Stocks rallied triple digits today, thanks to a better than expected report on manufacturing. The Institute for Supply Management reported that manufacturing activity rose in August to a reading of 56.3, up from a reading of 55.5 in July. Analysts were actually expecting to see the index to fall to 52.9. Investors were very happy to hear the index rose higher than last month's reading. In a healthy economy, any reading over 50 is an indication of growth. More news on manufacturing came from China; the country said that manufacturing is on the rebound. Stocks really started rallying when investors got wind of the news. That has been the number one concern on investor's minds lately. They are really worried that global problems will slow down economic recovery in the U.S., so they were very happy to hear the news. They even put the news from ADP on the back burner for today. It was also reported today by ADP that employers cut 10,000 jobs this month; analysts? were expecting to see 13,000 jobs added in August. That report was a little disappointing; after all, in July employers added 37,000 jobs. Today's report from ADP is probably a sign of what's to come in Friday's report from the Labor Department. Stocks rallied until the end of the session; the Dow was up over 200 points with just one hour to go. Commodity prices were mixed today, with gold showing losses and crude oil showing gains.

Free Daily Stock Picks activity and results for September 1, 2010:

NFLX - Stop hit for a loss of 1.00 point
QDEL - EOD price hit for a loss of 0.03 points
JOYG-PM - Stop hit for a loss of 1.00 point
FORM - EOD price hit for a loss of 0.11 points

Total: 4 positions; -1.92 points; -$192 (based on 100 shares)

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Stocks Day Trading Picks results:
Total: 6 positions; +0.56 points; +$56 (based on 100 shares)

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Forex Day Trading Picks results:
Total: 3 positions; +$623.38 (based on 1 contract)

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Futures Day Trading Picks results:
Total: 2 positions; +$400 (based on 1 standard lot)
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