Today’s Undisputed Catalyst
The catalyst for today’s market was,
no doubt,
Microsoft
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and it helped fuel the rally right out of the gate. MSFT rallied 5.8% after a US judge mostly approved a proposed settlement of the federal
antitrust case against the company late Friday, casting aside calls by nine
states for more stringent penalties. Standard & Poor’s upped the stock to a
“buy” from an “accumulate,” citing the strength of the company’s balance sheet,
the quality of its earnings and the favorable Federal court ruling. This spilled
over into the overall tech sector, which gave the Dec. Nasdaq futures
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below the 1080 level. NDZ2 closed at 1043 up 20.50 or 2.00%.
On the Dec. S&P 500 futures
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it was an opportunity for both bulls and bears and anyone in between. The SPZ2
gapped to 906.50 and rallied as high as 925.00 at 1:00 PM EST. Then a pullback occurred
and the SPZ2 broke its 20-period moving average and drifted off for the rest of
the session, closing near the lows of the day at 907.40, a gain
of 8.90 on the day.
In the energies, Dec. crude oil
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CLZ2 |
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HOZ2 |
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.83 of a cent to end lower at 73.33 a gallon. Dec. unleaded gasoline
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gas dropped .20 to 3.863.
Dec. wheat
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to $4.08 1/4 a bushel. Chicago Board of Trade Jan soybeans remain poised
to test the previous reaction high crossing at 5.71 and then the 75% retracement
level of this fall’s decline crossing at 5.76 1/2. Soybean harvest should be
completed by the end of this week. With harvest-related pressure diminishing,
all eyes are now focused on South America’s weather and export demand, which
continues to be stronger than the market had expected. Closes below last
Monday’s low at 5.45 1/2 would signal that the rally off October’s low has
likely come to an end. Jan. soybeans
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SF2 |
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3/4 a bushel. Dec. corn
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at $2.44 1/2 a bushel.
Dec copper
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trend up today gaining at .20 to 72.84 a pound. Support on copper is at .72.
Gold and silver both pulled back today, which caused the Gold & Silver index
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did not end positive however. Comex Dec gold futures
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GCZ2 |
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50 cents lower at $318.70 Monday after a quiet session. Gold came under light
pressure from the firmer stock markets but found steady support at $317.50 from
the widespread expectations for a cut in US interest rates Wednesday. Dec.
silver dropped .30 to $4.487 a pound.