Lehman, Goldman, Merrill, Markets Soar

Daily Market Commentary for April 1, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com

Simply put, the markets soared higher today, with the major indices moving higher and higher, as the trading session moved forward. Indices closed at or very near their highs on the session when the closing bell rang. Brokers had taken a beating recently over the Bear Stearns debacle but today, Brokers showed their strength and ability to rebound to post some very nice gains. Goldman Sachs Group, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and even JP Morgan Chase posted favorable gains during the trading session. BlackRock pounded the street today for some exceptional gains. UltraShort Financials ProShares got wacked today amidst very active trading by the sharp hands of short sellers. Gold took a beating today as did Platinum. Overall on the April Fools Day, investors actually had something to smile about at the closing bell after putting to rest one of the worst producing quarters in history.

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) hefty triple digit gain of 391.47 points on the day to end the session at 12,654.36

NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) hefty triple digit gain of 291.19 points to end the session at 9,088.48

NASDAQ gain of 83.65 points for a close at 2,362.75

S&P 500 gain of 47.47 points for a close at 1,370.17

FTSE All-World ex-U.S. gain of 4.79 points to close at 242.40

FTSE RAFI 1000 triple digit gain of 205.46 points to close at 5,552.33

BEL 20 gain of 97.21 points on the day to end the session at 3,816.73

CAC 40 triple digit gain of 158.93 points on the day to end the session at 4,866.00

FTSE100 triple digit gain of 150.5 points on the day to end the session at 5,852.60

NIKKEI 225 triple digit gain of 130.9 points on the day to end the session at 12,656.40

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 2,673, decliners totaled 527; unchanged came in at 63; new highs came in at 29 and new lows came in at 18. Momentum NYSE stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Rio Tinto plc (RTP) gained 7.91 points with a high on the day of $421.36, a low of $405.13 for a closing price at $419.75; UBS AG (UBS) gained 4.21 points with a high on the day of $33.23, a low of $30.87 for a closing price at $33.01; Merrill Lynch &Company Incorporated (MER) gained 5.28 points with a high on the day of $46.23, a low of $43.00 for a closing price at $46.02; UltraShort Financials ProShares (SKF) shed 16.75 points with a high on the day of $110.44, a low of $100.80 for a closing price at $100.90; BlackRock, Incorporated (BLK) gained 14.73 points with a high on the day of $220.94, a low of $208.00 for a closing price at $218.91; Lehman Brothers Holdings Incorporated (LEH) gained 6.70 points with a high on the day of $44.50, a low of $40.24 for a closing price at $44.34; Goldman Sachs Group Incorporated (GS) gained 11.47 points with a high on the day of $176.91, a low of $170.21 for a closing price at $176.86; Mastercard Incorporated (MA) gained 6.61 points with a high on the day of $233.75, a low of $224.50 for a closing price at $229.60; Monsanto Corporation (MON) gained 1.63 points with a high on the day of $113.13, a low of $104.60 for a closing price at $113.13; CME Group, Incorporated (CME) gained 30.89 points with a high on the day of $505.00, a low of $473.44 for a closing price at $505.00; Mosaic Corporation (MOS) shed 1.15 points with a high on the day of $104.39, a low of $95.00 for a closing price at $101.45; CF Industries Holdings, Incorporated (CF) gained 2.94 points with a high on the day of $106.88, a low of $97.35 for a closing price at $106.56; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Incorporated (POT) gained 3.83 points with a high on the day of $159.16, a low of $150.44 for a closing price at $159.04.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 2,203; decliners totaled 759; unchanged came in at 96; new highs came in at 29 and new lows came in at 68. Momentum NASDAQ stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Google Incorporated (GOOG) gained 25.24 points with a high on the day of $466.50, a low of $446.87 for a closing price at $465.71; Baidu.com, Incorporated (BIDU) gained 33.62 points with a high on the day of $273.99, a low of $243.00 for a closing price at $273.25; Intuitive Surgical, Incorporated (ISRG) gained 22.59 points with a high on the day of $347.93 a low of $326.00 for a closing price at $346.94; First Solar, Incorporated (FSLR) gained 6.36 points with a high on the day of $239.70 a low of $232.20 for a closing price at $237.53; Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) gained 1.52 points with a high on the day of $25.60, a low of $23.40 for a closing price at $25.41; ***** Incorporated (AAPL) gained 6.03 points with a high on the day of $149.66, a low of $143.61 for a closing price at $149.53.

U.S. Construction Spending fell 0.3% in February compared to consensus of a drop by 1.0%; January Construction Spending revised to a drop by 1.0% from a drop by 1.7%.
U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) March Manufacturing Business Index came in at 48.6; U.S. ISM March Manufacturing Business Index expected to come in at 47.5; U.S. ISM March Manufacturing Business Index came in at 48.6 versus February reading at 48.3; U.S. ISM March Prices Index came in at 83.5 versus February reading at 75.5; U.S. ISM March Employment Index came in at 49.2 versus February reading at 46.0; U.S. ISM March New Orders Index came in at 46.5 versus February reading at 49.1; U.S. ISM March Production Index came in at 48.7 versus February reading at 50.7; U.S. ISM March Inventories Index came in at 44.9 versus February reading at 45.4; Institute for Supply Management: Factories see weakest 1Q since Q2 2003; Institute for Supply Management: Factories see 'heavy cost pressures'; Institute for Supply Management: Prices Index Highest Since October 2005.

Commodities Markets
The trend was mostly lower across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved lower today by $0.18 to close at $101.40 a barrel; Heating Oil moved lower today by $0.03 to close at $2.88 a gallon; Natural Gas moved lower today by $0.14 to close at $9.96 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher today by $0.04 to close at $2.67 a gallon.

Metals Markets ended the session lower across the board today: Gold moved sharply lower today by $33.70 to close at $887.80 a Troy ounce; Silver moved lower today by $0.42 to close at $16.89 per Troy ounce; Platinum moved sharply lower today by $103.40 to close at $1,940.00 per Troy ounce and Copper moved lower today by $0.02 to close at $3.81 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mixed across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day lower by $1.53 to close at $66.45; Pork Bellies ended the day lower by $0.43 to close at $67.08; Live Cattle ended the day higher by $0.38 to close at $88.13 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by $0.13 to close at $101.35.

Other Commodities: Corn ended the day nicely higher by $16.75 at $584.00 and Soybeans ended the day sharply higher by $19.75 to end the session at $1,217.00.

Bonds were lower across the board today: 2 year bond closed lower by 13/32 at 99 28/32; 5 year bond moved lower by 31/32 to close at 99 9/32 today; 10 year bond moved lower by 1 7/32 to close at 99 15/32 and the 30 year bond moved lower by 1 24/32 to close at 99 18/32 on the day.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 12,628 with a hefty triple gain of 371 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 146,955 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 3,164,786; Open Interest for Futures moved higher by 15,992 points to close at 9,356,517; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 119,008 points to close at 8,328,900 and the Cleared Only moved lower by 319 points to close at 28,489 for a total Open Interest on the day of 17,713,906 for a total Change on the day with a gain of 134,681 points.

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