Pre-market update:

  • Asian markets traded flat.
  • European markets are trading 0.6% lower.
  • US futures are trading 0.1% lower ahead of the market open. 


Economic reports due out (all times are eastern): MBA Purchase Applications (7), EIA Petroleum Status Report (10:30), FOMC Minutes (2)

Technical Outlook (SPX):

  • Another strong day for the the bulls as they have managed to eliminate all the losses from the 7/31 sell-off. 
  • At this point, the story becomes whether the bulls will break all-time highs and 2000. 
  • The notion of this being a dead cat bounce has become nullified. 
  • SPX is now well into overbought territory. 
  • Back July, the story was constantly whether SPX could break through 1985 – it was a strong level of resistance. Today we get to see if that still holds true. 
  • SPX has rallied 77 points in the last 8 days – it wouldn’t be surprising here if we consolidated or saw a slight pullback here. 
  • Volume was less than average
  • VIX dropped 0.9% down to 12.21. 
  • Strong series of higher-highs and higher lows on SPX 30-minute chart. 
  • The market doesn’t care about the economy nor earnings. That is not what is driving it. The market only cares about what the Fed is doing to keep equities propped up. 


My Trades:

  • Sold GPK yesterday at $12.56 for a 4.7% gain. 
  • Sold EBAY yesterday at $53.76 for a 3.9% gain. 
  • Sold UA yesterday at $70.13 for a 1.5% gain.
  • One new long position was added to the portfolio yesterday. 
  • Remain long AAPL at 95.56, FB at 72.53, ESRX at 71.01, STLD at 21.95, NFLX at $454.91.
  • Will look to add 1 new long position today and also look to close out positions that are extended to the long side. 
  • 60% Long / 40% Cash
  • Join me each day for all my real-time trades and alerts in the SharePlanner Splash Zone

Chart for SPX:

SP 500 Market Analysis 8-20-14