7/22 Almanac

On Friday, July 22: The sounds of silence.

There are 29 trading days before the August options expire, 57 the September, 92 the October and 120 the November.

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



Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session up 1.4% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 1.6% in a net move up of 0.8%.

The day's extremes: Open $133.40, high $134.82, low $132.67, close $134.49.

SPY closed above the DeMark pivots after trading within their range.. The next DeMark pivots are $133.58-$135.73.

In total, 3.3 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, 21% more than on the prior trading day.

Five-year bond yields imply inflation at 2.13%, three basis points higher than on the prior trading day.


Econ reports:

There are no economic releases on Friday. Neither is Treasury auctioning. Nor Fedsters speaking. No one dare disturb the sounds of silence.

Except, of course, really emotional talking heads on CNBC, stock analysts making calls poorly analyzed and unrestrained by ground truth, and those crazy drag-racing Republican tea-party dudes on Capitol Hill, playing chicken with the nation's sovereign debt.

There were some Fed appearances during the week, and the Federal Reserve maintains an archive of speeches and testimony.


Trading Calendar:

By my rules, at this point in the cycle I can trade August vertical, diagonal, calendar 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!