9/8 Almanac

On Thursday, Sept. 8: International trade, jobless claims, Obama address.

There are nine trading days before the September options expire, 44 the October, 72 the November and 100 the December.

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

Stats

Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session up 2.8% from the prior close. During the day SPY traversed 1.7% in a net move up of 1.3%.

The day's extremes: Open $118.76, high $120.34, low $118.36, close $120.29.

SPY closed above the DeMark pivots after trading within their range. The next DeMark pivots are $119.33-$121.31.

In total, 2.7 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, 4% fewer than on the prior trading day.

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

Econ reports:

The morning opens with a double punch: International trade and weekly jobless claims, both at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Given the unsettled nature of the markets -- the Tuesday/Wednesday whipsaw -- either of these reports has the potential for having an outsized impact.

The day ends with President Obama presenting his jobs plan in an address to a joint session of Congress, at 7 p.m. Eastern, a policy marker that could be a major driver of trading on Friday.

Also out, Bloomberg's consumer comfort survey at 9:45 a.m., the Census Bureau's survey of service industries at 10 a.m., the natural gas report at 10:30 a.m., petroleum inventories at 11 a.m., the Fed's report on the value of outstanding consumer credit at 3 p.m., and two more from the Fed -- the balance sheet and money supply -- at 4:30 p.m.

Treasury announces funding requirements for 3- and 10-year notes and 30-year bonds at 9 a.m., and for 3- and 6-month bills at 11 a.m.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke delivers a speech, scheduled to begin after the 4 p.m. U.S. stock market close, to a civic group in Minneapolis. The markets have been on tenterhooks trying to understand the future course of Fed easing in the face of a divided money policy committee, so the speech will be watched closely.

(And what, we may well ask, is a tenterhook? It is a sharp hook used to attach cloth to a frame for drying or stretching. Certainly, as I navigate the markets these days, I feel pretty tenterhooked.)

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 and calendar spreads, as well as December or later straddles, strangles, calls and puts. And of course, shares are good at any time.

Good trading!