9/28 Almanac

On Wednesday, Sept. 28: Durable goods.

There are 24 trading days before the October options expire, 52 the November, 80 the December and 115 the January.

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

Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session up 1.1% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 2.3% in a net move down of 0.8%.

The day's extremes: Open $118.53, high $119.56, low $116.84, close $117.54.

SPY closed within the DeMark pivots after trading above their range. The next DeMark pivots are $115.83-$118.55.

In total, 3.2 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, 3% more than on the prior trading day.

Five-year bond yields imply inflation at 1.60%, nine basis points higher than the prior trading day.

Econ reports:

The Commerce Department reports on durable goods at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. These are big ticket items, and the reason the report moves markets is this: If more people and companies are buying durables, then they must have a positive view of the future.

At that point, it dovetails into consumer confidence: The more we spend, the happier the economy. So let's all shop 'til we drop. Yay.

Also out, petroleum inventories at 10:30 a.m. -- big for the energy sector -- and the Mortgage Bankers' purchase applications report at 7 a.m. -- a leading indicator for the housing markets.

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

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gives a speech about emerging market economies after the U.S. emerged markets close, and Boston Fed Pres. Eric Rosengren, braving major jet lag, takes the podium in Sweden at 2:40 a.m. New York time.

Rosengren, who doesn’t sit on the monetary policy committee, took office under President George W. Bush and came up through the Fed system as a research economist. He has served as an advisor on Japanese banking.

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

Good trading!