Is today's trading the calm before the storm? Time will tell, but it certainly was quiet on the street today. The Dow finished the day down 39 points. The Nasdaq was a little weaker on a relative basis, losing 20 points. The S&P 500 lost about 7.5 points, or .5%. 
All the major sectors finished lower on the day today, with basic materials and financials leading the way on the downside.
BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE:BHP) fell by 2.27%, though the stock traded only about 1/3 of its daily volume. Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ) fell by 3.76% on the day, backing off after nice gains last week. One notable exception to the rule in the basic materials sector was Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON). Monsanto raised its earnings outlook for fiscal 2007 on pricing power and strong results globally, the stock rose by 2.64% on double its normal daily volume.
Financials were weak today as investors prepare for tommorrow's FOMC report and the beginning of earnings releases from major investment banks. Merrill Lynch and Company (NYSE:MER) fell by 2.41% and Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) dropped 1.56% as the brokers were all weak on the day today. The exchanges themselves were also weak in today's trading. NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) fell by 1.97% and NYMEX Holdings (NYSE:NMX) dropped by 2.2% on the session.
Notable New 52 week highs
- Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE:LVS) finished higher by 4.07% to another 52 week high after its price target was raised by two analysts.
- Deere and Company (NYSE:DE) shares rose 1.09% to close at a new high of $139.43 a share.
Notable New 52 week lows
- The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) fell by 1.5% to a new 52 week low.
- Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) fell 3.4% to a new 52 week low, and the shares have now lost over 40% since their 52 week high set in January.
Today ranked in the top 3 lowest volume days of the year, with just 1.11 billion shares traded on the NYSE and 1.43 billion on the Nasdaq.
Crude oil once again hit a new all time high, closing the day out at $80.57 a barrel. Oil traders attributed the move to energy traders pinning their hopes on a Fed cut tommorrow continuing to propel the crude oil market going forward.
Today's quiet and non-volatile trading will be a thing of the distant past after tommorrow's FOMC announcement at 2:15 pm. The market will be all ears listening to every word of the announcement to determine the future of interest rates.
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