Will the Bear Become a Penny Stock?

Daily Market Commentary for March 17, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com

Ouch, damn that hurts! Bear Stearns Companies (BSC) led the markets in a wicked down hill spiral today after its stock traded in a low single digit range after JPMorgan Chase & Company agreed to buy BSC for $2.00 (two dollars) a share or $240 million - double ouch! British tycoon, Joe Lewis felt the serious pain of Bears demise today as well by taking a loss of $1 Billion. The Federal Reserve approved financing for JPMorgan up to $30 Billion for Bear's 'less liquid assets'. Investment banks tumbled as did the entire market today. Gainers were lonely on the street today. Investors are shivering on the sidelines with the fear of who is next. Sunday, the Federal Reserve lowered the discount rate, which is the rate charged to banks and depository institutions for short-term funds borrowing, from 3.5% down to 3.25% in an attempt to bolster market liquidity and promote orderly market functioning. Investors, day traders and the world awaits the Federal Reserves decision on Interest Rates tomorrow. Right now the question is not if the Fed will cut but, how much the Fed is going to cut. Expectations are in such a range with the seriousness of the economic situation this country is in, for the potential of a rate cut as high as 100 basis points.

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 21.16 points on the day to end the session at 11,972.25

NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) triple digit loss of 146.54 points to end the session at 8,489.38

NASDAQ loss of 35.48 points for a close at 2,177.01

S&P 500 loss of 11.54 points for a close at 1,276.60

FTSE All-World ex-U.S. loss of 7.94 points to close at 228.37

FTSE RAFI 1000 triple digit loss of 138.81 points to close at 5,230.26

BEL 20 triple digit loss of 151.9 points to close at 3,554.14

CAC 40 triple digit loss of 199.15 points to close at 4,431.04

FTSE100 triple digit loss of 278 points to close at 5,414.40

NIKKEI 225 triple digit loss of 645.9 points to close at 11,787.50

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 571, decliners totaled 2,631; unchanged came in at 53; new highs came in at 23 and new lows came in at 726. Momentum NYSE stocks traded by active Day Traders today: UBS AG (UBS) shed 3.10 points with a high on the day of $26.67, a low of $22.19 for a closing price at $24.66; Lehman Brothers Holdings Incorporated (LEH) shed 8.25 points with a high on the day of $34.91, a low of $20.25 for a closing price at $31.75; Tempur Pedic International Incorporated (TPX) shed 6.36 points with a high on the day of $11.80, a low of $9.51 for a closing price at $10.50; Bunge Limited (BG) shed 3.01 points with a high on the day of $93.47, a low of $88.08 for a closing price at $91.17; Las Vegas Sands Corporation (LVS) shed 3.25 points with a high on the day of $73.50, a low of $70.00 for a closing price at $71.56; National City Corporation (NCC) shed 5.63 points with a high on the day of $12.06, a low of $6.56 for a closing price at $7.52; MF Global Limited (MF) shed 11.29 points with a high on the day of $16.11, a low of $3.64 for a closing price at $6.06; FactSet Research Systems Incorporated (FDS) shed 4.00 points with a high on the day of $48.25, a low of $43.04 for a closing price at $44.99; NYMEX Holdings Incorporated (NMX) shed 11.04 points with a high on the day of $91.13, a low of $74.30 for a closing price at $84.30; Rio Tinto plc (RTP) shed 43.00 points with a high on the day of $428.29, a low of $403.04 for a closing price at $405.75; Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Incorporated (FCX) shed 7.00 points with a high on the day of $98.99, a low of $92.66 for a closing price at $94.61; InterContinental Exchange, Incorporated (ICE) shed 8.92 points with a high on the day of $128.70, a low of $110.25 for a closing price at $122.71; Goldman Sachs Group Incorporated (GS) shed 5.84 points with a high on the day of $154.12, a low of $140.27 for a closing price at $151.02; CME Group, Incorporated (CME) shed 36.85 points with a high on the day of $470.01, a low of $399.01 for a closing price at $449.20; Mosaic Corporation (MOS) shed 4.32 points with a high on the day of $105.96, a low of $99.75 for a closing price at $102.91.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 723; decliners totaled 2,261; unchanged came in at 104; new highs came in at 10 and new lows came in at 531. Momentum NASDAQ stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Baidu.com, Incorporated (BIDU) shed 20.95 points with a high on the day of $262.99, a low of $238.20 for a closing price at $247.10; Research In Motion Limited (RIMM) shed 3.57 points with a high on the day of $100.39, a low of $96.05 for a closing price at $98.12; Google Incorporated (GOOG) shed 18.05 points with a high on the day of $433.71, a low of $412.11 for a closing price at $419.87; Focus Media Holding Limited (FMCN) shed 11.66 points with a high on the day of $40.77, a low of $29.25 for a closing price at $32.19; First Solar, Incorporated (FSLR) shed 6.94 points with a high on the day of $197.21, a low of $185.58 for a closing price at $193.90; FCStone Group, Incorporated (FCSX) shed 214.62 points with a high on the day of $32.77, a low of $18.39 for a closing price at $21.44; GFI Group Incorporated (GFIG) shed 14.11 points with a high on the day of $63.64, a low of $32.66 for a closing price at $51.01.

Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for January 2008 are released today and posted on the U.S. Treasury web site (U.S. Treasury - Treasury International Capital System - Home Page). The next release, which will report on data for February, is scheduled for April 15, 2008. Net foreign purchases of long-term securities were $62.0 billion. Net foreign purchases of long-term U.S. securities were $81.2 billion. Of this, net purchases by foreign official institutions were $53.4 billion, and net purchases by private foreign investors were $27.8 billion. U.S. residents purchased a net $19.2 billion of long-term foreign securities. Net foreign acquisition of long-term securities, taking into account adjustments, is estimated to have been $47.2 billion. Foreign holdings of dollar-denominated short-term U.S. securities, including Treasury bills, and other custody liabilities increased $73.8 billion. Foreign holdings of Treasury bills increased $11.6 billion. Banks' own net dollar-denominated liabilities to foreign residents decreased $83.6 billion. Monthly net TIC flows were positive $37.4 billion. Of this, net foreign private flows were negative $38.2 billion, and net foreign official flows were positive $75.5 billion.

New York Fed's March Manufacturing Index fell 22.23 versus a drop by 11.72 in February; New York Fed's March New Orders fell 4.69 versus a drop by 11.88 in February; New York Fed's March Employment 4.49 versus a drop by 2.11 in February; New York Fed's March Prices Received 15.73 versus 17.89 in February.

U.S. Feb Industrial Production fell 0.5% compared to consensus of a drop by 0.1%; U.S. Feb Capacity Utilization fell 6.0-Pt at 80.9% compared to consensus of 81.3%; U.S. January Industrial Production Unrevised at an increase by 0.1%; U.S. January Capacity Use Unrevised at 81.5%.

Chicago Fed: Regional Machinery, Resource Output up in January; Midwest Steel Manufacturing drops 0.9% in January versus December; Regional Auto Output tumbles 1.4% In January versus December; December Manufacturing Index Revised up to 105.4 from 104.7; Midwest Manufacturing Index Slips 0.1% in January versus December.

Commodities Markets
The trend was lower across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved lower today by $5.85 to close at $104.36 a barrel; Heating Oil moved lower today by $0.10 to close at $2.94 a gallon; Natural Gas moved lower today by $0.87 to close at $9.29 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved lower today by $0.20 to close at $2.49 a gallon.

Metals Markets ended the session mostly lower across the board today: Gold moved higher today by $3.10 to close at $1,002.60 a Troy ounce; Silver moved lower today by $0.36 to close at $20.30 per Troy ounce; Platinum moved incredibly sharply lower today by $102.60 to close at $1,973.40 per Troy ounce and Copper moved lower today by $0.14 to close a $3.69 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly lower across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day higher by $1.03 to close at $71.48; Pork Bellies ended the day lower by $0.55 to close at $79.53; Live Cattle ended the day lower by $0.98 to close at $89.98 and Feeder Cattle ended the day lower by $1.30 to close at $103.83.

Other Commodities: Corn ended the day sharply lower by $20.00 at $539.25 and Soybeans ended the day sharply lower by $50.00 to end the session at $1,302.75.

Bonds were higher across the board today: 2 year bond closed higher by 7/32 at 101 6/32; 5 year bond moved higher by 22/32 to close at 102 10/32 today; 10 year bond moved higher by 25/32 to close at 101 7/32 and the 30 year bond moved higher by 27/32 to close at 100 31/32 on the day.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 12,074 with a gain of 90 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 397,808 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 5,901,550; Open Interest for Futures moved lower by 88,503 points to close at 9,759,891; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 232,451 points to close at 8,695,679 and the Cleared Only moved lower by 429 points to close at 27,243 for a total Open Interest on the day of 18,482,813 for a total Change on the day with a gain of 143,519 points.

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