{"id":3052,"date":"2010-05-21T07:26:11","date_gmt":"2010-05-21T12:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=3052"},"modified":"2010-05-21T07:26:11","modified_gmt":"2010-05-21T12:26:11","slug":"before-the-open-may-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=3052","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (May 21)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Options Expiration Day.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed down again – most markets lost at least 1%. Europe is currently down across the board – there are several 1 and 2% losers. Futures here in the States point towards another moderate gap down open for the cash market. This comes off a day the market closed as bad as I’ve ever seen.<\/span>
\nFrom the S&P 1500, only 17 stocks advanced while 1482 declined – 99% decliners is as extreme as you can get. Only 6 stocks closed in the upper 20% of their intraday range while 1079 (72%) closed in the bottom 20% – that’s extreme broad-based selling. And right now only 39 stocks are above their 10-day MA – it’s as broad-based as you can get for so few stocks to be holding up. <\/span>
\nHere’s a chart<\/strong><\/a> that has 5 panes. The top pane is the number of S&P 1500 stocks above their 10-day MA, the second pane is the number above their 20-day, then 30-day, then 40-day, and finally the number above their 200-day. On a short and intermediate term basis (the first 4 panes), the market is as negative as it’s been since the March 2009 low. If it’s going to bounce it better happen soon because if the charts stay down here for any length of time, it would suggest a downtrend is underway.<\/span>
\nheadlines at Yahoo Finance<\/a><\/span>
\ntoday’s upgrades\/downgrades<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Earnings Reports<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Economic Numbers<\/a><\/span>
\n