April Fools Day

[MTnews]

Daily Market Commentary for April 1, 2009

Even though this was April Fools Day, the gains posted across the board on Wall Street were by no means, a joke. (read more at )

Economic data released today:

MBA Purchase Applications:
The government's efforts to reduce mortgage rates has not tripped a jump in home buying as of yet but, it has definitely tripped a surge in refinancing. MBA's refinancing index rose 3.7% for week of March 27 to 6,600.1 with refinancing accounting for 79.1 percent of all applications. Increased refinancing means fewer foreclosures and fewer foreclosed homes weighing on supply. The purchase applications index could only edge fractionally higher to 268.0. Mortgage rates are at a record low 4.61% percent for 30-year fixed loans with other rates falling as well.

Challenger Job-Cut Report:
Total announced layoffs fell back for a second straight month to 150,411 during March versus more than 186,000 during February and down from January's gigantic peak of nearly 242,000. These are announcements of layoffs with many of the actual layoffs occurring months down the road.

ADP Employment Report:
ADP sees March U.S. Private Sector Jobs down 742,000; ADP March U.S. Private Sector Jobs was expected to fall 656,000.

ISM (Institute for Supply Management) Index:
U.S. March Manufacturing Business Index came in at 36.3 versus February reading at 35.8; U.S. March Manufacturing Business Index Expected 35.0; U.S. March Prices Index came in at 31.0 versus February reading at 29.0; U.S. March Employment Index came in at 28.1 versus February reading at 26.1; U.S. March New Orders Index came in at 41.2 versus February reading at 33.1; U.S. March Production Index came in at 36.4 versus February reading at 36.3; U.S. March Inventories Index came in at 32.2 versus February reading at 37.0.

Construction Spending:
U.S. Construction Spending in February fell 0.9% compare to consensus of a drop by 2.0%; U.S. January Construction Spending revised to a drop by 3.5% from a drop by 3.3%.

Pending Home Sales by National Association for Realtors (NAR):
U.S. Pending Home Sales Index rose 2.1% in February; U.S. February Pending Home Sales fell 1.4% from February 2008.

EIA Petroleum Status Report from Department of Energy (DOE):
U.S. Refineries ran at 81.7% capacity but was expected to increase by 0.2 points at 82.2%; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles rose by 221,000 Barrels in the week compared to expectations of a drop by 500,000 Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles rose by 2.2 Million Barrels in the week compared to expectations of a drop by 1.2 Million Barrels; U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles rose by 2.8 Million Barrels in the week compared to expectations of an increase by 2.3 Million Barrels; U.S. Refineries ran at 81.7% capacity versus 82.0% a week ago; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles rose by 0.221 Million Barrels at 144.153 Million Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles rose by 2.225 Million Barrels at 216.793 Million Barrels; U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles rose by 2.844 Million Barrels at 359.427 Million Barrels.

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) triple digit gain of 152.68 points to end the trading session at 7,761.60
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) triple digit gain of 106.78 points to end the trading session at 5,085.76
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) gain of 23.01 points to end the trading session at 1,551.60
S&P 500 (SPX) gain of 13.21 points to end the trading session at 811.08
BEL 20 (BEL20) gain of 24.10 points to end the trading session at 1,772.84
CAC 40 (CAC40) gain of 32.27 points to end the trading session at 2,839.61
FTSE100 (UKX100) gain of 29.47 points to end the trading session at 3,955.61
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) triple digit gain of 242.38 points to end the trading session at 8,351.91

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 2,063, declined stock prices 624, unchanged stock prices 463, stock prices hitting new highs 5 and stock prices hitting new lows 17. 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: Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) stock price gained 4.07 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $139.33, low on the trading session $30.24, with a closing stock price at $138.13; Metavante Technologies (NYSE: MV) stock price gained 1.96 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $22.88, low on the trading session $21.00, with a closing stock price at $21.92; Brush Engineered Material (NYSE: BW) stock price shed 0.92 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $13.22, low on the trading session $11.50, with a closing stock price at $12.95.

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,805, declined stock prices 948, unchanged stock prices 126, stock prices hitting new highs 13 and stock prices hitting new lows 20. 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: Celgen (NasdaqGS: CELG) stock price shed 5.90 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $39.25, low on the trading session $36.90, with a closing stock price at $38.50; First Solar (NasdaqGS: FSLR) stock price gained 2.80 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $137.40, low on the trading session $130.00, with a closing stock price at $135.50.

Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 298, declined stock prices 198, unchanged stock prices 108, stock prices hitting new highs 3 and stock prices hitting new lows 8.

Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market for the day, at time of this posting:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) June 09: End of trading session price 809.25; Change for the trading session 14.50
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) June 09: End of trading session price 1,251; Change for the trading session 13.50
E-mini DOW $5 (YM) June 09: End of trading session price 7,716; Change for the trading session 154
E-mini S&P MidCap 400 (MF) June 09: End of trading session price 492.70; Change for the trading session 4.80

World Currencies for the Forex Market, for Forex Trading by active Forex Traders, at time of this posting:
Euro 0.7557 to U.S. Dollars 1.3232
Japanese Yen 98.5800 to U.S. Dollars 0.0101
British Pound 0.6924 to U.S. Dollars 1.4442
Canadian Dollar 1.2612 to U.S. Dollars 0.7929
Swiss Franc 1.1461 to U.S. Dollars 0.8725

COMMODITY MARKETS:

Energy Sector - Nymex:
Light Crude (May 09) shed $1.51 on the trading session for a closing price of $48.39 per barrel ($US per barrel)
Heating Oil (May 09) shed $0.02 on the trading session for a closing price of $1.35 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Natural Gas (May 09) shed $0.08 on the trading session for a closing price of $3.66 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.)
Unleaded Gas (April 09) shed $0.05 on the trading session for a closing price of $1.37 a gallon ($US per gallon)

Metals Markets - Comex:
Gold (June 09) gained $2.70 on the trading session for a closing price of $927.70 ($US per Troy ounce)
Silver (May 09) shed $0.01 on the trading session for a closing price of $12.98 ($US per Troy ounce)
Platinum (July 09) gained $15.00 on the trading session for a closing price of $1,143.80 ($US per Troy ounce)
Copper (May 09) gained $0.01 on the trading session for a closing price of $1.85 ($US per pound)

Livestock and Meat Markets - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (June 09) shed 0.95 on the trading session for a closing price of 71.45
Pork Bellies (May 09) gained 0.45 on the trading session for a closing price of 87.00
Live Cattle (June 09) shed 0.33 on the trading session for a closing price of 81.38
Feeder Cattle (May 09) shed 0.30 on the trading session for a closing price of 93.95

Other Commodities - Chicago Board of Trade (cents per bushel):
Corn (May 09) shed 8.75 on the trading session for a closing price of 396.00
Soybeans (May 09) no change on the trading session for a closing price of 952.00

BOND MARKET:

2 year Bond Closing price 100 4/32, change 0, Yield 0.81, Yield change 0.01
5 year Bond closing price of 100 15/32, change 1/32, Yield 1.65, Yield change 0.00
10 year Bond closing price 100 27/32, change 9/32, Yield 2.65, Yield change -0.06
30 year Bond closing price 100 change 19/32, Yield 3.49, Yield change -0.04

Thanks for reading