a high on the day of $23.45, a low of $21.08 for a closing price at $22.28.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 1,525; decliners totaled 1,382; unchanged came in at 128; new highs came in at 26 and new lows came in at 168. Momentum NASDAQ stocks traded by active Day Traders today: PDL BioPharma Incorporated (PDLI) shed 5.13 points with a high on the day of $12.45, a low of $10.36 for a closing price at $10.71; Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) shed 1.56 points with a high on the day of $62.58, a low of $60.28 for a closing price at $60.83; Priceline.com Incorporated (PCLN) gained 3.04 points with a high on the day of $119.70, a low of $113.26 for a closing price at $118.37; Apollo Group Incorporated (APOL) shed 2.18 points with a high on the day of $57.91, a low of $54.85 for a closing price at $55.14; Intuitive Surgical, Incorporated (ISRG) gained 6.24 points with a high on the day of $288.91, a low of $280.19 for a closing price at $286.32; Baidu.com, Incorporated (BIDU) shed 3.93 points with a high on the day of $248.74, a low of $238.63 for a closing price at $242.22; Research In Motion Limited (RIMM) shed 2.93 points with a high on the day of $105.28, a low of $100.80 for a closing price at $101.73; ***** Incorporated (AAPL) shed 0.13 points with a high on the day of $125.14, a low of $122.25 for a closing price at $124.49; Google Incorporated (GOOG) gained 3.10 points with a high on the day of $454.17, a low of $444.00 for a closing price at $447.70; First Solar, Incorporated (FSLR) gained 10.59 points with a high on the day of $213.42, a low of $204.47 for a closing price at $213.19.

ADP sees February U.S. Private Sector Jobs fell 23,000; ADP February U.S. Private Sector Jobs expected to drop by 10,000.

U.S. 4Q Unit Labor Costs Consensus rose 2.2%; U.S. 4Q Unit Labor Costs revised to an increase by 2.6% from an increase by 2.1%; U.S. 4Q Non-Farm Productivity Consensus rose 1.8%; U.S. 4Q Non-Farm Productivity revised to an increase by 1.9% from an increase by 1.8%.

U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) February Non-Manufacturing Composite Index came in at 49.3; U.S. ISM February Non-Manufacturing Composite Index expected to come in at 46.5; U.S. ISM February Non-Manufacturing Business Index came in at 50.8; U.S. ISM February Non-Manufacturing Composite Index came in at 49.3 versus January reading at 44.6; U.S. ISM February Non-Manufacturing Business Index came in at 50.8 versus January reading at 41.9; U.S. ISM February Non-Manufacturing Employment Index came in at 46.9 versus January reading at 43.9; U.S. ISM February Non-Manufacturing Prices Index came in a 67.9 versus January reading at 70.7; U.S. ISM February Non-Manufacturing New Orders Index came in at 49.6 versus January reading at 43.5.

U.S. Factory Orders fell 2.5% in January compared to consensus of a drop by 2.5%; U.S. January Factory Orders, Excluding Transportation fell 0.4%; U.S. January Factory Orders Excluding Defense fell 2.0%; U.S. January Durable Goods revised to a drop by 5.1% from a drop by 5.3%; U.S. December Factory Orders revised to an increase by 2.0% from an increase by 2.3%.

Layoffs Fall 4% To 72,091 In February, Challenger Says planned corporate job reductions came in at 72,091 in February, down by about 4% from January's announced cuts and "well below" recessionary levels, per Challenger Gray & Christmas reported today Planned job cuts were down 14% from the 84,014 of February 2007. Through the first two months of the year, layoffs were unchanged compared to last year per Challenger Gray's data. In February, the government and nonprofit sector took the top position from the financial industry by cutting 10,870 jobs. Retail firms announced 6,918 job reductions. "The fact that these two sectors topped the job-cut list in February is clear evidence that the slowdown has moved beyond the housing and financial industries," said John Challenger, chief executive of the firm that bears his name. Job-cut activity remains "well below levels we would expect in a recession," John Challenger said. "The relatively mild 2001 recession resulted in monthly job cuts that averaged about 140,000." The nonscientific Challenger Gray survey covers announcements of job reductions by major companies, government agencies and nonprofit organizations. The figures represent a small fraction of the workers who lose their jobs each month. In December,1.8 million workers were let go, representing about 1.3% of total employment, according to the latest available data from the Labor Department. By comparison, 2 million people voluntarily quit their jobs in November. The layoff announcements tracked by Challenger Gray could take place immediately or over time. The reductions could be accomplished by voluntary means such as retirements, buyouts or workers leaving for other jobs and they could be offset by hiring in other divisions of a company.

Commodities Markets
The trend was higher across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved higher today by $5.0 to close at $104.52 a barrel; Heating Oil moved higher today by $0.15 to close at $2.94 a gallon; Natural Gas moved higher today by $0.39 to close at $9.74 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher today by $0.22 to close at $2.64 a gallon.

Metals Markets ended the session higher across the board today: Gold moved sharply higher today by $21.40 to close at $998.50 a Troy ounce; Silver moved higher today by $0.95 to close at $20.79 per Troy ounce; Platinum moved higher today by $9.10 to close at $2,267.00 per Troy ounce and Copper closed higher by $0.14 to close at $3.98 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly lower across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day lower by $0.05 to close at $56.78; Pork Bellies ended the day higher by $1.75 to close at $87.85; Live Cattle ended the day lower by $0.55 to close at $90.60 and Feeder Cattle ended the day lower by $0.65 to close at $104.30.

Other Commodities: Corn ended the day higher by $12.00 at $567.00 and Soybeans ended the day lower by $2.25 to end the session at $1,508.50.

Bonds were lower across the board today: 2 year bond closed lower by 1/32 at 100 20/32; 5 year bond moved lower by 10/32 to close at 100 21/32 today; 10 year bond moved lower by 24/32 to close at 98 9/32 and the 30 year bond moved lower by 1 20/32 to close at 96 6/32 on the day.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 12,221 with a loss of 1 point on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 248,001 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.

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 5,737,309; Open Interest for Futures moved lower by 161,532 points to close at 10,277,865; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 284,145 points to close at 7,285,939 and the Cleared Only moved lower by 10 points to close at 27,113 for a total Open Interest on the day of 17,590,917 for a total Change on the day with a gain of 122,603 points.

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