4/14 Almanac

On Thursday, April 14: Producer prices.

There are two days before April options expire, 37 the May and 65 the June.

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


Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session down 1¢ from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 0.9% in a net move down of 0.5%.

The day's extremes: Open $132.08, high $131.18, low $130.96, close $131.46.

SPY traded entire within the DeMark pivots. The next DeMark pivots are $130.60-$131.82.

In total, 2.4 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, 13% fewer than on the prior trading day.

Five-year bond yields imply inflation at 2.81%, unchanged from the prior trading day.


Econ reports:

The producer price index will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. This tracks inflation for people that make stuff. Inflation for people who buy stuff comes out on Friday.

Also out, weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m., the natural gas report at 10:30 a.m., and the Federal Reserve's balance sheet and money supply stats at 4:30 p.m.

Treasury will auction 30-year bonds at 1 p.m.

Fedsters: Minneapolis Fed Pres. Narayana Kocherlakota, Philadelphia Fed Pres. Charles Plosser and Richmond Fed Pres. Jeffrey Lacker make public appearances.

Kocherlakota and Plosser have votes in setting monetary policy.

Kocherlakota took office under President Barack Obama. His institutional ties are academic.

Plosser took office under President George W. Bush. His resume shows institutional ties to Chase Manhattan Bank, Eastman Kodak Co., Wyatt Co., ViaHealth Inc., RGS Energy Group Inc. and Chase Manhattan Bank, all in consulting or advisory capacities. He also co-chaired the Shadow Open Market Committee, which second-guessed the Fed’s monetary policy.

Lacker is an alternate member of monetary committee and lacks a vote on policy. He took office under President George W. Bush. His resume shows his institutional ties are academic.

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 May vertical, calendar, diagonal and butterfly spreads, iron condors and covered calls, as well as June or later straddles, calls and puts. And of course, shares are good at any time.


Good trading!