Thursday, May 13, 2010

5/14 Almanac

On Friday, May 14: Retail sales, industrial production, consumer sentiment.

There are 8 days before the last trading day for May options, 36 the June and 64 the July.

On the jump, market stats, econ reports, rules, my holdings and a good book...


Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session down 1.2% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 1.5% high to low in a net move down of 1%.

Today's extremes: Open $117.13, high $117.68, low $115.89, close $115.99.

SPY closed below the DeMark pivots. The next DeMark pivots are $115.05-$116.84.

In total, 3.5 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, unchanged from the prior trading day.


Econ reports:

The government's monthly retail sales report will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, followed by the industrial production report at 9:15 a.m. Both are key measures of business activity and are often major influences on trading.

The consumer sentiment report will be out at 9:55 a.m., followed by business inventories at 10 a.m.

One FedHead on the speakers circuit: Chicago Fed Pres Charles Evans at 1:40 p.m. Will he commit news? Bet not.


Rules:

By my rules, at this point in the cycle I can trade June covered calls, iron condors, and butterfly, calendar, diagonal and vertical spreads. Also, July single calls or puts. Shares, of course, are good anytime.


Good trading!


The Investor's Guide to Active Asset Allocation: Using Technical Analysis and ETFs to Trade the Markets

Martin Pring's detailed deconstruction of the economic cycle: What sorts stocks to look for at each stage of the recovery. A masterful analysis.




The Investor's Guide to Active Asset Allocation: Using Technical Analysis and ETFs to Trade the Markets

Martin Pring's detailed deconstruction of the economic cycle: What sorts stocks to look for at each stage of the recovery. A masterful analysis.



Skynet Panic of May 6
Panic Looks Like This
Skynet Panic Poisons Technical Tools


New to Private Trader? Check out the Reader's Guide

New to private trading? Here's a look at How to Become a Private Trader.

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