Department Of Labor

Daily Market Commentary for August 20, 2009

Department Of Labor

Department of Labor released Thursday that initial claims for unemployment benefits rose in the week ending August 15, surprising economists. (read more at Millennium-Traders.Com)

Economic data released today:

Initial Jobless Claims:
U.S. Jobless Claims rose 15K to 576K in week ending August 8 compared to survey of a drop by 8K; U.S. Continuing Claims for week of August 8 rose 2K to 6,241,000.

Leading Index by U.S. Conference Board:
July Lagging Index fell 0.3%; July Coincident Index 0.0%; July Leading Index rose 0.6%.

Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index:
August Business Index 4.2 versus July drop by 7.5; August Business Index Expected to fall by 2.0; August Price Paid 10.0 versus July drop by 3.5; August Price Received fell 1.5 versus July fall by 21.5; August Employment fell 12.9 versus July fall by 25.3; August New Orders 4.2 versus July fall by 2.2; August Shipments 0.6 versus July fall by 9.5; August Delivery Times fell 7.0 versus July drop by 10.3; August Inventories 0.3 versus July fall by 15.4; Firms See Improvement.

At the NYSE closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. stock indices ended the trading session on the world markets as well as the emerging markets including the stock market closing bell price:
DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) gain 68.92 points, EOD 9,348.08
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) gain 74.12, EOD 6,553.40
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) gain 19.17 points, EOD 1,988.41
S&P 500 (SPX) gain 10.67 points, EOD 1,007.13
BEL 20 (BEL20) gain 45.95 points, EOD 2,309.21
CAC 40 (CAC40) gain 54.98 points, EOD 3,505.32
FTSE100 (UKX100) gain 66.91 points, EOD 4,756.58
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) triple digit gain 179.41 points, EOD 10,383.41

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 2,180 declined stock prices 903, unchanged stock prices 91, stock prices hitting new highs 76 and stock prices hitting new lows 6. NYSE quotes for volatile stocks and market trends, 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: GME shed 1.77, HOD 24.10, LOD 23.01, EOD 23.41; AIG gain 5.66, HOD 35.00, LOD 27.09, EOD 32.30; ICE gain 5.15, HOD 95.06, LOD 89.84, EOD 95.00; RTP shed 1.12, HOD 157.46, LOD 152.71, EOD 153.86; CME gain 3.37, HOD 273.23, LOD 265.91, EOD 271.89; FAS gain 4.69, HOD 73.00, LOD 68.50, EOD 72.81; EDC gain 4.91, HOD 107.18, LOD 102.31, EOD 106.39.

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,771, declined stock prices 937, unchanged stock prices 135, stock prices hitting new highs 50 and stock prices hitting new lows 11. NASDAQ quotes, volatile stocks and market trends, 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: EDAP shed 0.44, HOD 5.95, LOD 3.70, EOD 3.76; SHLD shed 8.76, HOD 66.81, LOD 63.83, EOD 65.00; BIDU gain 8.47, HOD 339.67, LOD 334.45, EOD 339.25; GOOG gain 16.44, HOD 462.18, LOD 451.23, EOD 460.41; FSLR shed 1.01, HOD 135.00, LOD 129.98, EOD 130.42; NTAP shed 1.34, HOD 22.35, LOD 21.50, EOD 21.55; SNPS gain 0.29, HOD 20.83, LOD 19.91, EOD 20.81; PETM shed 2.49, HOD 20.35, LOD 19.50, EOD 20.08; CTRN shed 5.31, HOD 25.30, LOD 22.50, EOD 22.92.

Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 325, declined stock prices 213, unchanged stock prices 42, stock prices hitting new highs 9 and stock prices hitting new lows 1.

Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market for the day, at time of this posting:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) Sept 09: EOD 1006.25; Change 9.25
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) Sept 09: EOD 1,614.50; Change 15.75
E-mini DOW $5 (YM) Sept 09: EOD 9,331; Change 55
E-mini S&P MidCap 400 (MF) Sept 09: EOD 646.70; Change 6.90
Nikkei 225 (Yen) Sept 09: EOD 10,410; Change 145

World Currencies for the Forex Market, for Forex Trading by active Forex Traders, at time of this posting:
Euro 0.7015 to U.S. Dollars 1.4256
Japanese Yen 94.1900 to U.S. Dollars 0.0106
British Pound 0.6058 to U.S. Dollars 1.6507
Canadian Dollar 1.0875 to U.S. Dollars 0.9195
Swiss Franc 1.0628 to U.S. Dollars 0.9409

COMMODITY MARKETS:
Energy Sector - Nymex:
Light Crude (September 09) gain $0.12, EOD $72.54 per barrel ($US per barrel)
Heating Oil (September 09) shed $0.02, EOD $1.90 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Natural Gas (September 09) shed $0.17, EOD $2.95 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.)
Unleaded Gas (September 09) shed $0.05, EOD $1.98 a gallon ($US per gallon)

Metals Markets - Comex:
Gold (December 09) shed $3.10, EOD $941.70 ($US per Troy ounce)
Silver (September 09) gain $0.01, EOD $13.88 ($US per Troy ounce)
Platinum (October 09) gain $0.60, EOD $1,242.00 ($US per Troy ounce)
Copper (September 09) shed $0.02, EOD $2.74 ($US per pound)

Livestock and Meat Markets - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (October 09) gain $1.18, EOD $46.93
Pork Bellies (February 10) no change $0.00, EOD $79.10
Live Cattle (October 09) gain $0.15, EOD $88.83
Feeder Cattle (October 09) no change $0.00, EOD $101.25

Other Commodities - Chicago Board of Trade (cents per bushel):
Corn (December 09) shed $3.50, EOD $324.00
Soybeans (November 09) shed $1.00, EOD $958.50

BOND MARKET:
2 year EOD 100, change 0, Yield 1.00, Yield change 0.01
5 year EOD 101, change 0, Yield 2.40, Yield change 0.00
10 year EOD 101 21/32, change 7/32, Yield 3.42, Yield change -0.03
30 year EOD 104 12/32, change 29/32, Yield 4.24, change -0.05

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