6/23 Almanac

On Thursday, June 23: Weekly jobless claims, new home sales.

There are 23 trading days before the July options expire, 58 the August, 86 the September and 121 the October.

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



Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session down 0.6% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 0.9% in a net move down of 0.3%.

The day's extremes: Open $129.05, high $129.81, low $128.59, close $128.67.

SPY closed within the DeMark pivots after trading 1¢ below their range. The next DeMark pivots are $128.02-$129.24.

In total, 2.5 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, 11% fewer than on the prior trading day.

Five-year bond yields imply inflation at 1.96%, three basis points lower than the prior trading day.


Econ reports:

The weekly jobless claims report will be out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Sometimes the markets pay huge attention to the new jobless claims number, sometimes not.

The new home sales report is out at 10 a.m. New housing is by far the smaller part of the market, compared to existing homes. Still, it's an important indicator of a basic component of the economy.

Also out, a Chicago Federal Reserve Bank report on the national economy at 8:30 a.m., natural gas at 10:30 a.m. and two weeklies from the Federal Reserve: The Fed balance sheet and the money supply, both at 4:30 p.m.

Treasury auctions 3- and 6-month and 52-week bills at 11 a.m. and 30-year tax-indexed TIPS at 1 p.m. The agency announces funding requirements for 2-, 5- and 7-year notes at 11 a.m.

One Fedster at the podium, Chicago Fed Pres. Charles Evans, who has a vote on monetary policy. Evans is a child of the Fed and was named to his current position by President George W. Bush.

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


Good trading!