Where There Are Signs Of A Rebound
Today the Federal Reserve released its so-called
"Beige Book Report". In the report, it showed that the U.S. economy
remained weak through early January, and though there are scattered signs of
improvement, the timing and strength of a recovery are still uncertain.
In its latest survey of regional economies, the
Fed found conditions from late November ranging any where from a continued
decline to, at best, a growing recovery. Five of the Fed’s 12 districts reported
slow or weak economic activity, and three told of further slowing or an economic
trough. Three others gave mixed reports, while New York alone saw clear signs of
a rebound. Many districts indicate that their contacts believe a recovery will
begin by mid-year, but the timing and strength are uncertain. Most government
securities had opened the session higher following the weak opening for stocks
on Wall Street. But a possibility that things will get better sooner than later
sent the Treasuries lower.
FINANCIALS
March 30-Year T-Bond
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lost .220 to close at 103.688. The March 10-Year T-Note
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.090 to close at 106.922, and the March 5-Year T-Note
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.030 close at 106.938.
BROADER MARKET INDEX FUTURES
The Dow Industrials suffered a triple-digit loss
Wednesday after the number one chip maker
Intel
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outlook and JP Morgan
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came out with weak quarterly results. It was
all downhill from there. The March
S&P 500 futures
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to end at 1126 and below its S2 (1132.33). The March Dow Jones futures
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down 242.00 to 9685, well below its S2 (9796), while the March Nasdaq index
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62 to end at 1563, below its S2 (1574.33).
CURRENCIES
The March US dollar index
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closed at 117.95, up .25. The March British pound
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.320 to end at 143.120. The March Japanese yen
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.33 to 76.06. The March Swiss franc
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higher to 60.16. The March Australian dollar
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close at 51.34, and the March euro
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.88010.
PRECIOUS METALS
Metals were stronger today. Feb
gold
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.007 to 4.562. March high grade copper
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HGH2 |
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.007 to .7085, and April platinum
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480.2.
GRAINS
All of the grains performed well
today, with the exception of soybean oil. March wheat
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WH2 |
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higher by 1.50 to 303.50. March corn
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CH2 |
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at 214.75. March oats
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its run, adding 6.50 to 452.50. March soybean meal
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up 4.8 to 162.70, and March soybean oil
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dropping .03 to 15.55.
SOFTS
March cotton #2 [CTH2|CTH2] added
.16 to close at 37.50. March orange juice [JOH2|JOH2] fell by 1.20 to
close at 87.55. March coffee
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cocoa
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.03 up to 7.86, and March lumber
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up 6.40.
MEATS
The meat market was mixed today. Feb
live cattle
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unchanged at 56.225. Feb pork bellies
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to end at 75.53, and March feeder cattle
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at 83.70.
ENERGIES
Crude oil prices dipped Wednesday amid choppy
trading after supply data showed a drop in demand for petroleum products.
At midday, crude oil for February delivery slid
30 cents to $18.60 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. February
gasoline was down 0.4 cent to 55.80 cents a gallon. Feb
crude oil made up some ground by the end of the day,
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.04 to end at 18.86. Feb unleaded gas
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by .65 to 55.85. Feb heating oil
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and Feb natural gas
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