9/26 Almanac

On Monday, Sept. 26: New home sales.

There are 26 trading days before the October options expire, 54 the November, 82 the December and 117 the January.

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

Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session up 0.6% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 1.9% in a net move up of 1.3%.

The day's extremes: Open $112.11, high $114.16, low $112.02, close $113.54.

SPY closed within the DeMark pivots after trading above their range. The next DeMark pivots are $112.78-$114.92.

In total, 3.2 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, 30% fewer than on the prior trading day.

Five-year bond yields imply inflation at 1.49%, one basis point lower than the prior trading day.

Econ reports:

The government reports on new home sales at 10 a.m. Eastern. This is a small part of the market compared with existing home sales.

Also out, the Chicago Fed's national activity index, at 8:30 a.m. The index covers the economy broadly across the whole country, not just the Midwest.

Treasury auctions 3- and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m., and announces funding requirements for 4-week bills at 11 a.m.

Two Fedsters are at the podium.

Minneapolis Fed Pres. Narayana Kocherlakota this summer has voted twice against monetary easing in the Federal Open Market Committee. He took office under President Barack Obama. His institutional ties are academic.

St. Louis Fed Pres. James Bullard doesn’t have a seat on the monetary policy committee. He took office under President George W. Bush. He came up through the Fed system.

The Federal Reserve maintains an archive of speeches and testimony.

As the week progresses, look for consumer confidence on Tuesday, durable goods on Wednesday, the gross domestic product, jobless claims and pending home sales on Thursday, and personal income/outlays on Friday.

Plus, as an added bonus, Federal Reservists speak every day. How much fun is that!?!

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 January or later straddles, strangles, calls and puts. And of course, shares are good at any time.

Enjoy the weekend!