There are 15 trading days left before April options expire, 50 the May and 78 the June.
On the jump, market stats, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $117.80, up 0.7% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 1% low to high in a net move up. The close was exactly the same as the opening
Today's extremes: Open $117.80, high $118.25, low $117.10, close $117.80.
SPY closed above today's DeMark pivot points. The next DeMark pivots are $117.23/$118.38.
In total, 3.2 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, down 5.9% from the prior day.
Mediawatch: Stephan Bernard and Tim Paradis at AP and Ellis Mnyandu at Reuters were groupthinkful (as we say in Newspeak) in crediting the weekly jobless claims and manufacturing index for the rise in stocks. Of course, the reports came out in the morning, at the start of trading, and stocks did indeed open higher compared to the day before. But a bit after 1:30 p.m. Eastern stocks began to fall to below Wednesday's high. So, actually, stocks showed a net loss from the high of the day and closed exactly where they opened. If the econ reports were the cause of a rise, I'd expect the indexes to be up all day, not down for most of trading. To Stephan, Tim and Ellis, I can only say: Intraday charts, people. Intraday charts. You've got to look at them to understand the market day. | A veteran of the markets, writing with the serious trader in mind, details a proven approach to analyzing market behavior, identifying profitable trade setups, and executing and managing trades–from entry to exit. |
Econ report:
The Labor Department releases the monthly employment report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
The stock market is closed for the Christian Good Friday holiday. The bond market closes early at noon Eastern. The futures market is also closed.
So, traders: Best to hope that there is no employment surprise, because no one can trade in the U.S. markets until Monday.
Forex traders, of course, never sleep and take no holidays. The new waterproof iPad will be a blessing for such folk as they will be able to trade while in the shower.
My Private Trader filing on Friday will focus on forex plus whatever bond information I might be able to glean. Look for a brief Morningline, a forex scan, a Watchlist limited to forex and Monday's Almanac.
My rules as the calendar transitions from April options to May options allow trades in unhedged call and put option purchases that expire in June or later. No option spreads or anything fancy.
My portfolio consists of . . .
April expiry:
Dividend shares: AOD, JNK, NLY
Zombie shares: PALM.
Good trading (for forex people, at least)!
New to private trading? Here's a look at How to Become a Private Trader.
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