Our thoughts and prayers go out to the residents of Greensburg, Kansas after the horrific tornado struck this past weekend.
Did the thwarted plot of five Islamic radicals to kill as many U.S. soldiers as possible at Fort Dix, New Jersey affect the market action today? Something did. Trading action was sluggish amidst moderate trading volume with the major indices spending most of the trading session in the red zone. Possibly a day ahead of the FOMC meeting regarding interest rates had a bearing on the market action. At the closing bell, here is how the major indices ended the session: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) moved lower by 3.90 points to end the session at 13,309.07; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) posted a loss on the trading session of 37.06 points to end at 9,788.0903 the NASDAQ posted a gain of 0.80 points today for a close at 2,571.75; the S&P 500 moved lower by 1.76 points to end at 1,507.72 just under its all time record higher of 1,507.72 set on March 24, 20000 and the RUSSELL 2000 moved lower by 0.97 points to close at 830.90 The FTSE All-World Index ex-US (top Large/Mid Cap aggregate from over 2,700 stocks from the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS) which covers 90% of the worlds investable market capitalization) moved lower by 1.40 to close at 257.60 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 closed higher by 7.37 at 6,317.87.
Economic data released for the day:
ICSC-UBS Store Sales: Weekly measure of comparable store sales at major retail chains which is related to the general merchandise portion of retail sales, as reported by the International Council of Shopping Centers. This date accounts for approximately 10% of total retail sales. Reported today Store Sales week over week change came in down by 0.6% and Store Sales year over year reading came in at 1.7%.
Redbook: General merchandise portion of retail sales covering only approximately 10% of total retail sales, this data is a weekly measure of sales at department stores, chain stores and discounters. Reported today for week of May 5, 2007, Store Sales year over year change came in at 0.1%.
Wholesale Trade: The dollar value of sales made and inventories held by merchant wholesalers is a measurement referred to as, wholesale trade. U.S. March Wholesale Inventories rose by 0.3% and was expected to rise by 0.4%.
National Association for Realtors again lowers 2007 U.S. Home Sales Forecast.
Commodities Markets
The trend was lower across the board again today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved lower by $0.43 today to close at $61.50 a barrel; Heating Oil moved lower by $0.03 again today to close at $1.80 a gallon; Natural Gas closed lower by $0.15 at $7.79 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas closed lower by $0.02 at $2.19 a gallon.
Metals Market ended the session mostly higher across the board today: Gold moved higher by $0.60 to close at $690.30 an ounce; Silver moved higher by $0.11 to close at $13.64 an ounce; Platinum moved sharply higher again today by $22.10 to close at $1,350.90 an ounce and Copper ended the day lower by $0.04 today to end at $3.72 per pound.
On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was mostly higher across the board today: Lean Hogs moved lower today by 0.05 today to close at 74.88; Pork Bellies ended the day lower by 0.38 to close at 102.35; Live Cattle moved lower by 0.23 to end the day at 91.95 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by 0.48 to close at 109.75.
Other Commodities: Corn moved sharply lower today with another substantial loss of 15.50 points to end at 363.50 and Soybeans posted a loss today of 3.00 to close at 739.50.
The e-mini Dow ended the session higher by 6 points to close at 13343. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 74,985 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.
Bonds were mostly lower across the board today: 2 year bond closed with no change at 99 21/32; 5 year bond closed with no change at 99 25/32; 10 year bond closed lower by 2/32 at 99 28/32 and the 30 year bond closed lower by 8/32 at 99 4/32.
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 1,808,255; Open Interest for Futures moved lower by 35,617 points to close at 9,956,796; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 24,908 points to close at 7,126,104 and the Open Interest for OTC closed higher by 213 to close at 4,745 for a total Open Interest of 17,087,645 for a total loss on the day by 10,496.
On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 1,304; decliners totaled 1,875; unchanged came in at 181; new highs came in at 206 and new lows came in at 21. New York Stock Exchange movers for the day today: Florida East Coast Industries Incorporated (FLA) rallied higher on the Big Board today for a gain of 13.70% to tack on 10.15 points for a closing price at $84.28; McDermott International Incorporated (MDR) bolted higher on the trading session for a gain of 10.11% for a gain of 5.97 points to close at $65.00; WellCare Group (WCG) climbed higher today by 7.18 points for a closing day price at $90.00; DJO Orthopedics Incorporated (DJO) fell by 13.10% to shed 5.24 to close the trading day at $34.75 and W&T Offshore Incorporated (WTI) gave up 10.54% for a loss of 3.30 points on the day to close at $28.00.
On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 1,255 decliners totaled 1,783; unchanged came in at 149, new highs came in at 118 and new lows came in at 50. Gainers and losers for the day on the NASDAQ: Astronics Corporation (ATRO) rallied higher on the trading day for a gain of 21.83% to climb higher by 4.53 points to end the trading day at $25.28; Blue Nile Incorporated (NILE) bolted higher on the day for a nice gain of 15.88% to move higher by 7.52 points to close at $54.87; Cutera Incorporated (CUTR) fell sharply on the session for a loss of a whopping 20.31% to shed 5.94 points on the trading session to close at $23.30 and Heelys Incorporated (HLYS) fell hard on the trading session by 12.16% to give up 4.42 points for an end of trading day price at $31.92.
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