What Makes Friday’s Action Encouraging

The index futures limped somewhat into the close but Friday’s session saw the
markets post a second straight net positive day, and gave an encouraging sign
for the upcoming weeks.
Dow Futures
(
DJZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
posted another high three-digit gain, with Nasdaq
100 Futures
(
NDZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
up more than 40 points and the S&P’s
(
SPZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

adding over 30 to their total.

Bonds took it on the chin again, as 10-year Notes
(
TYZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

fell on the indices rally along with U.S. Treasury Bonds
(
USZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
,

which dropped 1’14 in trading.

Gold
(
GCZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

on the other hand, did not suffer as badly as it did
Thursday, falling only 0.30 on the day. Silver
(
SIZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

managed to eke out a small gain, while Copper
(
HGZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
moved back up
above the 50-day moving average after forming a double bottom over the past
week.

Energies rallied across the board, with Crude Oil
(
CLX2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

rebounding off the 50-day moving average and Gasoline
(
HUX2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
doing
the same off its 20-day moving average. Heating Oil
(
HOX2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Natural Gas
(
NGX2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

posted positive, albeit small gains at the close.

Is Cocoa
(
CCZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
finally starting to cool off? The contract pulled
back from its contract high today, forming a large-range outside day down. Orange Juice
(
JOX2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

was the lone gainer of the group, up more than 2 points. Coffee
(
KCZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

and Sugar
(
SBH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

posted small losses, and Cotton
(
CTZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

triggered back to the downside out of a counter trend rally.

Grains were mixed, with Soybeans
(
SX2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
gapping higher but still closing positive, but at the bottom of
Friday’s range, with
Bean Oil
(
BOZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and

Soy Meal
(
SMZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
exhibiting similar action. Wheat
(
WZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

sold off initially but recovered somewhat into the close and Corn
(
CZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

continues its implosion.

In the meats, both Pork Bellies
(
PBG3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Lean Hogs
(
LHZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

continue to rebound out of pullbacks to the 20-day moving average, but slipped a little into the close and ended the day weakly. Live
Cattle
(
LCZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Feeder Cattle
(
FCV2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
both ended the
session higher and appear to be regaining some upward momentum following a tough
four week period which saw falling contract prices.

The US dollar
(
DXZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

closed the session unchanged, hurt in the
last half of the day as profits were pulled out of the indices. The Swiss
franc
(
SFZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

and the Canadian dollar
(
CDZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

managed to tack on some gains in the final day of trading, but the Japanese
yen
(
JYZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

and the British pound
(
BPZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

fell in the session.