Tuesday, January 25, 2011

1/26 Almanac

On Wednesday, Jan. 26: The Fed Speaks, new home sales.

There are 24 days before the February options expire, 52 the March and 80 the April.

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



Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session up 0.05% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 0.9% in a net move up of 0.3%.

The day's extremes: Open $128.76, high $129.28, low $128.11, close $129.17.

SPY closed above the DeMark pivots. The next DeMark pivots are $128.64-$129.81.

In total, 2.9 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchange, 2% more than on the prior trading day.

Five-year bond yields imply inflation at 2.21%, down two basis points from the prior trading day.


Econ reports:

The Federal Open Market Committee releases a statement on this week's meeting at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. This is always a big deal, especially now with everyone on a hyper-sensitive inflation alert. Personally, I always tend to observe this event with a very-short-term chart open, so I can watch the day-traders romp.

Another potential market-mover: New home sales from the Census Bureau at 10 a.m. New homes are the smaller portion of the housing market, overshadowed by existing homes, but they still count.

Also out, petroleum inventories at 10:30 a.m., and the Mortgage Bankers Association's report on purchase applications, a leading indicator for housing, at 7 a.m.

Treasury will auction 5-year notes at 1 p.m.


Trading Calendar:

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


What I'm looking for:
  • SLW: Bearish entry based on the price-channel chart.

Click here for stocks on my Watchlist.


Good trading!

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