Get RSS Feed
1:30pm (EST)
You can almost feel the tension today between the bulls and bears as the market has stayed in a tight trading range. The major indexes are showing slight gains as better-than-expected numbers on housing and retail have provided the bulls some ammo heading into Friday’s update on employment.
DJIA 15-Minute Chart
The National Association of Realtors said contracts to purchase homes rose 5.2% in July after hitting a record low in June while factory orders climbed 0.1% in July.
The monthly report on jobs will be the biggie, of course, and it will be released before the market opens. Although there is a little hiring going on in America, the numbers are expected to indicate an unemployment rate of 9.6%, up 0.1% from last month. The market will be counting on the private sector for growth but they only hired 40,000 workers last month.
In corporate news, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, $39.34, up $0.13) raised its bid to $33 a share for data storage provider 3Par (PAR, $32.85, up $0.77). Dell (DELL, $12.40, up $0.28) had upped its offer to $32 a share in a last gasp effort to “outbid” HP but they don’t have the cash coffins to trump $33.
As we head to press, the Dow is up 2 points to 10,270 while the S&P 500 is advancing by 4 points to 1,084. The Nasdaq is showing a 10 point gain and is at 2,187.
We are watching the 1,075 level for support on the S&P 500 with 1,100 being a ceiling for today. We should probably stay within that range for the remainder of the day but a break above or below these levels means somebody knows something ahead of tomorrow’s big news.
We established 3 new positions ahead of Friday’s unemployment report but we protected ourselves by going out until October with our trades. You can bet tonight will be an uneasy night of sleeping but this is why we play the game. Subscribers, check the Members Area for the updates.
