What’s Up At The Pump?

The day after Christmas ushered in gains on the
broader market indexes and in the energies. With a slow volume day, the markets
opened strong and then pulled back. Wal-Mart Stores
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and Yahoo!
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reported gains in holiday sales, which helped fuel the Dow and Nasdaq. Exxon
Mobil
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is rallying oil shares higher on expectations OPEC will
agree this week to cut output. 

BROADER MARKET INDEX FUTURES

March S&P 500 futures
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closed at 1152.50, up 5.30. The March Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
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closed out at 10117, up 77.00, while the March Nasdaq 100 futures
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closed higher to 1602.00, up 17.00.

FINANCIALS

March 30-Year T-Bonds
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closed at 100.07, down -0’15. The March 10-Year T-Note
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closed
at 103’30.5, down -0’10.5, and the March 5-Year T-Note [FVH2|FVH2] ended
at 104’27.5, down -0’07.

CURRENCIES

The March US dollar index
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closed down -0.11 at 118.43. The March British pound [BPH2|BPH2] was
up +0.0114 to 1.4474. The March Japanese yen
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continued its
decline, closing at 0.007675, down -0.000066.
The yen halted a nine-day
tumble vs. the dollar, its longest slide in four years, after a Japanese finance
official signaled the government may try to slow the currency’s decline.
Zembei
Mizoguchi, director-general of the Ministry of Finance’s international bureau,
criticized big swings in the yen. "It’s not good for daily (exchange-rate)
moves to be too large,” and the ministry is "watching the situation,” he
said, according to the Dow Jones Newswire.
The
March Swiss franc
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closed up +0.0012 to 0.5912, and the March
Australian dollar
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dropped -0.0011 to close down at 0.5047.

PRECIOUS METALS

All of the metals rallied in
today’s session. Feb. Gold
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closed at 279.9, up +1.60. March
Silver
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ended at 4.55, up 0.020. Jan. High Grade Copper
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finished at 68.60, up +0.70, and Jan. Platinum
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closed up
2.70 to 474.00.

GRAINS

The Grains pulled back today. March
Wheat
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closed at 284.50, down -4.24. March Corn
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was down -2.74 to 208.75. March Oats
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dropped -0.99 to 189.00,
and Jan. Soybeans
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ended the day at 42825.00, down -724.99.

SOFTS

March Cotton #2 [CTH2|CTH2]
was up +.42 to 36.64. Jan. Orange Juice [JOF2|JOF2] was down -.60 to
92.90. March Coffee was closed today
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,
as well as March Cocoa
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.
Jan. Lumber
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pulled back -7.19 in this trading session to
close at 259.80.

MEATS

The meat markets were mixed
today. Feb. Live Cattle
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inched 0.28 higher to 70.75. Feb.
Live Hogs
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closed at 55.48, down -0.299. Feb. Pork Bellies
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pulled back by -1.24 to 77.65, and Jan. Feeder Cattle
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was up
0.25 to 85.75.

ENERGIES

The Energy markets rallied today.
Jan. Crude Oil
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was unchanged at 19.36. Jan. Unleaded Gasoline

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closed higher at 60.13 up 4.27. Jan. Heating Oil
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was higher, closing at 59.46, up 4.62, and Jan. Natural Gas
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pushed
up 0.020 to 2.91.