Before the Open (Mar 4)

Posted on by Jason Leavitt

Good morning. Happy Friday.
The Asian/Pacific markets posted solid, across-the-board gains. Most indexes gained at least 1%. Europe is currently up across-the-board too. Gains aren’t as big as Asia, but they’re still there. Futures here in the States 90 min before the open and 30 min before the unemployment report is released are flat.
Here are the numbers:
unemployment rate: 8.9% (vs. 9.0% last month and 9.1% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: up 192K (218K expected)
private payrolls: (will post when I get the number)
average workweek: unchanged at 34.2
hourly earnings: steady at $22.87
There hasn’t been much reaction…just near term volatility, but little net movement.
The indexes closed yesterday at their highest level in almost two weeks. Not bad considering the situation in Libya is not subsiding and some of the selling pressure the last couple weeks has been pretty intense.
I maintain my stance that on a longer term basis the uptrend remains in place, and shorter term, we are in consolidation mode.
Yesterday recovered all the losses from Mar 1. A solid up day today will finish recovering all the losses from Feb 22. Volume on down days has been much heavier than volume on up days, so by no means am I throwing all caution to the wind. I don’t see a dominant near term trend, so I continue to play it safe. More after the open.
(oh and I posted some trade set ups on the Message Board)
headlines at Yahoo Finance
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings Reports
this week’s Economic Numbers

0 thoughts on “Before the Open (Mar 4)”

  1. Yesterday’s rally was a delayed reaction to the typical 1st of the month
    buying. And also, if you believe in magic fairies (I know Neal does), then
    today will be the last of the end of month/beginning of month bullish cycle.

  2. More Thrasing around, but bonds may be in a crash dive, forecasting end of QE2 and the willingness of EU and others to consider higher rates. The Federal budget is still a hoax that is a net dive into further debt. This stand-off will become part of the market formula.
    The market may support USO, TAN and few others in the longer run. Short run? it is chopped liver, I think a top will come along and we will have a sharp correction of about two weeks, based on a cycle runing Feb 27 to Mar 3. (maybe, maybe not too).

  3. I like what Whidbey just said. That is Bernanke will continue QE2
    until expiration of June 2011. However, if the market is forward
    thinking (as most often is), the market may begin to factor in the
    ending of QE2,thus rendering it useless. Look for consolidation
    first and then a sell off of some degree. HW

  4. Down Under ,we don’t swim with the sharks….they swim with us…The $AUD is a reaction to our stablised Int Rates which won’t move to after the fiscal year.
    And Neal I should be able to squeeze you into one of my condo’s on the Gold Coast in Qld….

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