Before the Open (Jul 19)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan each rallied more than 1%. Europe is currently up across the board. Austria, Belgium and Stockholm are up more than 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap up for the cash market.

The dollar is down. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up.
A couple days ago the bears were out in full force. Today the S&P will open at its highest level since early May. It pays to be open minded.
Warnings persist (the small caps are lagging, tech is lagging, money is flowing into safe havens), and there are still lots of headwinds (earnings season, Europe, economic numbers). But the character of the market the last two months has been that of one directional moves ending in sudden reversals. If you used a trailing stop, you most likely gave back a good chunk of your gains. Here’s what the market has done…
up 5 of 6 days
down 3 days
up 4 of 5 days
up 5 of 6 days
down 3 of 4 days
up 5 of 6 days
down 6 days
up 3 of 4 days
Literally up, down, up, down, etc. Rallies get sold, dips get bought. If you get overly bearish or bullish, the market goes right in your face soon after. It pays to be open-minded. It pays to not have a super strong opinion. It pays to not have a combative attitude. The market is what it is. Accept it and be flexible. More after the open.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
headlines at MarketWatch
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers