9/16 Almanac

On Friday, Sept. 16: International capital, consumer sentiment, four witches.

This is the last trading day for September options. There are 36 trading days before the October options expire, 64 the November and 92 the December.

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

Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session up 1.7% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 1.7% in a net move up of 0.7%.

The day's extremes: Open $120.65, high $121.47, low $119.40, close $121.43.

SPY traded entirely within the DeMark pivots. The next DeMark pivots are $120.42-$122.49.

In total, 2.9 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, 2% more than on Tuesday. on the prior trading day.

(The two -day comparison is due to a lack of volume totals on Wednesday.)

Five-year bond yields imply inflation at 1.75%, 11 basis points higher than the prior trading day.

Econ reports:

Treasury releases stats on the movement of bonds and equities into and out of the United States at 9 a.m. Eastern. It's a good measure of faith in the American economy relative to the rest of the world, especially in light of the downgrade of U.S. government debt and the never-ending soap opera of the Eurozone.

The University of Michigan reports on its consumer sentiment survey at 9:55 a.m. Yet another attempt to determine if we're of a mind to shop 'til we drop, or rather to pinch every penny 'til it screams for mercy.

This is also Quadruple Witching Day, when stock index futures and options, stock options and single stock futures expire. Macbeth only had three witches to put up with. The markets have four!

The Fedsters end the week in quiet contemplation. No speeches on the calendar.

The Federal Reserve maintains an archive of speeches and testimony.

Trading Calendar:

By my rules, at this point in the cycle I can trade October vertical, diagonal, butterfly and calendar spreads, iron condors and covered calls, as well as December or later straddles, strangles, calls and puts. And of course, shares are good at any time.

Good trading!