Understanding the Stock Market

Daily Market Commentary for July 21, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com

Naked Short Selling of stock: A "naked" short selling of a stock occurs when an investor sells stock that has not yet been borrowed. (read more)

At the closing bell on the Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. indices ended the session on the world market as well as the emerging markets including the stock market closing price:
DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) loss of 28.99 points on the day to end the trading session at 11,467.58
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) gain of 45.89 points to end the trading session at 8,499.74
NASDAQ loss of 3.25 points to end the trading session at 2,279.53
S&P 500 loss of 0.68 points to end the trading session at 1,260.00
FTSE All-World ex-U.S. gain of 1.58 points to end the trading session at 226.25
FTSE RAFI 1000 loss of 7.43 points to end the trading session at 4,929.40
BEL 20 (BEL20) gain of 41.11 points to end the trading session at 3,116.32
CAC 40 (CAC40) gain of 27.78 points to end the trading session at 4,327.14
FTSE100 (UKX100) gain of 27.9 points to end the trading session at 5,404.3
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) unchanged at 12,803.7

Market trends on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today: advanced stocks 2,016; declined stocks 1,180; unchanged stocks 81; stocks hitting new highs 15; stocks hitting new lows 52. List of volatile stocks as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the New York Stock Exchange stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) gained 1.07 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $30.90 low on the trading session $28.20 for a closing stock price at $28.56; Weatherford International Limited (NYSE: WFT) gained 0.40 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $41.14, low on the trading session $37.69 for a closing stock price at $41.08; MasterCard Incorported (NYSE: MA) shed 12.96 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $284.65 low on the trading session $266.73 for a closing stock price at $267.90; Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) shed 2.49 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $21.53 low on the trading session $17.81 for a closing stock price at $18.95; Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) gained 6.18 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $37.46 low on the trading session $32.80 for a closing stock price at $34.86; Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) shed 0.43 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $10.49 low on the trading session $8.51 for a closing stock price at $8.75; Potash Corporation Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) gained 13.64 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $222.75, low on the trading session $211.17 for a closing stock price at $222.75; Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) gained 0.73 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $18.48 low on the trading session $14.00 for a closing stock price at $14.13; Ultrashort Financial (NYSE: SKF) shed 0.21 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $139.37, low on the trading session $130.00 for a closing stock price at $137.61.

Market trends on the NASDAQ today: advanced stocks 1,617; declined stocks 1,271; unchanged stocks 135; stocks hitting new highs 32; stocks hitting new lows 57. List of volatile stocks as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the NASDAQ stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: ArthroCare Corporation (NasdaqGS: ARTC) shed 16.83 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $32.41 low on the trading session $22.77 for a closing stock price at $23.20; Baidu.com, Incorporated (NasdaqGS: BIDU) gained 5.56 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $299.00 low on the trading session $291.07 for a closing stock price at $297.10; Wynn Resorts Limited (NasdaqGS: WYNN) gained 6.15 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $96.59 low on the trading session $89.00 for a closing stock price at $94.18; Charlotte Russe Holdings Incorporated (NasdaqGS: CHIC) shed 3.56 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $14.87 low on the trading session $12.69 for a closing stock price at $13.32; Google Incorporated (NasdaqGS: GOOG) shed 7.03 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $484.09, low on the trading session $465.70 for a closing stock price at $469.50; SemGroup Energy Partners LP (NasdaqGS: SGLP) gained 0.45 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $11.39, low on the trading session $7.03 for a closing stock price at $8.75.

Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) today: advanced stocks 669; declined stocks 513; unchanged stocks 93; stocks hitting new highs 11; stocks hitting new lows 34.

Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market activity for the day, September 2008 Contracts, at time of this posting:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) end of day price 1,261.75, change 1.00
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) end of day price 1,826.50, change -2.25
E-mini S&P SmallCap 600 (SMP) end of day price 366.50, change 2.40
$5 DJIA (YM) end of day price 11,460, change -41

World Currencies at time of this posting:
Euro 0.6291 to U.S. Dollars 1.5895
Japanese Yen 106.68 to U.S. Dollars 0.0094
British Pound 0.5003 to U.S. Dollars 1.999
Canadian Dollar 1.0013 to U.S. Dollars 0.9987
Swiss Franc 1.0199 to U.S. Dollars 0.9805

Commodities Markets:
Energy Sector: Light Crude (NYM) gained $2.16 on the day for a closing price of the range of $131.04 a gallon ($US per bbl.); Heating Oil (NYM) gained $0.06 on the day for a closing price of $3.78 a gallon ($US per gal.); Natural Gas (NYM) shed $0.05 on the day for a closing price of $10.59 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.); Unleaded Gas (NYM) gained $0.05 on the day for a closing price of $3.22 a gallon ($US per gal.).

Metals Markets:
Gold Market Price (CMX) gained $5.70 on the day for a closing price of $963.70 ($US per Troy oz.); Silver (CMX) gained $0.23 on the day for a closing price of $18.43 ($US per Troy oz.); Platinum (NYM) shed $4.30 on the day for a closing price of $1,851.00 ($US per Troy oz.) and Copper (CMX) gained $0.01 on the day for a closing price of $3.68 ($US per lb.).

Livestock and Meat Markets (cents per lb.): Lean Hogs (CME) gained 0.70 on the day for a closing price of 73.35; Pork Bellies (CME) gained 0.20 on the day for a closing price of 63.70; Live Cattle (CME) gained 0.60 on the day for a closing price of 105.70; Feeder Cattle (CME) gained 0.58 on the day for a closing price of 115.08.

Other Commodities (cents per bu.): Corn (CBT) shed 20.25 on the day for a closing price of 608.25 and Soybeans (CBT) shed 45.00 on the day for a closing price of 1,403.00.

Bond action for the day: 2 year bond closed with no change at 100 14/32 with a Yield of 2.63, Yield Change -0.01; 5 year bond gained 2/32 on the day for a closing price of 99 28/32 with a Yield of 3.40, Yield Change -0.01; 10 year bond gained 7/32 on the day for a closing price of 98 16/32 with a Yield of 4.06, Yield Change -0.02; the 30 year bond gained 8/32 on the day for a closing price of 95 26/32 with a Yield of 4.63, Yield Change -0.02.

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