6/3 Almanac

On Thursday, June 3: Jobless claims, productivity, energy inventories.

There are 16 days before the June options expire, 44 the July and 79 the August.

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


Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session up 2.6% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 2.6% low to high in a net move up of 2.1%. Thursday's extremes: Open $108.08, high $110.34, low $107.51, close $110.33. SPY closed above the DeMark pivots. The next DeMark pivots are $108.92-$111.75. In total, 3.4 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, down 0.9% from the prior trading day. Econ reports: Three reports look ahead to the government's monthly employment report on Friday: The private company Automatic Data Processing releases its employment data at 8:15 a.m. Eastern, and the government's weekly jobless claims report is out at 8:30 a.m. And sometime during the day, the Monster (.com) employment index. The monthly productivity and employment costs report will be out at 8:30 a.m., as well, and factory orders at 10 a.m. Because of the holiday, the petroleum and natural gas inventories will both be released on the same day: gas at 10:30 a.m. and oil at 11 a.m. Also, chain store sales during the day, factory orders and the ISM non-manufacturing index at 10 a.m., the Fed balance sheet and money supply at 4:30 p.m., plus Treasury announcements of bills, notes and bonds ranging from 3 month to 30 yea at 11 a.m. Which is quite enough, thank you. FedHeads: They're swarming, like ants at a picnic. Atlanta Fed Pres Dennis Lockhart at 7:30a.m.; Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, 11:15 a.m.; Kansas City Fed Pres Thomas Hoenig, 1:15 p.m.; Dallas Fed Pres Richard Fisher, 8:45 p.m.

Everything you need to know about the economic indicators that drive the markets. From the staff of The Economist.

Trading Calendar:

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


Good trading!

---

The Great Reflation: How Investors Can Profit From the New World of Money
OK. The credit bubble burst. Housing, burst. Shockwaves reverberated. Markets collapsed. What lies ahead as we remerge from the wreckage.

---

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.