Tuesday, May 4, 2010

5/5 Almanac

On Wednesday, May 5: Employment sneak preview.

There are 17 days before the last trading day for May options, 45 the June and 73 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 2.4% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 1.8% high to low in a net move down of 1.3%.

Today's extremes: Open $119.01, high $119.03, low  $116.92, close $117.52.

SPY traded entirely below the range of the DeMark pivots. The next DeMark pivots are $116.17/$118.28.

In total, 4.6 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, 200 million than in the prior trading day.


Econ reports:

The payroll processing company ADP will release it's employment report at 8:15 a.m. Eastern. This serves as a sneak preview for the real deal out from the government on Friday.

Petroleum inventories are out at 10:30 a.m., no doubt with extra impact given today's sharp price decline in crude.


Rules:

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


My Holdings

May expiry:
  • CIEN, bull call spread, c18/-c19
  • GE, bull call spread, c18/-c19
  • QQQQ, bull call spread, c49/-c50 
  • UNP, bull call spread, c75/-c80

Dividend shares: JNK, NLY

Special situation: PALM

Zombie shares: MCO

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.




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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