- A mixed batch of economic data led to a very hesitant open for equity markets today, with jobless claims coming in worse than expected but pending home sales coming in better than expected.  This tentative trading was present throughout the majority of the session as corporate news was light and failed to steer major indices in any sort of direction.  However, the speculative bulls swooped in during the final hour of trading ahead of another jobs report tomorrow and led to modest gains for the major indices and all major sectors, with Dow closing up 50 to 10320, SP closing up 10 to 1090, and Nasdaq closing up 23 to 2200.  VIX dumped another 2.9% to fall to 23.19.

- In corporate news, though scarce, one recent M&A saga finally came to a close as Dell formally backed away from 3Par following HP’s latest bid of $33/share.  Outside of that, oil owned headlines for the entirety of the afternoon session after reports of another rig explosion in the Gulf stormed headlines.  Once it was determined that Mariner Energy (ME) owned the rig, shares tumbled nearly 15%, but managed to recover most of those losses after further reports filtered in saying that a minimal amount of oil actually leaked into the Gulf because the rig was not actively drilling.  On the analyst front, notable upgrades came for Digital River (DRIV +8.9%), Rio Tinto (RTP -.2%), and HP (HPQ +1.2%).  The only downgrade on the day came for Vale (VALE +.1%).

- In broad sector trading, all majors finished in the black, with Discretionaries, Industrials, Materials, Financials, Tech, and Energy all seeing significant gains, while Pharma, Telecom, and Consumer Staples saw more modest upward movement.

- In sector etf trading, gains were seen across the board, with the largest moves seen in Homebuilders (XHB), Solar (TAN), Lithium (LIT), Retail (RTH), and Semi’s (SMH).  The lightest moves to the upside were seen for Nat Gas (UNG, UNL), Coal (KOL), Regional Banks (KRE), Gold (GLD), Steel (SLX), and Biotech (BBH).

- In country etf trading, China (FXI) and Canada (EWC) led the upside, while Singapore (EWS) and Japan (EWJ) were the only closers in the red.

- In commodity trading, crude jumped on news of the Mariner rig explosion in the Gulf, closing up 1.5% to an Aug 27 high of 75.02.  Gold and Silver both continued their march towards 52 week highs, with gold closing up .4% to 1253 (9 below 52 week high), while Silver closed up 1.4% to 19.67 (.07 below 52 week high).  Nat Gas closed down .3% to 3.75, only a nickel above its recent 52 week low.  Copper closed up .6% to an April 26 high of 349.  Lumber closed down .4% to 206, and corn finished up .2% to a Jan 11 high of 447.

- In currency trading, the greenback lost again as equity markets remained bullish, finishing down .2% to an Aug 18 low of 82.39.  This led the euro to gains of .1% to an Aug 19 high of 1.2812.  The pound finished down .3% to 1.539.

- It was a small dose of positive news ahead of yesterday’s session that brought an end to the recent downward spiral for equity markets and left major indices flat on the day.  It was a proverbial tidal wave of positive news that brought about surges not seen since early July for the major indices in today’s session.  The Challenger jobs report that left us with job cut numbers less than expected, mixed with ISM Manufacturing data that was stronger than expected, gave way to a 200+ move for the Dow and led every major sector higher.  A drop in both MBA Mortgage apps and Construction spending were ignored  as bulls flocked to the first positive employment data in months, coupled with what they see as an oversold market in the short term.  However, jobless numbers still lie ahead of tomorrow’s session and could very well bring investors back to what I see as the current reality.  Nonetheless, the Dow finished up 254 to 10269, SP finished up 31 to 1080, and Nasdaq finished up 63 to 2176; VIX tumbled 8.4% to a 3 week low of 23.87.

- In corporate news, the tech sector was in primary focus today, with Apple (AAPL) holding a press conference to discuss the latest in their product line, which included a brand new line of redesigned ipods, a new operating system for both the iphone and ipad, and the addition of streaming netflix movies through Apple TV.  Amazon (AMZN) was another big name in the sector that consumed headlines today, as they are reportedly in talks to begin offering unlimited viewing of old tv shows and movies, along with the report from Staples (SPLS) that they will begin selling the Kindle in their stores.  Lastly, Dell had until the end of today to counter bid HP for 3par, with no news of a counter bid to this point.  Outside of the Techs, BP reported that it will be selling its Malaysian unit to help cover spill costs.  And finally, Cogent (COGT) shareholders began to raise arms today over the proposed takeover from 3M (MMM).  Notable analyst upgrades came for Western Digital (WDC), Garmin (GRMN), Schwab (SCHW), Bluecoat (BCSI), Arch Coal (ACI), and Massey (MEE).  Notable downgrades came for Qualcomm (QCOM), Siemens (SI), Potash (POT), and CF.

- In broad sector trading, all majors closed higher, with the most significant gains seen in Industrials, Financials, Energy, Discretionaries, and Materials, while lighter gains were seen in Consumer Staples, Pharma, Telecom, and Tech.

- In sector etf trading, the majority closed in the black, with Copper (ISC), Steel (SLX), Coal (KOL), Banks (KBE, KRE), Homebuilders (XHB), Solar (TAN), Airlines (FAA), and Oil (USO) all posting significantly higher closes, while Pharma (PPH) and Silver (SLV) saw more tame moves, and Nat Gas (UNG, UNL) and Gold (GLD) finished in the red.

- In country etf trading, all majors also finished in the black, with Aussie (EWA), Brazil (EWZ), South Korea (EWY), Russia (RSK), UK (EWU), and Singapore (EWS) all closing significantly higher, while Taiwan (EWT), Canada (EWC), Hong Kong (EWH), China (FXI), and Japan (EWJ) finished with more modest gains.

- In commodity trading, Crude surged 2.8%  to 73.95 despite higher than expected inventory numbers.  Gold and Silver both closed down in the wake of today’s equity market surge, losing .3% and .07% to 1246 and 19.38 respectively.  Nat Gas dropped 1.3% to 3.76 after bouncing off of Friday’s 52 week low.  Copper surged 3% on positive global macro news from China and Australia, closing at an April 26 high of 347.  Lumber closed up .4% to 207, and Corn closed up 1.6% to a Nov 30 high of 446.

- In currency trading, the greenback tumbled .9% to a 2 week low of 82.48 as equity markets surged.  The euro subsequently jumped 1.2% to a 2 week high of 1.2810

- A barrage of disappointing economic data and forecasts have brought about turmoil in equity markets over the last week and a half, sending the Dow below 10,000 for the first time since July 6.  That trend was bucked today as some positive data finally began to trickle in, with Consumer Confidence and both Chain and Retail Sales topping estimates.  However, it was only enough to keep major indices at flat levels, as a fair share of negative data continued to flow as well, namely Chicago PMI and Case Shiller Home Price Index both coming in below estimates.  Minutes from the FOMC meeting in Jackson Hole didn’t serve the bulls well either, as one of the primary themes coming out of the meeting was the idea of injecting more stimulus if economic growth continues to slow.  With all this said, Dow finished up 5 to 10014, SP closed flat at 1049, and Nasdaq finished down 6 to 2114; VIX tumbled 4.3% to 26.05 as speculative bulls returned to the markets today.

- In corporate news, headlines wouldn’t be complete without M&A activity these days, with a few major names hitting in today’s session.  First, rumors swirled around Saks (SKS) being sought after, sending shares up nearly 20%.  Second, Google (GOOG) made yet another acquisition, Social Deck this time around, in its ongoing initiative to build a rival platform to Facebook.  And finally, Dell was notified that it has until tomorrow to counter HP’s (HPQ) latest 30/share bid for 3Par.  Outside of M&A, the Tech sector was in focus, namely Apple and RIMM, with Apple (AAPL) set to announce tomorrow the introduction of streaming Netflix movies to its Apple TV store, while RIMM’s story was a little more grim following a survey revealing that corporate loyalty to the Blackberry is dwindling.  The last major news bit today came from the Financial sector as JP Morgan (JPM) announced that it will be ending all prop trading at the firm.  On the analyst front, notable upgrades came for Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), UBS, NV Energy (NVE), Comerica (CMA), Rio Tinto (RTP), Gap (GPS), and Abercrombie (ANF).  Notable downgrades came for Rackspace (RAX), Ross (ROST), Nothrup Gronman (NOC), and Potash (POT).

- In broad sector trading, Telecom, Financials, Materials, Consumer Discretionaries, and Consumer Staples all showed significant gains, while Pharma, Energy, and Tech struggled.

- In sector etf trading, Solar (TAN), Silver (SLV), Coal (KOL), Gold (GLD), Steel (SLX), Banks (KBE, KRE), Real Estate (IYR), and Airlines (FAA) all closed significantly higher while Oil (USO), Semi’s (SMH), Biotech (BBH), Lithium (LIT), and Retail (RTH) were hit hard by sellers.

- In country etf trading, Brazil (EWZ), Russia (RSX), UK (EWU), Aussie (EWA), and Singapore (EWS) led the upside, while Japan (EWJ), Taiwan (EWT), Canada (EWC), South Korea (EWY), China (FXI), and Hong Kong (EWH) led the downside

- In commodity trading, Crude closed lower for a second consecutive session, tumbling 3.7% to an 8/24 low of 71.92.  Both Gold and Silver finished very close to 52 week highs, with gold closing up .9% to 1250 and Silver closing up 1.9% to 19.43, the third consecutive closes higher for both.  Nat Gas traded flat at 3.81 after coming off a fresh 52 week low in yesterday’s session.  Copper reversed a 3-day winning streak to close down 1.5% to 337.  Lumber closed down 3.3% to a 2 week low of 206.  Corn reversed a 3-day winning streak to close down .5% to 439.

- In currency trading, the greenback dropped .1% to 83.14.  The euro also closed lower, dumping just .03% to 1.2666.  The pound finished lower by .8% to 1.533.

- Major indices resumed their downward push following speculative bargain buying in Friday’s session that drove them back up to last Monday’s levels.  Economic data remained the driver, with a dip in Personal Income outweighing beats for Personal Spending and the Dallas Fed Index.  The Yen’s recent surge is not helping matters.  M&A activity also remained prevalent, but did not sway investors in the least from continuing their short plays in equity markets.  Today’s decline was gradual throughout, with all three major indices finishing at session lows and erasing nearly all of Friday’s gains, with the Dow losing 141 to 10009, SP losing 15 to 1048, and Nasdaq losing 33 to 2119; VIX returned to last week’s highs, surging 11.3% to 27.21.

- In corporate news, as I stated above, M&A activity remained in the forefront of equity market headlines, beginning with Genzyme’s (GENZ +3.4%) rejection of Sanofi’s (SNY -1%) 69/share bid.  Intel (INTC -2.2%) reported the acquisition of Infineon’s (IFNNY) wireless business, but the news was overshadowed by an analyst downgrade that sent shares tumbling.  3M (MMM -1.7%) announced the acquisition of Cogent (COGT +24.4%) sending Cogent’s shares skyrocketing.  Google (GOOG -1.3%) hit headlines with its acquisition of Angstro, a social networking company that will further assist them as they move to build a Facebook rival.   And finally, Cisco (CSCO -2.4%) reported an offer for Skype.  In the stock repo arena, both HP (HPQ) and Fossil (FOSL) confirmed share buybacks, sending shares up 1.5% and 4.2% respectively.  Analyst upgrades came for Noble Energy (NBL +2.6%) and Sanofi (SNY -1%), while downgrades came for Intel (INTC -2.2%), which crushed shares of AMD (-5%), for Lockheed (LMT -2%), Autozone (-1.7%), and Texas Instruments (TXN -3.7%) as well.

- In broad sector trading, all majors closed in the red, with Consumer Staples, Pharma, and Tech suffering less of a selloff, while Financials and Consumer Discretionaries were hit hard.

- In sector etf trading, only Nat Gas (UNG) and Copper (ISC) finished in the black, with Gold (GLD), Silver (SLV), Lithium (LIT), Airlines (FAA), Biotech (BBH), and Real Estate (IYR) suffering tame losses, while  Banks (KRE, KBE), Semi’s (SMH), Steel (SLX), Solar (TAN), Coal (KOL), and Retail (RTH) were all crushed.

- In country etf trading, South Korea (EWY), Japan (EWJ), Canada (EWC), Singapore (EWS), and Aussie (EWA) saw the lesser pain on the day, while Brazil (EWZ), China (FXI), UK (EWU), and Russia sold off hard.

- In commodity trading, Crude reversed a 3-day winning streak to close down .6% to 74.70.  Gold and Silver finished nearly flat, but remained near late June highs of 1239 and 19.07 respectively.  Nat Gas finally reversed course after 8 sessions of losses and new 52 week lows set in each session last week, closing up 3% to 3.81.  Copper closed up for the 3rd consecutive session, gaining 1.2% to a late April high of 342.  Lumber closed up .9% to 213, and Corn closed up 1.1% to a mid January high of 441, just 7 points below its 52-week high.

- In currency trading, the greenback finished up .3% to 83.22, leading the Euro down .5% to 1.2666.  The pound finished down .3% to 1.546.

- A surprising jobs report that came in lower than expected gave a boost to major indices in pre-market trading today.  However, the gains would be short lived, with KC Fed Manufacturing data coming in far lower than expected, and with the GDP number looming tomorrow, which many investors believe will fall short of estimates.  A report on the 30yr fixed mortgage falling to 4.32% certainly added to the negative sentiment of the session, and the culmination of this data led the Dow to a close below 10,000 for the first time since July 6, losing 74 to 9985.  SP closed down 8 to 1047 and Nasdaq closed down 23 to 2118, while VIX surged 2.5% to 27.37, erasing all of yesterday’s losses.

- In corporate news, headlines remained quiet but also remained focused on the 3Par bidding war, with a fierce battle being waged today as Dell began by producing a counter offer of 24.50/share ahead of the opening bell, followed by HP firing right back shortly after the closing bell with a bid of 27/share, which appeared to be the final blow in this battle until Reuters announced late in the evening that Dell countered a third time and had 3Par finally accept its bid.  Dell and HP finished down .3% and .05% respectively.  Aside from that, the only other major headline of the day was Guess (GES) coming in with a disappointing earnings report, leading shares to tumble nearly 11%, dragging the retail sector down as a whole.

- in broad sector trading, all majors finished in the red, with Materials and Telecom seeing only modest losses, while Techs, Energy, Financials, Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary, and Pharma all suffered significant losses

- in sector etf trading, only copper (ISC), oil (USO), and gold (GLD) closed higher, with Ags (MOO), Airlines (FAA), Lithium (LIT), and Gold suffering very modest losses.  On the other hand, Semi’s (SMH), Biotech (BBH), Nat gas (UNG), Homebuilders (XHB), Coal (KOL), and Retail all saw heavy selling.

- in country etf trading, Aussie (EWA), UK (EWU), Canada (EWC), and Russia (RSX) finished higher, while Brazil (EWZ), Taiwan (EWT), China (FXI), South Korea (EWY), Hong Kong (EWH), Singapore (EWS) and Japan (EWJ) all closed lower

- in commodity trading, Crude finished higher for a second consecutive session, gaining 1.1% to 73.36.  Gold ended a 3 day winning streak to close down .3% to 1237.  Silver ended a 4 day winning streak after closing at a 2 month high, losing .2% to 19.02.  Nat Gas dropped 1.5% to 3.81, setting a new 52 week low for the fourth time in as many sessions this week.  Copper, lumber, and Corn all finished up 2.8%, with copper ending a 2 day losing streak while lumber and corn ended 3 day losing streaks; closes were at 332, 213, and 432 respectively

- in currency trading, the greenback dumped .4% to 82.98, closing below 83 for the first time in five sessions.  The euro closed up .3% to 1.2702, ending a 6 day losing streak.  The pound closed up .4% to 1.552.

- Europe came back to the party ahead of today’s session, as SP downgraded Ireland’s sovereign debt rating, driving the Dow below 10,000 in pre-market trading for the first time since Jul 6. A poor durable goods report mixed with another batch of poor housing data kept major indices subdued for the first hour of trading. However, a lack of news beyond that drove some investors to begin sniffing out cheapness despite the jobs report looming tomorrow, with equity markets in the midst of a 4-day losing streak, and the flurry of buying that ensued drove the battered riskier sectors, including Techs and Financials, into positive territory, and led to positive closes for major indices for the first time in 5 sessions, with Dow up 19 to 10060, SP up 3 to 1055, and Nasdaq up 17 to 2141; VIX subsequently dropped 2.8% to 26.70.
- In corporate news, the theme didn’t change, as M&A remained in focus with a lack of news elsewhere. 3Par (PAR) stated (as expected) that they’re leaning towards HP’s bid of 24/share, leaving Dell contemplating a counteroffer, which many analysts believe they can’t afford to make. On the Ag front, BHP’s ceo made it clear that he would not be forced into a bidding war for Potash (POT) that would lead to a loss in value for shareholders; this wasn’t a formal step away from the bidding war, but it certainly opens the door wide again. And in the Pharma sector, Sanofi’s (SNY) bid for Genzyme (GENZ) is looking less and less likely to be accepted, as Genzyme continues to seek between 75-80 per share while Sanofi refuses to go over its current 70/share bid. Outside of M&A, Google (GOOG) announced that it would be adding voice dialing service to its existing Gmail platform; shares closed up $3.
- In broad sector trading, only Energy closed in the red, while Consumer Discretionaries, Pharma, Telecom, and Tech saw the most significant gains, with Financials, Materials, and Consumer Staples posting more modest closes higher.
- In sector etf trading, Silver (SLV), Gold (GLD), Homebuilders (XHB), Oil (USO), Biotech (BBH), and Real Estate (IYR) were the biggest movers to the upside, while Nat Gas (UNG), Coal (KOL), Airlines (FAA), Ags (MOO), and Investment Banks (KBE) led the downside.
- In country etf trading, only Singapore (EWS), Canada (EWC), and Hong Kong (EWH) closed in positive territory, while Taiwan (EWT), South Korea (EWY), Brazil (EWZ), Japan (EWJ), and Aussie (EWA) all closed lower
- In commodity trading, Crude posted gains for the first time in 5 sessions, closing up 1.2% to 72.52. Gold rocketed .6% to a Jun 30 high of 1241, though when it hit this high in June, a subsequent tumble to 1161 ensued over the next month. Silver surged 3.5% to close over 19 at 19.07 for the first time since Jun 25. Nat Gas established a new 52 week low for the third consecutive session, losing 4% to 3.87. Copper moved down .9% to a 1 month low of 323. Lumber and Corn both closed flat at 207 and 420 respectively.
- In currency trading, the greenback moved up .1% to a Jul 21 high of 83.33. The euro closed lower for a 6th consecutive session, losing .1% to 1.2654, remaining at Jul 12 lows. The pound reversed a 4-day losing streak, gaining .06% to 1.545.

- The amount of news to trade on remained short and the outlook remained dismal, as poor economic data continued its slaughter of equity markets in today’s session, with a 27% tumble in home sales bringing major indices down fiercely. M&A activity among the Tech and Ag spaces, as well as Pharma, continued to float atop market headlines, but did nothing to calm the nerves of investors, as the Dow closed down 134 to 10040, SP down 15 to 1051, and Nasdaq down 36 to 2123, early July lows for all three; VIX surged 7% to 27.46.
- In corporate news as I mentioned above, M&A activity remained the hottest topic in stock market trading, first involving Potash (POT -.7%) as Rio Tinto (RTP -5.7%) informally entered the bidding war today while Vale (VALE -1.9%) informally withdrew from it. Next up was the 3Par bidding war, which many analysts have conceded to HP (HPQ -1.7%) over Dell (DELL -3%), citing Dell as simply not having the cash flow or assets to up their bid beyond its initial level. And finally, we had the Sanofi (SNY -2.4%) bid for Genzyme (GENZ -.5%) return to headlines, but for the wrong reasons, as the merger now seems in jeopardy due to a some reservations being put forth by Genzyme board members regarding Sanofi’s bid of $69/share, claiming it as undervalued. Furthermore in the Pharma sector, Medtronics (MDT) disappointed with quarterly revenue, leading shares down sharply by nearly 11%. Back to Techs, Apple (AAPL -2.4%) reported to be in talks with Newscorp (NWS -1.9%) about renting television shows through itunes; however, shares of both fell with the broad market. Dell also hit headlines outside of recent M&A news, with the release of its first smartphone called the Aero, which will be sold for use with ATT’s network. Among other earnings announcements, Trina Solar (TSL) topped estimates in pre and finished up 5.8%, while Barnes & Noble (BKS) missed estimates and dumped 2.3%. Notable analyst upgrades came for just one name, BB&T (BBT), who’s shares still finished down 1% following the rest of the Financial sector; notable downgrades were more prevalent today, coming for Freeport McMoran (FCX -4.7%), HSBC (HBC -1.8%), Duke Energy (DUK +.9%), and Open Table (OPEN -8.4%).
- in broad sector trading, the only positive close came in Utilities. Modest losses came in Consumer Staples and Telecom, while more significant losses came in Materials, Pharma, Consumer Discretionaries, Financials, Energy, and Techs
- in sector etf trading, only Silver (SLV) and Gold (GLD) finished higher. Losses were relatively light for Regional Banks (KRE), Nat Gas (UNG), Retail (RTH), and Homebuilders (XHB), while Solar (TAN), Copper (ISC), Steel (SLX), Airlines (FAA), and Coal (KOL) suffered severe selloffs.
- in country etf trading, only Singapore (EWS) finished higher, with Japan (EWJ) and Hong Kong (EWH) finishing nearly flat. The bulk of selling was seen in Aussie (EWA), Russia (RSX), Canada (EWC), and UK (EWU).
- in commodity trading, Crude closed lower for a 5th consecutive session, losing 2% and finishing only 3 cents above a 52 week low of 71.41. Gold closed up .4% to 1233 and Silver jumped 2.1% to 18.42. Nat Gas met another new 52 week low after setting a new one yesterday, closing down .7% to 4.03 marking a 5-day losing streak. Copper finished down 2.1% to a 1 month low of 324. Lumber and Corn both finished down 2.8% and both closed at 2 week lows of 207 and 420 respectively.
- in currency trading, the greenback moved down a very modest .02%, but remained at a 7/14 high of 83.20. The euro closed down for a 5th consecutive session, losing .06% to a 7/12 low of 1.2672. The pound finished down .6% to a 1 month low of 1.544 and marked a 4-day losing streak.

- Two juicy pieces of M&A news sparked a modest rally in pre-market trading following a 2-day losing streak to end last week, with HP (HPQ) announcing a counter bid to Dell’s initial bid last week for 3Par, and Potash (POT) announcing its rejection of BHP’s bid in hopes of receiving a higher bid from other suitors, including Vale (VALE). However, investors seemingly turned despondent soon after the open following a deluge of disappointing economic numbers throughout last week’s sessions; dreadfully low volume helped support this claim, although summer coming to a close also continues to play as a factor in the recent low volume Monday’s. With that said, major indices slowly churned lower and finished at intraday lows, with Dow losing 39 to a 1-month low of 10174, while SP lost 4 to 1067 and Nasdaq lost 20 to 2159, 7-week lows for both; VIX finished up .7% to 25.66.
- in corporate news, as I stated above, M&A was the headlining topic as HP and Dell fight for 3Par, and BHP, Vale, and others fight for Potash; shares of the computer giants fell 2% and 1% respectively, while shares of the aforementioned ag stocks closed -.4%, -3.6%, and +.3% respectively. Notable upgrades came for First Solar (FSLR +1%), BofA/Merrill (BAC 0%), and Lowes (LOW -2%), while notable downgrades came for Baidu (BIDU -3.4%), Checkpoint (CHKP +1.9%), Boyd Gaming (-4%), Corning (GLW -1%), and RIMM -2%.
- in broad sector trading, the defensive Pharma and Consumer Staples sectors led the upside, while Materials, Consumer Discretionaries, and Techs led the downside, with Techs being hurt on news of the Obama administration evaluating the possibility of canceling some major projects that have gone stagnant but continue to consume taxpayer dollars
- in sector etf trading, Pharma (PPH), Copper (ISC), and Silver (SLV) led a slim upside list, while Steel (SLX), Homebuilders (XHB), Regional Banks (KRE), Oil (USO), Coal (KOL), Solar (TAN), and Nat Gas (UNG); note that Regional Banks fell following comments from KC Fed Pres Hoenig that borrowing will continue to be higher for community banks than for major investment banks
- in country etf trading, Taiwan (EWT) and the UK (EWU) were the only two to close in positive territory, while Brazil (EWZ), China (FXI), Russia (RSX), Singapore (EWS), and Aussie (EWA) all suffered significant losses
- in commodity trading, Crude closed lower for a 4th consecutive session, losing 1% to a 7 week low of 73.10; in glancing back to recent historical closes for crude, the last time it hit these levels, a 1 month run to 83 ensued…..just something to keep in mind. Both Gold and Silver finished flat at 1228 and 18.04 respectively. Nat Gas hit a very significant level as ittumbled for a 4th consecutive session, losing another 1.2% to close at a 52 week low of 4.06. Copper finished flat at 331, Lumber closed down 1.4% to 213, and Corn finished down 0.9% to 432
- in currency trading, the greenback closed higher for the 3rd consecutive session, gaining .2% to a 5 week high of 83.32. This led the euro down for the 4th consecutive session, losing .2% to a 5 week low of 1.2680. The pound finished flat at a 1 month low of 1.553.