Ford Selling Jaguar & Land Rover

Daily Market Commentary for March 26, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com

Markets were plagued today with extremely light trading activity along with, low trading volume, across the board. A negative market trend followed the indices, into the close. Economic data out today fueled the selloff across the street. The Dollar moved lower (again) and crude oil soared higher by over $4 a barrel. New home sales fell to their lowest level in 13 years. Mortgage Bankers Association reported an increase in mortgage applications today which provides a slight glimmer of hope for the housing industry. Ford Motor is selling Jaguar and Land Rover to India firm TaTa Motors for $2.3 Billion. Maybe the recession that we may or may not be in is going to begin taking a toll on big firms. First major downfall was Bear Stearns and now Ford Motor Company is selling part of their business; serious question is, who is going to be next to fall or make a major move in an attempt to keep their corporation alive.

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 loss of 109.74 points on the day to end the session at 12,422.86

NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) loss of 54.68 points to end the session at 8,881.55

NASDAQ loss of 16.69 points for a close at 2,324.36

S&P 500 loss of 11.86 points for a close at 1,341.13

FTSE All-World ex-U.S. gain of 0.12 points to close at 239.70

FTSE RAFI 1000 loss of 79.11 points to close at 5,430.86

BEL 20 loss of 17.91 points for a close at 3,686.16

CAC 40 loss of 15.32 points for a close at 4,676.68

FTSE100 loss of 28.7 points for a close at 5,660.40

NIKKEI 225 loss of 38.6 points to end the session at 12,706.60

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 1,311, decliners totaled 1,863; unchanged came in at 88; new highs came in at 19 and new lows came in at 26. Momentum NYSE stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO) gained 1.67 points with a high on the day of $34.81, a low of $33.90 for a closing price at $34.68; Ameron International Corporation (AMN) shed 31.31 points with a high on the day of $119.52, a low of $90.50 for a closing price at $91.49; InterContinental Exchange, Incorporated (ICE) gained 1.87 points with a high on the day of $136.36, a low of $128.45 for a closing price at $133.84; Comstock Resources Incorporated (CRK) gained 2.49 points with a high on the day of $40.10, a low of $37.28 for a closing price at $39.92; MEMC Electronic Materials Incorporated (WFR) shed 1.41 points with a high on the day of $83.93, a low of $79.57 for a closing price at $81.03; Jabil Circuit Incorporated (JBL) shed 2.09 points with a high on the day of $9.92, a low of $9.25 for a closing price at $9.29; SunTrust Banks Incorporated (STI) shed 2.95 points with a high on the day of $58.95, a low of $55.62 for a closing price at $56.33; Affiliated Managers Group Incorporated (AMG) shed 3.93 points with a high on the day of $96.66, a low of $90.84 for a closing price at $92.80; Western Digital Corporation (WDC) shed 1.08 points with a high on the day of $30.34, a low of $28.05 for a closing price at $29.47; Apache Corporation (APA) gained 6.81 points with a high on the day of $120.44, a low of $117.75 for a closing price at $119.75; Monsanto Corporation (MON) gained 0.21 points with a high on the day of $116.61, a low of $113.13 for a closing price at $114.75; CME Group, Incorporated (CME) shed 14.28 points with a high on the day of $501.28, a low of $487.67 for a closing price at $488.93; Transocean, Incorporated (RIG) gained 3.35 points with a high on the day of $137.23, a low of $132.22 for a closing price at $135.21; Mosaic Corporation (MOS) gained 4.54 points with a high on the day of $103.00, a low of $97.67 for a closing price at $102.95; Clear Channel Communications Incorporated (CCU) shed 5.64 points with a high on the day of $28.14, a low of $25.90 for a closing price at $26.92; VISA Incorporated (V) gained 0.71 points with a high on the day of $64.48, a low of $61.57 for a closing price at $63.96; Mastercard Incorporated (MA) shed 2.13 points with a high on the day of $227.45, a low of $221.10 for a closing price at $222.85; Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) gained 0.86 points with a high on the day of $5.02, a low of $47.94 for a closing price at $48.96; Merrill Lynch & Company, Incorporated (MER) shed 3.43 points with a high on the day of $47.48, a low of $44.16 for a closing price at $44.42.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 1,250; decliners totaled 1,685; unchanged came in at 146; new highs came in at 18 and new lows came in at 65. Momentum NASDAQ stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Charlotte Russe Holding, Incorporated (CHIC) shed 2.68 points with a high on the day of $17.87, a low of $16.56 for a closing price at $17.42; Tesco Corporation (TESO) gained 3.00 points with a high on the day of $26.50 a low of $20.80 for a closing price at $23.75; Rambus Incorporated (RMBS) gained 7.25 points with a high on the day of $26.30 a low of $18.66 for a closing price at $25.86; Bankrate Incorporated (RATE) gained 3.09 points with a high on the day of $53.08 a low of $48.65 for a closing price at $51.85; FCStone Group, Incorporated (FCSX) shed 1.44 points with a high on the day of $30.73, a low of $27.71 for a closing price at $29.92; Baidu.com, Incorporated (BIDU) gained 5.89 points with a high on the day of $245.80 a low of $232.28 for a closing price at $241.50; First Solar, Incorporated (FSLR) gained 0.46 points with a high on the day of $225.00 a low of $215.50 for a closing price at $220.19; Intuitive Surgical, Incorporated (ISRG) shed 1.96 points with a high on the day of $326.25 a low of $317.00 for a closing price at $323.97; Penn National Gaming Incorporated (PENN) shed 1.15 points with a high on the day of $43.92 a low of $41.54 for a closing price at $43.79; Google Incorporated (GOOG) gained 7.41 points with a high on the day of $462.87, a low of $449.29 for a closing price at $458.19.

U.S. February Durable Goods Orders fell 1.7% compared to consensus of an increase by 0.8%; February Durable Goods Orders, Excluding-Transportation fell 2.6%; February Durable Goods Orders, Excluding-Defense fell 1.6%; Jan Durable Goods Orders Revised to a drop by 4.7% from a drop 5.1%.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson: must have some Fed oversight of Investment Banks; supports Fed lending to Primary Dealers; priority to limit impact of turmoil on Economy; must let Housing Market correct, limit impact on Economy; sentiment has `swung hard` toward risk aversion; `Great Confidence` In Capital Markets Recovery; Fed acted promptly to help Bear Stearns; Encourages Financial Firms to raise more capital; must improve infrastructure of OTC Derivatives; attentive to ensure Markets remain orderly, stable.

U.S. February New Home Sales fell 1.8% to 590,000 compared to Consensus of 575,000; U.S. January New Home Sales Revised to 601,000 from 588,000.

Department Of Energy: US Crude Oil Stockpiles increased by 88,000 Barrels in the week compared to expectations of an increase by 1.7 Million Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles fell 3.285 Million Barrels in the week compared to expectations of a decrease by 800,000 Barrels; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles fell 2.141 Million Barrels in the week compared to expectations of a decrease by 1.6 Million Barrels; U.S. Refineries ran at 82.2% capacity compared to expectations of an increase by 0.5 Points at 84.3%.

Commodities Markets
The trend was higher across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved sharply higher today by $4.58 to close at $105.80 a barrel; Heating Oil moved higher today by $0.11 to close at $2.95 a gallon; Natural Gas moved higher today by $0.17 to close at $9.69 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher today by $0.06 to close at $2.74 a gallon.

Metals Markets ended the session higher across the board today: Gold moved nicely higher today by $14.20 to close at $949.20 a Troy ounce; Silver moved higher today by $0.58 to close at $18.38 per Troy ounce; Platinum moved sharply higher today by $26.70 to close at $2,012.60 per Troy ounce and Copper moved higher today by $0.05 to close a $3.73 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was lower across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day lower by $1.65 to close at $70.95; Pork Bellies ended the day lower by $3.00 to close at $73.40; Live Cattle ended the day lower by $0.80 to close at $90.05 and Feeder Cattle ended the day lower by $1.58 to close at $104.55.

Other Commodities: Corn ended the day nicely higher by $7.50 at $552.25 and Soybeans ended the day sharply higher by $45.00 to end the session at $1,352.00.

Bonds were mostly higher across the board today: 2 year bond closed higher by 7/32 at 100 20/32; 5 year bond moved higher by 14/32 to close at 101 2/32 today; 10 year bond moved higher by 7/32 to close at 100 5/32 and the 30 year bond moved lower by 11/32 to close at 100 27/32 on the day.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 12,416 with a loss of 99 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 160,028 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 2,856,266; Open Interest for Futures moved lower by 74,685 points to close at 9,426,295; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 78,561 points to close at 7,914,389 and the Cleared Only moved higher by 90 points to close at 28,202 for a total Open Interest on the day of 17,368,886 for a total Change on the day with a gain of 3,966 points.

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