3/24 Almanac

On Wednesday, March 24, there are 24 trading days left before April options expire, 59 the May and 87 the June.
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $117.41, up 0.7% from the prior close.

SPY closed within today's DeMark pivot points but traded above for awhile by 2¢. The next DeMark pivots are $116.90/$118.03.

In total, 3.3 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, unchanged from the day before.

On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...

Mediawatch:  The narrative soup was a trifle thin, with a broth of higher-than-expected home sales as sustenance for the day's market action, with Reuters tossing in industrial stocks for seasoning. Since there was no market action to speak of -- the indicators were in Sleeping Beauty mode, awaiting the kiss of a handsome hedge fund manager to awake them back to this world -- I suppose any explanation will do. AP's version, and Reuters'. Econ report: Durable goods order, which tracks orders for big-ticket items, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. It's a measure of consumer confidence, because worried people don't make major purchases. New home sales at 10 a.m. Tracks a similar dynamic as does durable goods. Petroleum inventories at 10:30 a.m.; it's main impact is on the energy sector, unless there's a major change.

What would it be like to open your accounts and never have any ugly surprises. Financial strategist Pamela Yellen tells how to get your money on the good news track.

My rules allow trades in April covered calls, iron condors and butterfly, calendar, diagonal and vertical spreads.  I allow myself to trade unhedged call and put option purchases that expire in May or later.

My portfolio consists of . . .

April expiry:

• MCO, covered call, -c29
• MGM, iron condor, p9/-p10/-c12/c13

Zombie shares: PALM.

Good trading!





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