Before the Open (May 19)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. Singapore gained 1%; South Korea lost almost 2%. Europe is currently up across the board. Austria, France, Germany and London are each up at least 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.

The market bounced nicely yesterday, albeit on lightish volume. I stated yesterday morning my upside S&P targets were 1330 and the high 1340’s, and for now I’m sticking with those. 1330 was easily taken out yesterday, so 1350ish is next on my radar. Here’s the 30-min chart.

For those of us who like to enter positions and hold for a month, trading has been tough lately. Rallies get sold; dips get bought. No move lasts more than a couple days, so we’ve had to cut down on our holding times. That’s just the way it goes. The market changes personality from time to time, and we need to be flexible and make slight changes too. Otherwise we end up using yesterday’s strategy for today’s conditions.
It would not be a positive for the market to turn around and erase yesterday’s gains, and if today is an up day, tomorrow and Monday will be important. It’ll be the first big test for the bulls. More after the open.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
today’s upgrades/downgrades
yesterday’s sector performance
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers