4/8 Almanac

On Friday, April 8: Wholesale trade.

There are eight days before April options expire, 43 the May and 71 the June.

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


Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session down 0.3% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 1.0% in a net move down of 0.1%.

The day's extremes: Open $133.42, high $133.98, low $132.66, close $133.32.

SPY traded both above and below the DeMark pivots before closing within their range. The next DeMark pivots are $132.33-$133.65.

In total, 2.7 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, 7% fewer than on the prior trading day.

Five-year bond yields imply inflation at 2.84%, two basis points higher than the prior trading day.


Econ reports:

Wholesale trade tracks sales and inventories by wholesalers. The Census Bureau puts it together. It's not a market mover. It's out at 10 a.m. Eastern. Now go back to sleep.

Fedster: Atlanta Fed Pres. Dennis Lockhart, an alternate member of monetary committee, is scheduled to give a speech. He lacks a vote on policy. Lockhart took office under President George W. Bush. His professional roots are in Big Finance: Citigroup (then called Citicorp/Citibank), Heller Financial and the private equity firm Zephyr Management L.P.

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 and calendar spreads, and June or later straddles, calls and puts. And of course, shares are good at any time.


Good trading!