1:00pm (EST)
We have a lot to talk about today so we are going to throw the kitchen sink at you…
The market is once again choppy as a both the bulls and bears try to gain leverage ahead of the weekend and before Monday’s opening bell. The bears started off strong and had pushed the major indexes down over 1% but the bulls made it back to even and into positive at one point. Trading has been back and forth since.
Economic news is abundant today.
The bears used the latest GDP figure to take the market sharply lower at the open as data showed the economy grew 2.4% in the second quarter versus a forecast of 2.6%.
The bulls used a collection of good news to stage a comeback. The Chicago PMI for July was 62.3 versus expectations of 56.0 while the Consumer Sentiment Survey for July was 67.8 versus the anticipated 67.5 print Wall Street had penciled in.
As a result, the market is mixed as the Dow is down 15 points to 10,452 while the S&P 500 is down 1 point to 1,100. The Nasdaq is up 3 points to 2,254.
Next week is setting up to be an even bigger battle as we have seen the volatility pick up and we have watched the bears stand ground. It’s not to say the bulls won’t break through these hard resistance levels but if Vegas had a line on Monday’s action we would put a $20 on a lower Monday.
Earnings will be another key element in next week’s direction as well as economic news but we could see some explosive moves before today’s closing bell as mutual funds dress up the month and traders square up the books for July.
Our Watch List is PACKED with potential bearish and bullish trades and we have even profiled some LEAP options out until 2012 that we eyeballing. This weekend we will also be taking a closer look at Best Buy (BBY, $34.57, up $0.02) and Chesapeake Energy (CHK, $20.94, down $0.16), two beaten down stocks that look “interesting” at these levels. We also take a look at Gold and what is happening with it. We are expanding our Weekly Wrap to provide you more coverage of the market and a few stocks here and there.
We are also pleased to announce we have HARD copies of our trading manuals How to Trade Options on Momentum Stocks and Watch List Overview. This option course has been two years in the making and we are excited to show you how you too can find triple-digit return trades and set up Watch Lists to follow hundreds of stocks at once.
We are going to show you how we look at trades, how to figure out the returns on where a stock needs to be and how to read a few charts. And much more golden nuggets.
We will update all of this on Sunday in our Weekly Wrap so look for details over the weekend. Next week will be nail-biting and we will set you up on what to watch for. We have also updated our current trades including the one from this morning in our Members Area so make sure you check the latest up-to-the-minute updates.
Until then, have a good weekend!











Bulls Pop and Drop
Monday, May 2nd, 2011
12:45pm (EST)
The bulls used the Bin Laden news to push the market to new highs but it appears some investors saw the initial pop as an excuse to sell into the rally. Economic news has come in better-than-expected though it appears the euphoria from the historic news is quickly fading as some traders worry about retaliations.
The Commerce Department reported March Construction Spending nearly tripled expectations, coming in at 1.4% versus calls for 0.5% for the month. This was great news considering February’s numbers were the worst in a decade. Elsewhere, the ISM Manufacturing Index posted a reading of 60.4 versus estimates of 59.5. Good news here as well but lower than the 61.2 reading we got last month.
The Dow traded to a high of 12,876 but is currently down 5 points to 12,805. The S&P is lower by 2 points to 1,361 while the Nasdaq is showing a 11 point drop to 2,863.
There are some notable earnings announcements after the bell. Anadarko Petroleum (APC, $79.97, up $1.03), Chesapeake Energy (CHK, $33.57, down $0.10) and Dendreon (DNDN, $42.88, down $0.55) will report earnings after the bell. Of the three, we are most interested in what Dendreon has to say.
We will be back in the morning with a full update. Subscribers, check the Members Area for the trade updates.
Tags: APC, call options, CHK, dndn, high beta stocks, Hot stocks, momentum options, Momentum stocks, option tips, options trading course, stock market options, strangle option trades, weekly options
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