Daily Market Commentary for March 18, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com

Markets surge on the day; DOW closed the session higher by 421 points, New York Stock Exchange bolts higher by over 337 points. Federal Open Market Committee Voted today to cut the Discount Rate by 0.75 Points to 2.50%; Federal Funds Rate was cut by 0.75 Points to 2.25%; the Fed confirms they are open to more Rate Cuts if needed; FOMC Members voted 8-2 for Federal Funds Rate Cut; FOMC members Richard W. Fisher and Charles I. Plosser dissented and preferred less aggressive action; FOMC additional comments: Financial Markets remain under considerable stress; Tight Credit, Housing Contraction likely to weigh on growth; Inflation should moderate over coming quarters; Uncertainty over Inflation Outlook has Increased; Downside Risks to Growth Remain; FOMC Will Act in a Timely Manner to Promote Growth as well as Price Stability; FOMC Will Monitor Inflation Developments Carefully. Prior to the Fed announcement, the DOW was higher by over 200 points at times throughout the trading session. After the Fed announcement, the markets continued their move higher for gains in excess of 300 points. The trading session today was the complete opposite from Monday with gains generally across the board after Goldman Sachs and Lehman brothers earnings pleased the street.

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) triple digit gain of 420.41 points on the day to end the session at 12,392.66

NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) triple digit gain of 337.06 points to end the session at 8,826.44

NASDAQ gain of 91.25 points for a close at 2,268.26

S&P 500 gain of 54.13 points for a close at 1,330.73

FTSE All-World ex-U.S. gain of 6.31 points to close at 234.11

FTSE RAFI 1000 triple digit gain of 191.48 points to close at 5,394.52

BEL 20 triple digit gain of 105.61 points to close at 3,659.75

CAC 40 triple digit gain of 151.55 points to close at 4,582.59

FTSE100 triple digit gain of 191.4 points to close at 5,605.80

NIKKEI 225 triple digit gain of 176.7 points to close at 11,964.20

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 2.833, decliners totaled 385; unchanged came in at 51; new highs came in at 22 and new lows came in at 141. Momentum NYSE stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Getty Realty Corporation (GTY) shed 11.55 points with a high on the day of $27.72, a low of $13.33 for a closing price at $15.41; Kirby Corporation (KEX) gained 7.76 points with a high on the day of $52.78, a low of $47.25 for a closing price at $52.26; The Bear Stearns Companies, Incorporated (BSC) gained 1.10 points with a high on the day of $8.50, a low of $5.01 for a closing price at $5.91; BlackRock, Incorporated (BLK) gained 9.71 points with a high on the day of $187.12, a low of $175.06 for a closing price at $186.86; Mechel Open Joint Stock Company (MTL) gained 2.06 points with a high on the day of $135.09, a low of $126.17 for a closing price at $130.46; Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) shed 5.74 points with a high on the day of $80.42, a low of $73.56 for a closing price at $74.00; NAVTEQ Corporation (NVT) shed 1.73 points with a high on the day of $69.99, a low of $65.99 for a closing price at $67.25; Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated (CLF) gained 4.45 points with a high on the day of $119.17, a low of $111.53 for a closing price at $115.65; Transocean, Incorporated (RIG) gained 6.85 points with a high on the day of $139.20, a low of $135.07 for a closing price at $139.19; Fannie Mae (FNM) gained 6.01 points with a high on the day of $29.08, a low of $23.60 for a closing price at $28.22; Goldman Sachs Group Incorporated (GS) gained 24.57 points with a high on the day of $175.88, a low of $159.76 for a closing price at $175.59; UBS AG (UBS) gained 4.19 points with a high on the day of $28.99, a low of $26.90 for a closing price at $28.85; Lehman Brothers Holdings Incorporated (LEH) gained 14.74 points with a high on the day of $46.49, a low of $35.67 for a closing price at $46.49; CME Group, Incorporated (CME) gained 23.80 points with a high on the day of $475.25, a low of $457.00 for a closing price at $473.00; FactSet Research Systems Incorporated (FDS) gained 7.90 points with a high on the day of $55.88, a low of $49.10 for a closing price at $52.43; Mosaic Corporation (MOS) gained 6.88 points with a high on the day of $109.80, a low of $103.52 for a closing price at $109.79; MF Global Limited (MF) gained 2.12 points with a high on the day of $8.57, a low of $7.34 for a closing price at $8.17.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 2,275; decliners totaled 709; unchanged came in at 100; new highs came in at 15 and new lows came in at 202. Momentum NASDAQ stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Somanetics Corporation (SMTS) shed 4.58 points with a high on the day of $13.47, a low of $10.01 for a closing price at $13.38; Bucyrus International Incorporated (BUCY) gained 7.25 points with a high on the day of $113.10, a low of $106.56 for a closing price at $112.15; GFI Group Incorporated (GFIG) gained 7.15 points with a high on the day of $60.00, a low of $53.16 for a closing price at $58.16; FCStone Group, Incorporated (FCSX) gained 9.55 points with a high on the day of $31.87, a low of $24.07 for a closing price at $30.99; Baidu.com, Incorporated (BIDU) shed 0.44 points with a high on the day of $256.34, a low of $239.20 for a closing price at $246.66; First Solar, Incorporated (FSLR) gained 10.12 points with a high on the day of $205.74, a low of $196.80 for a closing price at $204.02; Google Incorporated (GOOG) gained 19.68 points with a high on the day of $440.84, a low of $425.53 for a closing price at $439.55.

Redbook data released today: U.S. Retail Sales for first 2 Weeks in March were Up 1.6% versus February.

U.S. February Core PPI posted higher Rise since November 2006; U.S. January PPI Unrevised at an increase by 1.0%; U.S. February Passenger Car Prices rose 0.8%; U.S. February PPI Energy Prices rose 0.8%; U.S. February PPI Crude Goods rose 3.7%; U.S. February PPI Crude Goods Core rose 3.3%; U.S. February PPI Intermediate Goods rose 0.8%; U.S. February PPI Intermediate Goods Core rose 0.6%; U.S. February PPI Excluding-Food & Energy rose 0.5% compared to Consensus of an increase by 0.2%; U.S. February Producer Prices rose 0.3% compared to Consensus of an increase by 0.3%.

U.S. January Housing Starts Revised to an increase by 7.1% from an increase by 0.8%; U.S. Building Permits fell 7.8% to 978,000 Rate in February; U.S. February Housing Starts fell 0.6% to 1.065 Million compared to Consensus of a decrease by 0.2%.

Commodities Markets
The trend was higher across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved higher today by $3.74 to close at $109.42 a barrel; Heating Oil moved higher today by $0.09 to close at $3.06 a gallon; Natural Gas moved higher today by $0.31 to close at $9.50 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher today by $0.16 to close at $2.66 a gallon.

Metals Markets ended the session mixed across the board today: Gold moved higher today by $1.70 to close at $1,004.30 a Troy ounce; Silver moved lower today by $0.34 to close at $19.96 per Troy ounce; Platinum moved lower today by $5.40 to close at $1,968.00 per Troy ounce and Copper moved higher today by $0.06 to close a $3.75 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly higher across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day higher by $0.45 to close at $71.60; Pork Bellies ended the day lower by $3.00 to close at $76.53; Live Cattle ended the day higher by $1.53 to close at $91.50 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by $1.80 to close at $105.63.

Other Commodities: Corn ended the day nicely higher by $8.00 at $547.25 and Soybeans ended the day higher by $4.25 to end the session at $1,3007.00.

Bonds were lower across the board today: 2 year bond closed lower by 15/32 at 100 24/32; 5 year bond moved lower by 1 1/32 to close at 101 15/32 today; 10 year bond moved lower by 1 9/32 to close at 100 11/32 and the 30 year bond moved lower by 31/32 to close at 100 20/32 on the day.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 12,329 with a gain of 332 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 417,730 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 4,255,324; Open Interest for Futures moved higher by 58,182 points to close at 8,769,905; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 74,220 points to close at 8,769,905 and the Cleared Only moved lower by 48 points to close at 27,195 for a total Open Interest on the day of 18,615,173 for a total Change on the day with a gain of 132,354 points.

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