Why The Recovery Has Already Started
A durable goods order and home sales numbers rise has many economists predicting
the recovery is already in motion, but that things could still get worse before
any improvement is seen. Still, the optimism seems to have buoyed the stock
index futures on Thursday, as the Dow futures
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9860, more than 150 points off the intraday low. The other two major indexes
climbed in sympathy, with the December Nasdaq 100 futures
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going up by 47 points to 1606, and the S&P futures
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to 1144.30.
US treasuries jumped on the news of increased jobless
claims, the first rise in that number in five weeks. T-bonds
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by 1’10 to 104’31.
In the meat complex, January feeder cattle
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recapturing the 50-day moving average in Wednesday’s session. Live cattle
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off into the close and left a bearish tail on the daily chart. Pork bellies
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its uptrend intact. PBG2 finished down 0.125 at 78.65, and December lean hogs
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Grains were led by soybeans
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managed to gain 1 point to end the day at 436 1/2. Corn
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was able to eke out a close in the green, rising 1 to finish at 199 3/4. Soy
meal
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soybean oil
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technical chart of the group, trading in a pullback to the 50-day moving
average.
In currencies, the British pound
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dollar, gaining 0.0018 to close at 1.4256 in the session. Euro FX futures
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Japanese yen
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0.000046 to 0.008089, while Swiss francs
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0.6080. The Canadian dollar
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positive at 0.6325. December dollar index futures
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116.25, up 0.02.
For the soft commodities, March cocoa
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enjoyed a good day, rallying 54 points and closing at 1349 out of a short
pullback from high. Cotton
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38.96. March 2002 sugar
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gaining 0.14 to 7.70. Coffee
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0.65 to end at 45.60, and orange juice
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December copper
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move forecast by Mark Boucher in his weekly column. HGZ1 gained 0.008 to 71.30.
Silver
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Finally, in the energy contracts, natural gas
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December crude oil
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heating oil
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