Citi Bank

In the middle of an economic slow down Citi Bank (C) announced Tuesday that they were going to raise employee base salary by up to 50% in an effort to keep employees content with their smaller bonuses. Just in case a 50% raise isn't good enough they are also giving top employees stock options, shares of Citi Group were up to $3.05 midday.  Within the past year the banking giant has received 45 billion dollars in government loans, making the government have a 34% stake in the company. "Citi continues to examine ways to ensure its employee compensation practices are competitive in this very challenging market environment," Citi stated today, "Any salary adjustments are not intended to increase total annual compensation, rather to adjust the balance between fixed and variable compensation."  Government appointed help has no power over what compensation employees receive, they will get paid whatever the group wants to pay them.

Economic data released today:

Core Durable Goods:
 U.S. May Durable Goods Orders +1.8% versus Consensus -0.8%;  May Durable Goods Orders, Excluding-Transportation, +1.1%;  May Durable Goods Orders, Excluding Defense, +1.4%; April Durable Goods Orders Revised to +1.8% from +1.7%.
 
 New Home Sales: 
 U.S. May New Home Sales -0.6% to 342K versus Consensus 360K;  U.S. April New Home Sales Revised to 344K from 352K;  U.S. May Median Price for New Home -3.4% on year.
 

Crude Oil Inventories from Department of Energy:
  U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles -3.868 Million Barrels at 353.853 Million Barrels;  U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles -3.868 Million Barrels in week was seen -1.3 Million Barrels;   U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles +3.871 Million Barrels at 208.905 Million Barrels;   U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles +3.871 Million Barrels in week was seen +1 Million Barrels;   U.S. Distillate Stockpiles +2.077 Million Barrels at 152.103 Million Barrels;   U.S. Distillate Stockpiles +2.077 Million Barrels in week was seen +0.6 Million Barrels;   U.S. Refineries ran at 87.1% capacity versus 85.9% week ago;   U.S. Refineries ran at 87.1% capacity; seen 86.00%.

FOMC Decision on Interest Rates:
 Fed keeps Fed funds range unchanged at 0.0% To 0.25%;  FOMC: voted 10-0 for Fed funds rate action;  Fed leaves discount rate unchanged at 0.5%;  keeps MBS, Treasury purchase program sizes unchanged, will continue to evaluate timing, amounts of purchases to keep rates exceptionally low for extended period; pace of economic contraction slowing, gradual growth ahead; financial market conditions improved in recent months; consumer spending showing more signs of stabilizing; energy, commodity prices have risen; 'substantial' slack to keep inflation subdued; doesn't say inflation may persist below desired level; economic activity likely to remain weak for a time.

At the NYSE closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. stock indices ended the trading session on the world markets as well as the emerging markets including the stock market closing bell price:
DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) shed 23.05 points, EOD 8,299.86
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) gain 36.23, EOD 5,795.72
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) gain 27.42 points, EOD 1,792.34
S&P 500 (SPX) gain 5.84 points, EOD 900.94

BEL 20 (BEL20) gain 49.92 points, EOD 2,016.35
CAC 40 (CAC40) gain 67.94 points, EOD 3,184.76
FTSE100 (UKX100) gain 49.96 points, EOD 4,279.98

NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) gain 40.71 points, EOD 9,590.32

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 2,211, declined stock prices 859, unchanged stock prices 86, stock prices hitting new highs 12 and stock prices hitting new lows 3.

NYSE quotes for volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the New York Stock Exchange stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: DRI shed 1.06, HOD 33.26, LOD 31.70, EOD 31.94; JBL gain 0.20, HOD 7.78, LOD 6.83, EOD 7.32; MON shed 3.14, HOD 82.08, LOD 75.34, EOD 76.16; SVU shed 1.88, HOD 14.06, LOD 13.52, EOD 13.81; ICE gain 5.36, HOD 113.49, LOD 108.09, EOD 112.53;  CME gain 10.39, HOD 320.79, LOD 304.72, EOD 313.94; RTP gain 3.89, HOD 167.28, LOD 161.16, EOD 162.90; LM gain 2.44, HOD 24.89, LOD 22.30, EOD 24.48;  POT gain 1.34, HOD 95.35, LOD 92.28, EOD 93.42; ROS shed 1.76, HOD 32.40, LOD 30.30, EOD 30.56; MBT gain 0.14, HOD 37.81, LOD 36.07, EOD 36.47; ASH gain 1.53, HOD 27.30, LOD 25.87, EOD 27.05; NSC gain 0.46, HOD 38.09, LOD 36.65, EOD 36.90; APX shed 0.06, HOD 7.95, LOD 7.83, EOD 7.84; MA gain 0.93, HOD 162.59, LOD 159.75, EOD 161.06; APA gain 0.22, HOD 73.61, LOD 70.90, EOD 71.44.
 

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,612, declined stock prices 1,122, unchanged stock prices 139, stock prices hitting new highs 36 and stock prices hitting new lows 16.

NASDAQ quotes, volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the NASDAQ stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: PETM gain 0.82, HOD 21.19, LOD 20.41, EOD 20.80; AVAV gain 1.07, HOD 30.40, LOD 28.42, EOD 28.43; SONC gain 1.01, HOD 10.20, LOD 9.20, EOD 9.81; BIDU gain 10.51, HOD 285.86, LOD 285.86, EOD 283.35; FSLR gain 6.77, HOD 174.69, LOD 164.25, EOD 171.19; GOOG gain 3.61, HOD 412.23, LOD 406.56, EOD 409.29; GENZ gain 0.12, HOD 55.02, LOD 53.00, EOD 54.82;

Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 322, declined stock prices 208, unchanged stock prices 62, stock prices hitting new highs 6 and stock prices hitting new lows 6.

Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market for the day, at time of this posting:

E-mini S&P 500 (ES) Sept 09: EOD 897.75; Change -0.25

E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) Sept 09: EOD 1,445.75; Change -1.50
E-mini DOW $5 (YM) Sept 09: EOD 8,252; Change 4
E-mini S&P MidCap 400 (MF) Sept 09: EOD 560.10; Change -0.60

Nikkei 225 (Yen) Sept 09: EOD 9,650; Change 5

World Currencies for the Forex Market, for Forex Trading by active Forex Traders, at time of this posting:
Euro 0.7180 to U.S. Dollars 1.3928
Japanese Yen 95.5900 to U.S. Dollars 0.0105
British Pound 0.6094 to U.S. Dollars 1.6409
Canadian Dollar 1.1562 to U.S. Dollars 0.8649
Swiss Franc 1.0977 to U.S. Dollars 0.9110

COMMODITY MARKETS:
Energy Sector - Nymex:

Light Crude (July 09) shed $0.57, EOD $68.67 per barrel ($US per barrel)
Heating Oil (August 09) shed $0.03, EOD $1.78 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Natural Gas (August 09) shed $0.10, EOD $3.91 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.)
Unleaded Gas (July 09) shed $0.05, EOD $1.84 a gallon ($US per gallon)

Metals Markets - Comex:
Gold (August 09) gain $10.10, EOD $934.40 ($US per Troy ounce)
Silver (September 09) gain $0.07, EOD $13.94 ($US per Troy ounce)
Platinum (October 09) gain $1.60, EOD $1,168.60 ($US per Troy ounce)
Copper (September 09) gain $0.07, EOD $2.28 ($US per pound)

Livestock and Meat Markets - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (August 09) shed 1.63, EOD 58.83
Pork Bellies (August 09) shed 3.00, EOD 61.30
Live Cattle (August 09) shed 0.85, EOD 82.48
Feeder Cattle (August 09) shed 0.75, EOD 98.95

Other Commodities - Chicago Board of Trade (cents per bushel):
Corn (December 09) shed 1.75, EOD 407.25

Soybeans (November 09) gain 3.50, EOD 1,008.00

BOND MARKET:

2 year EOD 99 26/32, change 4.35968/32, Yield 1.21, Yield change 0.12
5 year EOD 97 25/32, change -9/32, Yield 2.73, Yield change 0.06
10 year EOD 95 13/32, change -11/32, Yield 3.68, Yield change 0.05
30 year EOD 96 30/32, change -1 9/32, Yield  4.43, change 0.08

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