Shares in large companies (SPY) opened 0.4% above yesterday's high and then rose a couple of cents to $115.97 before dropping backing back, using the $115.60 level as support on the low-level chart. After that, SPY turned jittery.
SPY moved up to $15.70 as support and then moved down toward resistance at $115.14.
Treasury long-term bonds (TLT) opened in the middle of Thursday's range and stayed their, barely changing from today's initial price.
None of my other indicators showed breakouts (or breakdowns) from yesterday's trading ranges, and the technical signals for all indicators, SPY included, remain as they have been.
Showing posts with label palm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label palm. Show all posts
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
3/11 Morningline
Blue chip stocks (SPY) and Treasury long-term bonds (TLT) opened in the middle of Wednesday's ranges, as though hung over from that day's excesses.
SPY on Wednesday slightly overshot its high of Jan. 14 but failed to establish that price, $115.14, as a new support level.
Will SPY again attempt to pierce that major resistance and resume the bull market that began in March 2009? Will SPY, despondent, sink back into beardom? Or will it stay put, embracing boredom as the price goes nowhere?
The morning's theme song is from the 1934 Cole Porter: "Anything Goes".
SPY on Wednesday slightly overshot its high of Jan. 14 but failed to establish that price, $115.14, as a new support level.
Will SPY again attempt to pierce that major resistance and resume the bull market that began in March 2009? Will SPY, despondent, sink back into beardom? Or will it stay put, embracing boredom as the price goes nowhere?
The morning's theme song is from the 1934 Cole Porter: "Anything Goes".
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
3/10 Morningline
Blue chip stocks (SPY) continue to tease the high set Jan. 14.
The magic number is $115.14. If SPY moves through that level (and stays above it), then the bull market that began a year ago continues. If the price pulls back and never exceeds that level, then the 72% rise will count as just a bear market correction.
The next significant resistance above $115.14 is around $130, so the easy money in the event of a bull move is 13%.
Treasury long-term bonds are trading at the bottom of yesterday's range with a new psar bear signal. The pps flashed bear on Friday, and the macd on Monday.
The magic number is $115.14. If SPY moves through that level (and stays above it), then the bull market that began a year ago continues. If the price pulls back and never exceeds that level, then the 72% rise will count as just a bear market correction.
Abbreviations:
pps - Person's Proprietary Signal, ma20 - 20-day moving average, macd - Moving Average Convergence-Divergence, mfi - Money Flow Index, sto - Fast Stochastic
pps - Person's Proprietary Signal, ma20 - 20-day moving average, macd - Moving Average Convergence-Divergence, mfi - Money Flow Index, sto - Fast Stochastic
The next significant resistance above $115.14 is around $130, so the easy money in the event of a bull move is 13%.
Treasury long-term bonds are trading at the bottom of yesterday's range with a new psar bear signal. The pps flashed bear on Friday, and the macd on Monday.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
3/10 Almanac
Wednesday, March 10, is 9 days before March options expire, 37 the April and 72 the May.
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $114.46, up 0.02% from the prior close.
In total, 3.3 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, up 6.5 from the day before.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $114.46, up 0.02% from the prior close.
In total, 3.3 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, up 6.5 from the day before.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
3/9 Morningline
Gold (GLD) is showing a psar bear signal this morning, a day after a pps bear signal. Today's signal came on a gap down that saw GLD open 0.7% below Monday's close.
The macd remains in bull territory although it is in its fourth day of decline toward the zero line. The sto on Monday moved below the overbought line, a bear signal.
Otherwise, my major indicators are opening barely changed and trading in a narrow range: Blue chip stocks(SPY) down, Treasury long-term bonds (TLT), oil (USO) down, everywhere a global yawn except for the dollar-yen (USD/JPY) currency pair, which saw the dollar decline 0.8% against the Japanese currency.
The macd remains in bull territory although it is in its fourth day of decline toward the zero line. The sto on Monday moved below the overbought line, a bear signal.
Abbreviations:
pps - Person's Proprietary Signal, ma20 - 20-day moving average, macd - Moving Average Convergence-Divergence, mfi - Money Flow Index, sto - Fast Stochastic
pps - Person's Proprietary Signal, ma20 - 20-day moving average, macd - Moving Average Convergence-Divergence, mfi - Money Flow Index, sto - Fast Stochastic
Otherwise, my major indicators are opening barely changed and trading in a narrow range: Blue chip stocks(SPY) down, Treasury long-term bonds (TLT), oil (USO) down, everywhere a global yawn except for the dollar-yen (USD/JPY) currency pair, which saw the dollar decline 0.8% against the Japanese currency.
Monday, March 8, 2010
3/9 Almanac
Tuesday, March 9, is 10 days before March options expire, 38 the April and 73 the May.
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $114.27, down 0.03% from the prior close.
In total, 3.1 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, down 8.8 from the day before.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $114.27, down 0.03% from the prior close.
In total, 3.1 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, down 8.8 from the day before.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
3/8 Morningline
Stocks opened barely changed at the top of Friday's trading range, a day that showed a strong upward push in the blue chips.
SPY, the exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 index, has regraced most of the decline that, beginning Jan. 19, brought pricde down from $115.14 to $104.58 on Feb. 5.
Abbreviations: pps - Person's Proprietary Signal, ma20 - 20-day moving average, macd - Moving Average Convergence-Divergence, mfi - Money Flow Index, sto - Fast Stochastic
The subsequent rise has brought the price to within less than a $1 of the January peak. If the price pushes past $115.14, then SPY will record and higher high and remain in an uptrend -- of sorts -- in the rise that began at $67.10 in March 2009.
SPY, the exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 index, has regraced most of the decline that, beginning Jan. 19, brought pricde down from $115.14 to $104.58 on Feb. 5.
Abbreviations: pps - Person's Proprietary Signal, ma20 - 20-day moving average, macd - Moving Average Convergence-Divergence, mfi - Money Flow Index, sto - Fast Stochastic
The subsequent rise has brought the price to within less than a $1 of the January peak. If the price pushes past $115.14, then SPY will record and higher high and remain in an uptrend -- of sorts -- in the rise that began at $67.10 in March 2009.
Friday, March 5, 2010
3/8 Almanac
Monday, March 8, is 11 days before March options expire, 39 the April and 74 the May.
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $114.25, up 1.4% from the prior close.
In total, 3.4 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, up 13.3% from the day before.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $114.25, up 1.4% from the prior close.
In total, 3.4 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, up 13.3% from the day before.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
Thursday, March 4, 2010
3/5 Almanac
Friday, March 5, is 14 days before March options expire, 42 the April and 77 the May.
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $112.64, up 0.3% from the prior close.
In total, 3 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, down 14.2% from the day before.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $112.64, up 0.3% from the prior close.
In total, 3 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, down 14.2% from the day before.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
3/4 Morningline
The Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton gained undying fame with opening line to his novel Paul Clifford: "It was a dark and stormy night."
Were the 1st baron of Lytton a market writer today, it would surely strain in powers of composition: "It was a gray and insipid morn"? "It was a bland and comatose dawn"?
Once again my main indicators are not on the move this morning, straining even my powers of far-fetched metaphory, of creating golden prose from factual dross.
But challenges must be met . . .
Blue-chip stocks (SPY) opened the day up near the top of a three-day trading range. The etf is trading at $112.60 or so. A break above $112.88 would move above both the range and the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement of the decline from Jan. 19 to Feb. 5. Support is at $111.58.
Were the 1st baron of Lytton a market writer today, it would surely strain in powers of composition: "It was a gray and insipid morn"? "It was a bland and comatose dawn"?
Once again my main indicators are not on the move this morning, straining even my powers of far-fetched metaphory, of creating golden prose from factual dross.
But challenges must be met . . .
Blue-chip stocks (SPY) opened the day up near the top of a three-day trading range. The etf is trading at $112.60 or so. A break above $112.88 would move above both the range and the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement of the decline from Jan. 19 to Feb. 5. Support is at $111.58.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
3/4 Almanac
Thursday, March 4, is 15 days before March options expire, 43 the April and 78 the May.
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $112.30, up 0.09% from the prior close.
In total, 3.5 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, unchanged from the day before.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $112.30, up 0.09% from the prior close.
In total, 3.5 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, unchanged from the day before.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
3/3 Morningline
The market is opening as flat as an old bottle of Coke left open to the sun three days running.
With little effervescence and even less pizazz, blue chip stocks (SPY) were trading near the upper half of yesterday's narrow range. Looking only at opens and closes, however, SPY is continuing to climb the staircase that began on Feb. 25. It's just that the stairs are getting somewhat smaller.
Treasury long-term bonds (TLT) were trading very narrowly in the middle of yesterday's range in a downtrend that began Feb. 26. The pps showed a bear signal this morning, while the psar and macd remained in bull mode. The sto crossed down below the 80-line, considered to be a bear signal.
With little effervescence and even less pizazz, blue chip stocks (SPY) were trading near the upper half of yesterday's narrow range. Looking only at opens and closes, however, SPY is continuing to climb the staircase that began on Feb. 25. It's just that the stairs are getting somewhat smaller.
Treasury long-term bonds (TLT) were trading very narrowly in the middle of yesterday's range in a downtrend that began Feb. 26. The pps showed a bear signal this morning, while the psar and macd remained in bull mode. The sto crossed down below the 80-line, considered to be a bear signal.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
3/3 Almanac
Wednesday, March 3, is 16 days before March options expire, 44 the April and 79 the May.
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $112.20, up 0.3% from the prior close.
In total, 3.5 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, up 2.9% from Monday.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $112.20, up 0.3% from the prior close.
In total, 3.5 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, up 2.9% from Monday.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
3/2 Morningline
Blue chip stocks (SPY) gapped up 0.4% this morning and then sat at the new level trading very narrowly, within a couple of cents of the opening.
Long-term Treasury bonds (TLT) gapped down 0.5%, and sat trading in an equally narrow range.
Media narratives credited Greece for the gaps, as Greece has been credited so many times before during the last few weeks, for up markets, down markets, sideways markets, earthquakes, eclipses and dyspepsia.
Long-term Treasury bonds (TLT) gapped down 0.5%, and sat trading in an equally narrow range.
Media narratives credited Greece for the gaps, as Greece has been credited so many times before during the last few weeks, for up markets, down markets, sideways markets, earthquakes, eclipses and dyspepsia.
Monday, March 1, 2010
3/2 Almanac
Tuesday, March 2, is 17 days before March options expire, 45 the April and 80 the May.
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $111.89, up 1% from the prior close.
In total, 3.4 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, down 2.9% from Friday.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $111.89, up 1% from the prior close.
In total, 3.4 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, down 2.9% from Friday.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
3/1 Morningline
Blue-chip stocks (SPY) gapped upward this morning, opening 0.4% above Friday's close, and then bumping up a similar percentage, low to high.
The movement put SPY at the very near term high set Feb. 22. A break out above $111.58 would negate the apparent downtrend pattern set with the Feb. 23 decline. "Apparent downtrend pattern" is a technical term among traders that means, "Gee, it looked like a downtrend at the time. I wonder what went wrong?"
It is important for a trader to always get the terminology right.
The movement put SPY at the very near term high set Feb. 22. A break out above $111.58 would negate the apparent downtrend pattern set with the Feb. 23 decline. "Apparent downtrend pattern" is a technical term among traders that means, "Gee, it looked like a downtrend at the time. I wonder what went wrong?"
It is important for a trader to always get the terminology right.
Friday, February 26, 2010
PALM: Mitigating massive loss
How I hate going into the weekend with PALM, a zombie position, staggering and drooling through my portfolio. It's almost an insult to the word "portfolio" to have such a beast on board.
One glance at PALM, and all self-esteem crumbles, and the trader knows his or her true place in the world: A worm, stomped into the dirt by the evil boots of Revenue Guidance.
Well, enough self pity.
The PALM shares, readers will recall, were part of a February covered call play that made a nice 83-cent premium from the sale of the options.
One glance at PALM, and all self-esteem crumbles, and the trader knows his or her true place in the world: A worm, stomped into the dirt by the evil boots of Revenue Guidance.
Well, enough self pity.
The PALM shares, readers will recall, were part of a February covered call play that made a nice 83-cent premium from the sale of the options.
2/26 Morningline
The price of 20- and 30-year bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury (TLT) has gapped up for the second morning in a row.
At the high so far today, TLT is trading 3.5% above the low set Feb. 18, the day before the present rise began.
In six days of trading only once has TLT closed below its opening price.
Higher bond prices mean that traders expect lower interest rates ahead. The Federal Open Market Committee -- that's Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his merry band of bankers -- set short term rates. The longer term bonds tracked by TLT are far more market driven and move in response to a far more complex universe of causality.
At the high so far today, TLT is trading 3.5% above the low set Feb. 18, the day before the present rise began.
In six days of trading only once has TLT closed below its opening price.
Higher bond prices mean that traders expect lower interest rates ahead. The Federal Open Market Committee -- that's Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his merry band of bankers -- set short term rates. The longer term bonds tracked by TLT are far more market driven and move in response to a far more complex universe of causality.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
2/26 Almanac
Friday, Feb. 26, is 21 days before March options expire, 49 the April and 84 the May.
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $110.67, down 0.1% from the prior close.
In total, 3.3 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, up 6.5% from yesterday.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
Blue chip stocks (SPY) closed the latest regular session at $110.67, down 0.1% from the prior close.
In total, 3.3 billion shares were traded on the three major U.S. stock exchanges, up 6.5% from yesterday.
On the jump, mediawatch, rules, econ reports, portfolio and a good book...
2/25 Morningline
Blue chip stocks (SPY) broke below their range of the last two days, gapping down 1.4% at the open. The retracement from the Jan. 14 high of $115.14 to the Feb. 4 low of $104.58 was in the neighborhood of a Fibonacci 61.8%.
Treasury long-term bonds (TLT) gapped up half a percent. Higher bond prices mean an expectation of lower interest rates.
The "fear index" on the S&P 500 (VIX) was up sharply, trading 11% above Wednesday's close.
Treasury long-term bonds (TLT) gapped up half a percent. Higher bond prices mean an expectation of lower interest rates.
The "fear index" on the S&P 500 (VIX) was up sharply, trading 11% above Wednesday's close.
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