- Market Commentary -

March 4, 2010 (FinancialWire) (By Bob Farley) — Markets ended mixed yesterday, with the NYSE up 28.69 points at the end of the day, led by Ethan Allen Interiors (NYSE: ETH) with a $4.04 (25.14%) gain and Netezza (NYSE: NZ) with a $1.93 (20.25%) gain.

The industrials lost ground in the afternoon after notching nice gains in the morning on news of slowing job cuts, growing service sector jobs (yay, more pizza delivery jobs), and better news for Greece’s sad financial affairs. But all that finally fell into the class of not-as-bad news, rather than actual good news, and when the Fed said the economy’s recovery is going to be slow (how many times have they said that?), it was too much for traders to take.

The S&P 500, however, along with the Russell, made small gains, all of which will likely be wiped out today as several important reports make their debut. Depending.

[Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=bob+farley to see more commentaries and articles by Bob Farley.]

The FirstAlert(tm) “Money Index” is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the combined NYSE, NASDAQ and AMEX 25 Most Actives and combined NYSE, NASDAQ and AMEX greatest Percentage Losers and Percentage Winners (weighted against pure monetary loss/gain) indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing, as well as the general focus of the market. The most recently published FirstAlert(tm) Money Index Synopses are accessible via FinancialWire.net (at http://www.financialwire.net/?s=index+synopsis).  The data providing the basis for the FirstAlert(tm) Money Index is provided courtesy of Stock Smart, and complete Stock Smart charts and closing summaries are directly accessible via a dedicated Investrend.com webpage (at http://www.investrend.com/fa-index).

The FirstAlert(tm) Economics Calendar lists Productivity Index for Q4 (8:30 a.m.), Initial Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m.), Factory Orders for January (10 a.m.), Pending Home Sales for January (10 a.m.).

The FirstAlert(tm) Events Calendar showcases ACIW Investor Day; BDX, GIVN, WAT, COV at Morningstar, Inc. Healthcare Conference; BMY Investment Community Business Update; CNK, MSCC at Thomas Weisel Partners Denver One-on-One Conference; CTXS at UBS Software Mini Conference; ENTG Analyst Day Meeting; ES, ITRI at Canaccord Adams Sustainability Forum; GAS Analyst Luncheon; ICGE Investor Conference; MNTG, PERY, CBRL, DLA at Keybanc Capital Markets Consumer Conference; OMX Investor Day; PCX at UBS Natural Gas, Electric Power and Coal Conference; PRGS Analyst Conference; SYMC, FSLR, ADSK, STEC at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.

FirstAlert(tm) Website of the Day: http://www.metafilter.com/78406/Presidential-Inauguration-Videos

Quote of the Day: “Show me a good and gracious loser and I’ll show you a failure.” Knute Rockne

Today is: National Grammar Day.

Happy Birthday: Henry the Navigator, John H. Trumbull, Knute Rockne, Paul Mauriat, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, Paula Prentiss, Chris Squire, Kay Lenz, Jim Dwyer, Patricia Heaton, Ray Mancini.

Today in History: Chinese astronomers observed a total eclipse of the sun in 1275. Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico in 1519 in search of the Aztec civilization and their wealth. Samuel Cole opened the first tavern in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1634. William Herschel made the first sighting of the Orion Nebula in 1774. In New York City, the first U.S. Congress met in 1789 and declared the new Constitution of the United States in effect. Vermont was admitted as the 14th U.S. state in 1791. In the first ever peaceful transfer of power between elected leaders in modern times, John Adams was sworn in as President of the United States in 1797, succeeding George Washington. Gottlieb Daimler unveiled his first automobile in 1887. In 1925, Calvin Coolidge became the first President of the United States to have his inauguration broadcast on radio. Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, announced in 1954 the first successful kidney transplant. The S&P 500 stock market index was introduced in 1957, replacing the S&P 90. The first Cray-1 supercomputer was shipped to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, in 1977.

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