Reports » US

US stock market daily report (September 02, 2010,Thursday)

Contributed by Millennium Traders

By Millennium Traders

Wall Street investors remained cautious today as the latest news on job recovery did little to boost spirits. Today's report on unemployment was better than analysts' expected, but still more sluggish than they would like. Despite the slow recovery in the troubled job markets, analysts' say that the labor market is recovering better than it has in the past. In the worst time during the recession the unemployment rate hit a staggering 10.1%, the rate has since dropped to 9.5% according to recent reports. That is the quickest recovery seen throughout the years. If you look back through the numbers over the past recession, they proof is there to support it. After the 1990 recession ended, the economy shed another 300,000 throughout almost the whole year following. In 2001, there was a loss of 3.1% of all jobs; overall, only 1.9% of jobs were recuperated after the "jobless recovery during that period. Analysts' say that the labor market should start to show fewer filings for unemployment starting in the coming months. If things don't start improving over the next couple months, analysts' say then it is time to worry about the market. This morning the Labor Department reported better than expected news on the current unemployment situation. In the week ended August 28 initial claims for unemployment benefits were down by 6,000, or 472 claims. This week's report was the second week in a row to show a decline in claims; last week there were a total of 478,000 filings. Analysts were expecting this week's claims to rise by 2,000, or 475,000 claims. The report also showed that continuing claims fell this week. Continuing claims fell by 23,000 to 4.456 million, down from last week's 4.479 million claims. Last week; the 4-week moving average of initial claims fell 2,500 to 485,500 and the 4-week moving average for ongoing claims fell by 28,500 to 4.485 million. Stocks were mixed in today's session; the Dow started the morning off with modest gains, but just ahead of the afternoon half of the session, the index moved into negative territory. It wouldn't surprise analysts' if the major indexes ended the day a little lower; yesterday two of the three major indexes rallied triple digits. With just a half hour left in the day, the Dow was down 30 points. Commodity prices rose today, as the dollar pushed them higher; the greenback rose versus the yen but fell versus the pound and the euro. Investors anxiously await the Labor Department's weekly report on jobs; it is expected that trading volume will be low tomorrow due to the Labor Day weekend.

President Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke:
Rules, Not Statements, Will Stop too Big to Fail; Regulation, Not Monetary Policy, Better Stability Tool; Expect Some 'Break-ups,' Less Complex Financial Firms; Cross-Border Issues Pose Challenges for Bank Wind-Downs.

Sandra Pianalto President Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland:
Housing Crisis Needs Multiple-Policy Response.

Jean-Claude Trichet President of the European Central Bank (ECB):
Absolutely No Monetary Signal in Indexing 3-Mo Refinances; Risks to Outlook Slightly Tilted to the Downside; ECB Sees Euro-Zone 2011 GDP Growth at 0.5% to 2.3%; ECB Sees Euro-Zone 2010 GDP Growth at 1.4% to 1.8%; Policy Stance Will be Adjusted as Appropriate; Non-Standard Measures Remain Temporary; Policy Stance Remains Accommodative; to Do What Needed to Maintain Price Stability; "Inflexibly Attached" to Delivering Price Stability; 4Q 3-Month LTROs to Be Indexed to MRO Rates; 4Q 3-Month Refinances to Be Fixed Rate, Full Allotment; Special-Term Ops to Feature Same Interest Rate; MROs, 1-Month to Stay Fixed Rate, Full Allot Till Year End; Money Markets on a Path to More Normal Functioning; Inflation Expectations Sill Firmly Anchored; Also Decided to Conduct Special-Term Refinancing Ops; Decided to Carry Out 3 Additional Fine-Tuning Ops; Fine-Tuning Ops Scheduled For Sep 30, Nov 11, and Dec 23; Onus of Adjustment is on Uncompetitive Member States; Double-Dip Not in the Cards; Greater Confidence Can Offset Damping Effect of Cuts; Still Not Declaring Victory on Growth Outlook; Fiscal Policies Appear to Be in line With Expectations; Euro-Zone Should Exploit Faster Growth to Cut Deficits; Credit Growth Trend Still Consistent With Past Cycles; LTRO Decision Was Taken By Consensus; Interest Rate Decision Taken Unanimously; Underlying Pace of Monetary Expansion "Moderate"; Risks to CPI Outlook Slightly Tilted to the Upside; ECB Sees Euro-Zone 2011 CPI at 1.2% to 2.2%; ECB Sees Euro-Zone 2010 CPI at 1.5% to 1.7%; Sees Slight Increase in HICP Going Forward; Doubts over Global Economy are a Downside Risk; U.S. Economy Not Deviating Much from Expectations; Non-Standard Measures Need to Correspond to Market Situation; as a Citizen, I am Appalled by Sarrazin Remarks; Interest Rate Level Remains Appropriate; Continue to Expect Moderate CPI Developments; Medium-Term Price Developments to Remain Moderate; Domestic Price Pressures "Low"; Euro Area to Grow at Moderate Pace; Factors Boosting Economy Recently "Temporary"; Expect Price Stability to be Maintained; Overall Liquidity to be Adjusted as Appropriate; Expects Moderation in 2H, Globally and in Euro Area; Encourage Ireland to Take the Appropriate Decisions; Sees Continuing Momentum in Euro Zone Recovery;  Recovery to be Dampened By Balance-Sheet Adjustment; Irish Government Has Responsibility for Managing Bank Issues; Europeans Need United Voice on IMF Representation; Praises German, Austrian Wage Moderation, Job Creation; ECB Raises Central 2010 GDP Forecast to 1.6% versus 1.0%; ECB Raises Central 2011 CPI Forecast to 1.7% versus 1.6%; ECB Raises Central 2010 CPI Forecast to 1.6% versus 1.5%.

Economic data released today:

Initial Jobless Claims:
U.S. August 21 Week Jobless Claims Revised to 478K from 473K; U.S. August 21 Week Continuing Claims fell 23K to 4,456,000; U.S. Jobless Claims fell 6K to 472K in August 28 Week; Compared to Survey of a decrease by 3K.

Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ):
U.S. 2Q Non-Farm Productivity Consensus fell 1.9%; U.S. 2Q Non-Farm Productivity Revised -1.8%, Preliminary -0.9%.

Unit Labor Costs (QoQ):
U.S. 1Q Unit Labor Costs Revised to -4.6%; U.S. 2Q Unit Labor Costs Consensus +1.1%; U.S. 2Q Unit Labor Costs Revised +1.1%, Preliminary +0.2%.

Pending Home Sales (MoM):
NAR Economist Says Affordability Should Help Housing Recover; U.S. July Pending Home Sales fell 19.1% from July 2009 – NAR; NAR Economist Thinks Home Sales Will be Soft in Months Ahead; Pending Home Sales Increase Marks First Rise in Three Months; U.S. Pending Home Sales Index rose 5.2% to 79.4 in July – NAR.

Factory Orders (MoM):
June Factory Orders Revised to -0.6% from -1.2%; July Durable Goods Revised to +0.4% from +0.3%; July Factory Orders, Excluding Defense, rose 0.2%; July Factory Orders, Excluding Transportation, fell 1.5%; U.S. Factory Orders rose 0.1% in July; Compared to Consensus of an increase by 0.2%.

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 50.48 points, EOD 10,319.95
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) gain 55.04, EOD 6,966.02
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) gain 21.99 points, EOD 2,198.83
S&P 500 (SPX) gain 9.6 points, EOD 1,089.89
BEL 20 (BEL20) gain 6 points, EOD 2,537.76
CAC 40 (CAC40) gain 7.59 points, EOD 3,631.43
FTSE100 (UKX100) gain 4.63 points, EOD 5,371.04
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) triple digit gain 135.82 points, EOD 9,062.84

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 2,109, declined stock prices 932, unchanged stock prices 98, stock prices hitting new highs 167 and stock prices hitting new lows 21. 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: ME shed 0.58, HOD 23.40, LOD 19.62, EOD 22.77; RIG shed 0.28, HOD 55.76, LOD 53.66, EOD 54.05; CRM gain 2.44, HOD 119.59, LOD 115.63, EOD 118.84; DLM shed 0.32, HOD 13.50, LOD 12.75, EOD 12.84; PSS shed 1.26, HOD 13.28, LOD 12.41, EOD 12.50.

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,674, declined stock prices 966, unchanged stock prices 130, stock prices hitting new highs 58 and stock prices hitting new lows 30. 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: AAPL gain 1.65, HOD 251.98, LOD 248.57, EOD 251.98; AMZN gain 2.59, HOD 135.18, LOD 132.05, EOD 135.08; JOYG gain 2.34, HOD 62.90, LOD 60.13, EOD 62.50; AKAM gain 2.44, HOD 50.52, LOD 47.81, EOD 50.09; STRA gain 2.49, HOD 150.04, LOD 146.34, EOD 149.41; PCLN gain 4.44, HOD 314.63, LOD 306.17, EOD 311.28; ISRG gain 3.26, HOD 277.65, LOD 271.25, EOD 277.32; UTIW gain 0.70, HOD 15.85, LOD 14.91, EOD 15.04; SCMR gain 4.68, HOD 27.42, LOD 24.05, EOD 26.90.

Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 278, declined stock prices 195, unchanged stock prices 46, stock prices hitting new highs 17 and stock prices hitting new lows 4.

Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market for the day, at time of this posting:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) Mar 10: EOD 1088.75; Change 7.00
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) Mar 10: EOD 1,838.50; Change 18.50
E-mini DOW $5 (YM) Mar 10: EOD 10,304; Change 32
Nikkei 225 (Yen) Mar 10: EOD 9,085; Change -30

World Currencies for the Forex Market, for Forex Trading by active Forex Traders, at time of this posting:
Euro 0.7801 to U.S. Dollars 1.2800
Japanese Yen 84.2550 to U.S. Dollars 0.0118
British Pound 0.6496 to U.S. Dollars 1.5400
Canadian Dollar 1.0542 to U.S. Dollars 0.9493
Swiss Franc 1.0134 to U.S. Dollars 0.9867

COMMODITY MARKETS:

Energy Sector - Nymex:
Light Crude (October 10) gain $1.11, EOD $75.02 per barrel ($US per barrel)
Heating Oil (October 10) gain $0.02, EOD $2.0064 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Natural Gas (October 10) shed $0.01, EOD $3.75 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.)
Unleaded Gas (October 10) gain $0.03 EOD $1.92 gallon ($US per gallon)

Metals Markets - Comex:
Gold (September 10) gain $5.20, EOD $1,251.50 ($US per Troy ounce)
Silver (September 10) gain $0.27, EOD $19.64 ($US per Troy ounce)
Platinum (September 10) gain $15.80, EOD $1,551.50 ($US per Troy ounce)
Copper (September 10) gain $0.01, EOD $3.49 ($US per pound)

Livestock and Meat Markets - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (October 10) gain $1.55, EOD $76.50
Pork Bellies (February 10) gain $0.25, EOD $105.25
Live Cattle (October 10) unchanged, EOD $97.25
Feeder Cattle (September 10) gain $0.82, EOD $114.70

Other Commodities - Chicago Board of Trade (cents per bushel):
Corn (September 10) gain $0.75, EOD $433.00
Soybeans (September 10) gain $3.00, EOD $1,007.50