1:10pm (EST)
Forget the bulls and bears it’s all about the PIGS today.
The market got a huge lift this morning after Wall Street became hopeful that Robin Hood would be helping the Greek debt situation. There is a report that the “euro zone” countries have decided in principle to help debt-stricken Greece and there is news that Portugal hired Barclays and Goldman Sachs (GS, $152.85, up $1.76) to help it sell bonds.
Greece’s finance minister said he cannot call for outside aid, as doing so would send a negative signal to bond buyers, and this will not be a bailout. Still, this has been a dark cloud over the market and it may have been the bulls wild card.
Shares of National Bank of Greece (NBG, $4.10, up $0.68) have rallied 20% on the news but it would be a hard stock to trust.
At a result, the Dow is up 211 points, or 2.2%, to 10,120 while the S&P 500 is higher by 21, or 2.0%, and is at 1,077. The Nasdaq is lagging but is still enjoying a 37 point pop and stands at 2,162.
In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that wholesale inventories were lower by 0.8% in December compared to an expectation that inventories would rise by 0.5% during the month.
Caterpillar (CAT, $53.93, up $3.15) is one of the Dow components that is fueling this huge rally. The stock is up over 6% after an analyst upgrade. Coca-Cola (KO, $54.86, up $2.21) was up 4% after reporting better than expected earnings as revenues benefited from emerging market growth.
Market Volatility Continues
Friday, February 12th, 2010
1:05pm (EST)
The market is taking one on the chin today as most of the major indexes are experiencing losses but have come of the lows. The bulls have traded blows, literally, every day this week and after the win yesterday, it’s the bears turn.
There are a lot of elements causing today’s sell-off but more news that China said it would require banks to increase reserve levels is the biggie. It was the second time in a month that this sentiment was echoed which would limit the amount their banks can lend.
Currently, the Dow is down 47 points to 10,097 while the S&P 500 is off by 4 points to 1,074. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is higher by a point to 2,178 and now seems to be the “strongest” of the big three.
Trading continues to be choppy but our feeling is that individual investors do not want to commit new money to the market and traders are squaring up positions before the long holiday weekend. The market will be closed on Monday for President’s Day.
Next week is options expiration week as the February chains expire NEXT Friday.
Folks, there could be an explosive move in store with a possible Greece resolution, options expiration week, and more pending news out of Washington expected. China will be closed next week.
We should also get a clear signal on which way the market is headed. A lot of money is being bet on the short-side but we aren’t taking sides just yet. There are some interesting gyrations developing and there is a chance the market bounces off these current lows to much higher levels.
Remember, when the herd thinks alike, the herd is likely to be wrong. Right now, the sentiment on Wall Street is calling for a market correction, a pullback, or we are headed below previous lows, meaning Dow 7,500. We don’t see that in the cards but we always look at both sides of the ball and try to play the trend.
We mentioned this morning that our trading manual is ready and folks, we are really super excited to bring you this product. Our hope is to show you how to set-up a plan to follow the market, learn how it works and to find your own option trades.
You will be able to look at a stock and its chart and figure out EXACTLY what the stock needs to do for the trade to be profitable. You will learn to figure out the best entry and exit prices and what your risks and rewards are.
Plus, with our expanded Watch Lists that includes up to date charts and detailed descriptions of what each company does, you will able to follow hundreds of stocks. However, we teach you how to focus on where the money is flowing and what sectors are hot and which ones are turning cold.
We wanted to roll this out to start the New Year but we wanted to wait because of the current changes taking place in the options market right now.
We have been using new options quotes as many of you have seen in our Members Area and last weekend we did a special write-up on how to decipher the new symbols. If you haven’t read it, click here. It is a great read and it actually makes it easier to remember option symbols.
We are planning for hard copies to be available in March and there will be a special rate for the first month. We are making this an incredible deal and it is our way of thanking all of you who have followed us for the last 2 years. One bonus is that anyone who purchases our course will get an extra one-year membership added to their current subscription or if you are a new subscriber it will be included.
We are excited about the opportunity to teach you some of the neat features that will show you option trades that could provide you returns of up to 100%, 200%, 800% and even 2,500%. Our track records from 2008 and 2009 are littered with these types of returns and you can view them at anytime.
Our 2010 track record will be available in a few weeks as we still have open trades for February so look out for it as well. Of course, if you are already a subscriber then you have access to it daily. There you will find all of our CURRENT trades AND all of the closed ones for the year. If you have any questions on the manual, please email us over the weekend and we will get them answered.
We will be back MONDAY night with the Weekly Wrap so everybody have a safe and happy 3-day weekend.
Tags: option picks, option signals, options alerts, stock options trading
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