10:15am (EST)
I wanted to see how we opened this morning before posting so I could get a feel for how things may play out today. The Dow is currently up 13 points to 9,167. The bulls will be taking aim on S&P 500 1,000 and right now the index stands at 991, up 5. Nasdaq 2,000 is the other target for the bulls and at 1,995 they have pushed it up 10 points this morning.
A close above these levels will be another clear victory for the bulls.
Ford (F, $7.61, up $0.22) continues to shine and I wish I would have added some August 7 calls (FHJ, $0.77, up $0.19) to the portfolio this week. Ford closed last Friday at $6.78 and had a big Monday. We are in the December 6 calls (FLI, $2.00, up $0.15) and the December 7 calls (FLJ, $1.38, up $0.17) which have done well so we can’t complain.
Bank of America (BAC, $14.31, up $0.34) is back above $14 and has made higher highs all week. Nice. The August 15 calls (BYOHO, $0.32, up $0.07) have traded over 15,000 contracts thus far and they would have been a sweet play this week as well. We have already established positions back in June but watch these call options today and next week. If BAC can break $15 by early next week they are a double.












Halftime Hits
Friday, July 31st, 2009
12:10pm (EST)
The Dow is on track for its best month in decades and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are back at last October’s highs. We still have a couple of hours of trading left in the day but it’s time to start looking towards next week.
The bulk of earnings hit the market this week and will start to taper off from here on out. I’ve mentioned the bulls will be looking for the “next” catalyst to take us higher and maybe they have already found one. The talking heads were calling for a pullback and were preparing for a pullback before yesterday’s huge rally.
Now, there will be a pullback or drops here and there but keep the technicals and fundamentals in focus. We have come a long way from the March lows and just like the sell-off was overblown this rally could have legs that run too far to the upside as well. The point is there will be jostling between the bulls and bears but the back half of the year is looking pretty bullish.
Near term we can continue to enjoy the rally and there is more money on the sidelines than Wall Street thinks. Things are improving but unemployment is at double-digits and we still have to be careful of the land mines out there. We are taking quick profits and our trading strategies are tight. We are banking 100% gains and moving on to other trades.
This is still a trader’s market and nobody knows where the market will be at next Friday or next month. All we can do is make educated guesses and play what we are seeing. I’ll be back Sunday night with an update unless I’m late getting back in town. I try to do the Weekly Wrap every Sunday but I may skip this week. If so, I’ll see you Monday morning.
Ford (F, $7.91, up $0.52) continues to push $8 and is looking golden to hit $10 by year-end if not sooner.
Rick@MomentumOptionsTrading.com
Tags: Cash for Clunkers blog, Ford
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