Daily Market Commentary for March 20, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com

We wish all our readers an enjoyable Good Friday and a very Happy Easter!

Ahead of the Good Friday holiday and Easter Sunday, the markets were rather quiet today with many traders already gone to extend their three day holiday weekend and many leaving the street early to enjoy the weekend. The trading session was positive throughout the trading day as the indices attempted to recoup the losses experienced on Wednesday. What appeared as an Easter Bunny Rally, moved the markets higher, as the day moved on. One thing almost certain, very few investors were willing to hold positions into the extended weekend holiday.

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 gain of 262.06 points on the day to end the session at 12,361.72

NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) triple digit gain of 168.26 points to end the session at 8,718.76

NASDAQ gain of 48.15 points for a close at 2,258.11

S&P 500 gain of 31.31 points for a close at 1,329.73

FTSE All-World ex-U.S. loss of 0.08 points to close at 231.60

FTSE RAFI 1000 triple digit gain of 115.76 points to close at 5,411.42

BEL 20 loss of 18.46 points to close at 3,623.02

CAC 40 loss of 22.23 points to close at 4,533.72

FTSE100 loss of 50.4 points to close at 5,495.20

NIKKEI 225 unchanged at 12,260.40

On the NYSE today, advancers came in at 2,328, decliners totaled 877; unchanged came in at 66; new highs came in at 18 and new lows came in at 129. Momentum NYSE stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Transocean, Incorporated (RIG) shed 1.04 points with a high on the day of $132.35, a low of $128.26 for a closing price at $131.14; BHP Billiton Limited (BHP) shed 1.18 points with a high on the day of $63.58, a low of $60.57 for a closing price at $62.81; MF Global Limited (MF) shed 0.17 points with a high on the day of $9.80, a low of $7.94 for a closing price at $9.19; CIT Group, Incorporated (CIT) shed 2.05 points with a high on the day of $11.64, a low of $6.45 for a closing price at $9.59; IHS Incorporated (IHS) gained 3.18 points with a high on the day of $68.21, a low of $59.80 for a closing price at $67.48; Borders Group, Incorporated (BGP) shed 2.03 points with a high on the day of $8.05, a low of $3.97 for a closing price at $5.06; OM Group Incorporated (OMG) shed 1.67 points with a high on the day of $54.94, a low of $49.71 for a closing price at $51.59; Mosaic Corporation (MOS) shed 5.24 points with a high on the day of $96.65, a low of $89.28 for a closing price at $92.01; Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR) shed 1.60 points with a high on the day of $96.55, a low of $93.10 for a closing price at $95.84; Rio Tinto plc (RTP) shed 8.00 points with a high on the day of $388.23, a low of $376.50 for a closing price at $387.50; CME Group, Incorporated (CME) gained 22.10 points with a high on the day of $472.00, a low of $441.11 for a closing price at $472.00; Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) shed 0.93 points with a high on the day of $68.38, a low of $63.99 for a closing price at $67.19; Monsanto Corporation (MON) shed 1.74 points with a high on the day of $99.12, a low of $90.50 for a closing price at $97.13; Mastercard Incorporated (MA) gained 11.99 points with a high on the day of $222.46, a low of $202.37 for a closing price at $220.38; VISA Incorporated (V) gained 8.05 points with a high on the day of $65.00, a low of $57.50 for a closing price at $64.55.

On the NASDAQ today, advanced totaled 1,961; decliners totaled 1,013; unchanged came in at 98; new highs came in at 11 and new lows came in at 240. Momentum NASDAQ stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Google Incorporated (GOOG) gained 1.55 points with a high on the day of $435.70, a low of $417.50 for a closing price at $433.55; Bucyrus International Incorporated (BUCY) shed 4.77 points with a high on the day of $101.59, a low of $92.57 for a closing price at $98.02; Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLD) gained 6.33 points with a high on the day of $104.40, a low of $97.62 for a closing price at $103.86; Baidu.com, Incorporated (BIDU) shed 12.71 points with a high on the day of $217.79 a low of $201.15 for a closing price at $207.50.

U.S. Conference Board: February Lagging Index rose 0.2%; U.S. Conference Board: February Coincident Index remained unchanged; U.S. Conference Board: February Leading Index fell 0.3%.

Philadelphia Fed March Price Paid came in at 54.4 versus February reading at 46.6; Philadelphia Fed March Price Received came in at 21.2 versus February reading at 24.3; Philadelphia Fed March Employment fell 4.7 versus February reading at 2.5; Philadelphia Fed March New Orders fell 9.3 versus February drop by 10.9; Philadelphia Fed March Business Index fell 17.4 versus February drop by 24.0; Philadelphia Fed March Business Index Expected to fall by 19.5.

U.S. Jobless Claims increased by 22K to 378K for week of March 15 compared to survey of an increase by 3K; U.S. Continuing Claims for week of March 8 increased by 32K to 2,865,000; U.S. Jobless Claims 4-Week Average Highest since October 2005; U.S. Continuing Claims Highest Since August 2004.

Commodities Markets
The trend was mixed across the board today for the Energy Sector: Light crude moved lower today by $0.84 to close at $101.70 a barrel; Heating Oil moved lower today by $0.07 to close at $2.88 a gallon; Natural Gas moved higher today by $0.03 to close at $9.15 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher today by $0.01 to close at $2.57 a gallon.

Metals Markets ended the session lower across the board today: Gold moved lower today by $25.30 to close at $920.3000a Troy ounce; Silver moved lower today by $1.60 to close at $16.85 per Troy ounce; Platinum moved lower today by $9.70 to close at $1,887.30 per Troy ounce and Copper moved lower today by $0.06 to close a $3.57 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat Markets, the trend was higher across the board today: Lean Hogs ended the day higher by $0.95 to close at $72.08; Pork Bellies ended the day higher by $1.30 to close at $75.85; Live Cattle ended the day higher by $1.03 to close at $90.98 and Feeder Cattle ended the day higher by $2.40 to close at $107.35.

Other Commodities: Corn ended the day sharply lower by $19.75 at $507.50 and Soybeans ended the day sharply lower by $50.00 to end the session at $1,207.00.

Bonds were mostly lower across the board today: 2 year bond closed lower by 7/32 at 100 23/32; 5 year bond moved lower by 5/32 to close at 101 23/32 today; 10 year bond moved lower by 2/32 to close at 101 4/32 and the 30 year bond moved higher by 29/32 to close at 103 18/32 on the day.

The e-mini Dow ended the session today at 12,317 with a gain of 198 points on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 304,666 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 4,773,541; Open Interest for Futures moved lower by 7,574 points to close at 9,717,620; the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 103,545 points to close at 8,981,600 and the Cleared Only moved higher by 15 points to close at 27,617 for a total Open Interest on the day of 18,726,837 for a total Change on the day with a gain of 95,986 points.

At the close of the week, performance results for our Moderators:

Stocks Trading Room:
Jeannie - $6,192
Barry - $25,393
Marty - $10,157
Sam - $7,695

Futures Trading Room:
JT - $9,512.50

Forex Trading Room:
JT - $7,400

Daily Swing Trades:
Barry - $23,710

Weekly Swing Trades:
Jeannie - $-1,120

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