Berkshire Hathaway

[MTnews]

Daily Market Commentary for July 10, 2008 from

A large deal on the street today was the news that Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) was buying Rohm and Haas (NYSE: ROH) at $78 a share or $18 billion. The deal was all cash and consisted of $3 billion in financing from Berkshire Hathaway plus, $1 billion from Kuwait Investment Authority. ()

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) gain of 82.07 points on the day to end the trading session at 11,229.51
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) gain of 64.31 points to end the trading session at 8,435.94
NASDAQ gain of 22.96 points to end the trading session at 2,257.85
S&P 500 gain of 8.79 points to end the trading session at 1,253.48
FTSE All-World ex-U.S. loss of 0.93 points to end the trading session at 223.98
FTSE RAFI 1000 loss of 15.95 points to end the trading session at 4,814.06
BEL 20 (BEL20) loss of 64.32 points to end the trading session at 3,022.30
CAC 40 (CAC40) triple digit loss of 108.1 points to end the trading session at 4,231.56
FTSE100 (UKX100) triple digit loss of 122.8 points to end the trading session at 5,406.8
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) gain of 15.08 points to end the trading session at 13,067.21

Market trends on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today: advanced stocks 1,631; declined stocks 1,558; unchanged stocks 90; stocks hitting new highs 13; stocks hitting new lows 470. 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: IntercontinentalExchange Incorporated (ICE) shed 10.09 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $95.50, low on the trading session $80.91 for a closing stock price at $85.30; Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) shed 0.55 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $34.35, low on the trading session $32.83 for a closing stock price at $33.84; Texas Industries Incorporated (TXI) shed 2.65 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $55.05, low on the trading session $44.22 for a closing stock price at $48.53; MEMC Electronic Materials Incorporated (WFR) shed 0.84 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $52.46, low on the trading session $48.50 for a closing stock price at $51.40; Global Payments (GPN) shed 1.73 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $46.23, low on the trading session $41.92 for a closing stock price at $44.94; CONSOL Energy (CNX) gained 3.37 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $97.16, low on the trading session $86.44 for a closing stock price at $95.82; Walter Industries Incorporated (NYSE: WLT) shed 0.09 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $87.41, low on the trading session $79.40 for a closing stock price at $86.55; CME Group Incorporated (NYSE: CME) shed 11.07 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $322.96, low on the trading session $305.00 for a closing stock price at $309.70; Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RTP) gained 13.63 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $438.00, low on the trading session $423.07 for a closing stock price at $430.15; United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) gained 7.22 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $167.90, low on the trading session $156.06 for a closing stock price at $165.39; Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated (NYSE: CLF) shed 0.80 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $109.69, low on the trading session $99.50 for a closing stock price at $104.97; MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) gained 1.95 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $258.01, low on the trading session $245.03 for a closing stock price at $253.20.

Market trends on the NASDAQ today: advanced stocks 1,585; declined stocks 1,293; unchanged stocks 124; stocks hitting new highs 12; stocks hitting new lows 301. 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: FCStone Group Incorporated (NasdaqGS: FCSX) shed 12.30 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $19.99, low on the trading session $14.30 for a closing stock price at $17.60; Columbia Banking System Incorporated (NasdaqGS: COLB) gained 7.81 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $14.08, low on the trading session $9.30 for a closing stock price at $10.43; Century Aluminum Company (NasdaqGS: CENX) gained 4.86 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $64.14, low on the trading session $58.04 for a closing stock price at $61.77; First Solar Incorporated (NasdaqGS: FSLR) gained 14.10 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $280.54, low on the trading session $263.29 for a closing stock price at $279.50.

Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) today: advanced stocks 567; declined stocks 584; unchanged stocks 81; stocks hitting new highs 9; stocks hitting new lows 106.

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 1254.50, change 0.00
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) end of day price 1850.75, change 6.50
E-mini S&P SmallCap 600 (SMP) end of day price 353.20, change 0.00
$5 DJIA (YM) end of day price 11,225, change 8

World Currencies at time of this posting:
Euro 0.6335 to U.S. Dollars 1.5786
Japanese Yen 106.91 to U.S. Dollars 0.0094
British Pound 0.5057 to U.S. Dollars 1.9774
Canadian Dollar 1.0091 to U.S. Dollars 0.9910
Swiss Franc 1.0268 to U.S. Dollars 0.9739

Commodities Markets:
Energy Sector: Light Crude (NYM) gained $5.60 on the day for a closing price of the range of $141. a gallon ($US per bbl.); Heating Oil (NYM) gained $0.18 on the day for a closing price of $4.03 a gallon ($US per gal.); Natural Gas (NYM) gained $0.29 on the day for a closing price of $12.30 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.); Unleaded Gas (NYM) gained $0.13 on the day for a closing price of $3.51 a gallon ($US per gal.).

Metals Markets: Gold Market Price (CMX) gained $13.40 on the day for a closing price of $942.00 ($US per Troy oz.); Silver (CMX) gained $0.15 on the day for a closing price of $18.32 ($US per Troy oz.); Platinum (NYM) gained $26.40 on the day for a closing price of $1,998.40 ($US per Troy oz.) and Copper (CMX) shed $0.02 on the day for a closing price of $3.72 ($US per lb.).

Livestock and Meat Markets (cents per lb.): Lean Hogs (CME) gained 1.88 on the day for a closing price of 74.88; Pork Bellies (CME) gained 1.48 on the day for a closing price of 66.48; Live Cattle (CME) shed 0.50 on the day for a closing price of 102.05; Feeder Cattle (CME) shed 0.25 on the day for a closing price of 112.65.

Other Commodities (cents per bu.): Corn (CBT) shed 8.50 on the day for a closing price of 704.25 and Soybeans (CBT) gained 30.0 on the day for a closing price of 1,587.00.

Bond action for the day: 2 year bond shed 1/32 on the day for a closing price of 100 28/32 with a Yield of 2.41, Yield Change +0.02; 5 year bond closed with no change at 101 10/32 with a Yield of 3.09, Yield Change +0.01; 10 year bond gained 3/32 on the day for a closing price of 100 18/32 with a Yield of 3.81, Yield Change 0.00; the 30 year bond gained 1/32 on the day for a closing price of 99 10/32 with a Yield of 4.41, Yield Change 0.04.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke comments from today: better to do market reform right than quickly; stimulus package just now feeding into economy; should wait before deciding on 2nd stimulus package; doesn't see repeat of Bear Stearns as likely; Fed still has plenty of balance sheet room left; Fed 'has not lost a penny' On Bear Stearns loan; offers support for covered bonds; says on Bear Stearns: 'I would do it again'; high oil prices spur incentives to alternate sources; expects higher headline inflation in coming months; GSEs `well capitalized' on a regulatory basis; financial conditions remain strained; removing PDCF now wouldn't be a good idea; trying to reduce need for new credit facilities; considering extending primary dealer facility.

U.S. Jobless Claims fell by 58K to 346K for week of July 5 compared to survey of an increase by 6K; U.S. Continuing Claims for week of June 28 increased by 91K to 3,202,000; U.S. Jobless Claims Unrevised for week of June 28 came in at 404K; U.S. Jobless Claims saw largest d since September 2005; Labor Department: auto retooling likely a factor in new claims drop.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke agree that GSEs play critical role to economy.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. comments today: Clarity, discipline needed for derivatives and oil price affected by supply and demand, not the dollar.

Monitor scheduled economic data every market morning by viewing the Daily Market Report from Millennium-Traders, free access to visitors on our website.

Subscribe to our free Weekly MarketNews for a review of the past weeks trading action plus, view upcoming economic data for the week ahead.

Review archives of the News & Commentary plus, our FREE Monthly Trading Lesson posted on our website.

Thanks for reading