Daily Market Commentary for April 2, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com

What a difference a day makes. Was the negative tone to the markets today profit taking or was Tuesday's rally just a fluke? Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testified in front of Congressional Joint Economic Committee today and finally admitted that the economy is headed for a recession. Funny though, there are areas around the country that could have told him they are already in a recession and not merely heading for one. Bernanke said he believes the recession will be a short one. For the sake of Americans already feeling the wake of the recession, we certainly hope so. Crude Oil bolted higher again today thus, adding continued fear at the fuel pump. Considerable pressure remains on the banking industry making it difficult for potential home buyers to take stake as first time home owners. The Fed commented today that, the fall of Bear Stearns could have created a much larger problem in the industry, much larger than the initial collapse of the Bear, itself. Thus, assisting in the bailout had very little alternative.

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) loss of 45.44 points on the day to end the session at 12,608.92

NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) gain of 15.98 points to end the session at 9,104.47

NASDAQ loss of 1.35 points for a close at 2,361.40

S&P 500 loss of 2.65 points for a close at 1,367.53

FTSE All-World ex-U.S. gain of 2.43 points to close at 245.44

FTSE RAFI 1000 loss of 5.83 points to close at 5,558.56

BEL 20 gain of 21.04 points on the day to end the session at 3,837.77

CAC 40 gain of 45.97 points on the day to end the session at 4,911.97

FTSE100 gain of 63.3 points on the day to end the session at 5,915.90

NIKKEI 225 triple digit gain of 533 points on the day to end the session at 13,189.40

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 1,841, decliners totaled 1,311; unchanged came in at 91; new highs came in at 50 and new lows came in at 16. Momentum NYSE stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros S.A. (Unibanco) (UBB) gained 2.33 points with a high on the day of $129.25, a low of $123.50 for a closing price at $125.08; InterContinental Exchange, Incorporated (ICE) gained 8.78 points with a high on the day of $150.80, a low of $138.50 for a closing price at $138.50; Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR) gained 3.92 points with a high on the day of $109.91, a low of $105.04 for a closing price at $108.47; The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BK) shed 2.13 points with a high on the day of $44.28, a low of $41.25 for a closing price at $42.00; VeriFone Holdings Incorporated (PAY) shed 3.19 points with a high on the day of $16.36, a low of $12.53 for a closing price at $13.64; Best Buy Company Incorporated (BBY) gained 0.47 points with a high on the day of $45.66, a low of $43.38 for a closing price at $43.94; FTI Consulting, Incorporated (FCN) shed 2.78 points with a high on the day of $69.07, a low of $63.15 for a closing price at $66.19; Clear Channel Communications Incorporated (CCU) shed 0.26 points with a high on the day of $29.12, a low of $27.64 for a closing price at $28.24; Southern Copper Corporation (PCU) gained 3.74 points with a high on the day of $110.39, a low of $104.76 for a closing price at $109.78; CME Group, Incorporated (CME) gained 8.11 points with a high on the day of $518.04, a low of $498.29 for a closing price at $508.10; ;Mosaic Corporation (MOS) shed 1.28 points with a high on the day of $103.33, a low of $95.60 for a closing price at $100.17; Monsanto Corporation (MON) shed 0.95 points with a high on the day of $112.42, a low of $105.84 for a closing price at $112.00; UltraShort Financials ProShares (SKF) gained 0.63 points with a high on the day of $103.09, a low of $97.88 for a closing price at $101.23; BlackRock, Incorporated (BLK) shed 1.56 points with a high on the day of $221.47, a low of $212.85 for a closing price at $218.90; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Incorporated (POT) gained 2.05 points with a high on the day of $164.00, a low of $155.81 for a closing price at $161.09.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 1,544; decliners totaled 1,369; unchanged came in at 122; new highs came in at 33 and new lows came in at 68. Momentum NASDAQ stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Lululemon Athletica Incorporated (LULU) shed 0.77 points with a high on the day of $34.44, a low of $29.93 for a closing price at $30.80; Equinix Incorporated (EQIX) gained 1.46 points with a high on the day of $73.00, a low of $69.11 for a closing price at $70.77; Immucor Incorporated (BLUD) gained 2.30 points with a high on the day of $27.30, a low of $25.35 for a closing price at $25.90; LoJack Corporation (LOJN) shed 2.60 points with a high on the day of $10.36, a low of $9.11 for a closing price at $10.14; Solarfun Power Holdings Company Limited (SOLF) gained 2.24 points with a high on the day of $14.55, a low of $12.68 for a closing price at $14.55; Baidu.com, Incorporated (BIDU) gained 8.23 points with a high on the day of $292.00, a low of $264.44 for a closing price at $281.48; First Solar, Incorporated (FSLR) gained 12.02 points with a high on the day of $251.09 a low of $236.67 for a closing price at $249.55; Google Incorporated (GOOG) shed 0.01 points with a high on the day of $475.74, a low of $460.39 for a closing price at $465.70; ***** Incorporated (AAPL) shed 2.04 points with a high on the day of $151.20, a low of $145.85 for a closing price at $147.49.

Department Of Energy: U.S. Crude Oil Stocks rose 7.317 Million Barrels at 319.164 Million Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles fell 4.525 Million Barrels at 224.71 Million Barrels; U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles rose 7.317 Million Barrels at 319.164 Million Barrels; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles fell 1.629 Million Barrels at 109.72 Million Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles fell 4.525 Million Barrels at 224.71 Million Barrels; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles fell 1.629 Million Barrels at 109.72 Million Barrels; U.S. Refineries Ran at capacity of 82.4% versus 82.2% a week ago.

US Factory Orders fell 1.3% in February compared to consensus of a drop by 0.8%; February Factory Orders, Excluding Transportation fell 1.8%; February Factory Orders, Excluding Defense fell 1.5%; February Durable Goods Revised to a drop by 1.1% from a drop by 1.7%; January Factory Orders Revised to a drop by 2.3% from a drop by 2.5%.

ADP sees March U.S. Private Sector Jobs increase by 8,000; ADP March U.S. Private Sector Jobs Expected to fall by 70,000.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke: Risk from Bear Stearns Deal 'Much Less' than $30B; Treasury Regulatory Blueprint 'Interest, useful' 1st Step; Fed Needs Adequate Powers if Regulatory Role Rises; GSE Reform Key to Improving Housing Sector; Fed has 'Never Lost a Penny' in Liquidity Actions; Fed Still has Monetary Policy tools if needed; Tax Hikes would be 'Concern' in Short Term; Confident Fed will Recover Bear Stearns financing; Bear Stearns Collateral 'Entirely Investment Grade'; Fed actions have lowered Liquidity Premiums; Mortgage Rates 'Considerably Lower' due to Fed actions; Big differences between the 1930s and today; Expects Housing to stabilize in late '2008, '2009; Fed Actions have Offset some of 'Credit Crunch'; China's recent Yuan appreciation 'helpful'; Fiscal Stimulus Package 'Quite Adequate for now'; Fed may make money on Bear Stearns Financing deal; Encouraging that UBS was able to Raise Capital; Fed was aware of UBS problems for quite a while; 'Nowhere Near' Conditions where Bank Bailout needed; Bernanke, central bank would need adequate powers if its regulatory role increases.

Commodities Markets
The trend was higher across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved higher today by $3.85 to close at $104.83 a barrel; Heating Oil moved higher today by $0.07 to close at $2.95 a gallon; Natural Gas moved higher today by $0.11 to close at $9.83 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher today by $0.13 to close at $2.77 a gallon.

Metals Markets ended the session higher across the board today: Gold moved higher today by $12.40 to close at $900.20 a Troy ounce; Silver moved higher today by $0.29 to close at $17.18 per Troy ounce; Platinum moved sharply higher today by $26.80 to close at $1,964.60 per Troy ounce and Copper moved higher today by $0.07 to close at $3.88 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mixed across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day higher by $0.18 to close at $66.60; Pork Bellies ended the day higher by $0.80 to close at $67.88; Live Cattle ended the day lower by $0.58 to close at $87.55 and Feeder Cattle ended the day lower by $1.80 to close at $99.55.

Other Commodities: Corn ended the day nicely higher by $10.00 at $603.00 and Soybeans ended the day sharply higher by $32.00 to end the session at $1,243.00.

Bonds were lower across the board today: 2 year bond closed lower by 7/32 at 99 22/32; 5 year bond moved lower by 14/32 to close at 98 28/32 today; 10 year bond moved lower by 13/32 to close at 99 4/32 and the 30 year bond moved lower by 6/32 to close at 99 19/32 on the day.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 12,583 with a loss of 44 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 189,166 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 4,452,285; Open Interest for Futures moved higher by 42,383 points to close at 9,381,127; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 78,932 points to close at 8,320,451 and the Cleared Only moved lower by 481 points to close at 28,008 for a total Open Interest on the day of 17,729,586 for a total Change on the day with a gain of 120,834 points.

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