3/23 Almanac

On Wednesday, March 23: New home sales.

There are 24 days before April options expire, 59 the May and 87 the June.

On the jump, market stats, econ reports, and the trading calendar . . .



Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session down 0.4% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 0.6% in a net move down of 0.3%.

The day's extremes: Open $129.72, high $129.89, low $129.17, close $129.29.

SPY closed below the DeMark pivots after trading within their range. The next DeMark pivots are $128.87-$129.59.

In total, 2.4 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchange, 10% fewer than on the prior trading day.

Five-year bond yields imply inflation at 2.66%, down three basis points from the prior trading day.


Econ reports:

The government releases new home sales figures at 10 a.m. Eastern. This is the smaller part of the housing market, compared to existing homes, which have had previous owners and form the bulk of the market. (Which raises the existential question: If a pre-owned home is an existing home, is a new home non-existent?)

The weekly petroleum inventories will be out at 10:30 a.m., and the Mortgage Bankers release their purchase applications at 7 a.m. The latter report is a leading indicator for home sales.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gives a speech on community banking.

The Federal Reserve often posts transcripts of speeches and testimony within a few days of the event.


Trading Calendar:

By my rules, at this point in the cycle I can trade April diagonal, butterfly, vertical and calendar spreads, iron condors and covered calls. Also, June or later straddles, calls and puts. And of course, shares are good at any time.


Good trading!