Before the Open (May 13)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets had a great day – most of the indexes gained at least 1%. Europe is currently up across the board – there are a few 1% winners. Futures here in the States point towards a small gap up open for the cash market. This comes off a very strong day where, within the S&P 1500, advancers beat decliners 14-to-1 and two-thirds of stocks closed in the upper 20% of their intraday range. So not only were stocks up, but most closed near their highs. The only bearish aspect is that the performance was too good. Another day with these types of internals and a stiff down day will be inevitable.
Volume has also declined the last three days – not a great characteristic, especially with resistance nearby.
Here’s the 15-min SPY – I use it because it shows gaps better than the S&P. 118 is overhead resistance, but it’s the market’s nature over or undershoot such levels. Be on the lookout for a little surge that fills the gap before turning down. More after the open.

headlines at Yahoo Finance
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings Reports
this week’s Economic Numbers