5/25 Almanac

On Wednesday, May 25: Durable goods.

There are 24 trading days before the June options expire, 52 the July, 87 the August and 115 the September.

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


Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session down 0.1% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 0.8% in a net move down of 0.4%.

The day's extremes: Open $132.44, high $132.73, low $131.70, close $131.95.

SPY closed within the DeMark pivots after trading below their range. The next DeMark pivots are $131.31-$132.34.

In total, 2.8 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, 4% more than on the prior trading day.

Five-year bond yields imply inflation at 2.12%, four basis points higher than the prior trading day.


Econ reports:

The Commerce Department reports on orders for durable goods at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. These are big ticket items that cost a lot and last a long time. So it is a measure of confidence in the economy: People shelling out for these items have to feel pretty good about their prospects.

Also, the Mortgage Bankers release purchase application numbers at 7 a.m. They're a leading indicator for home sales. The Federal Housing Finance Agency releases a house price index, but it has an upper price limit due to regulations affecting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Petroleum inventories will be released at 10:30 a.m.

Treasury auctions 5-year notes at 1 p.m.

Minneapolis Fed Pres. Narayana Kocherlakota, who has a vote in setting monetary policy, gives a speech. He took office under President Barack Obama. His institutional ties are academic.

The Federal Reserve maintains an archive, where it 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 June vertical, calendar, diagonal and butterfly spreads, covered calls and iron condors, as well as September or later straddles, strangles, calls and puts. And of course, shares are good at any time.


Good trading!