{"id":4026,"date":"2011-02-22T08:27:50","date_gmt":"2011-02-22T13:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=4026"},"modified":"2011-02-22T08:27:50","modified_gmt":"2011-02-22T13:27:50","slug":"before-the-open-feb-22-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=4026","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Feb 22)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday. Hope you enjoyed your long weekend.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed down across the board. China and Hong Kong each dropped more than 2%, and there were several 1% losers. Europe is currently down across the board; losses are moderate. Futures here in the States point towards a huge gap down for the cash market. Relative to Friday’s close, S&P futures are down ~ 16 points.<\/span>
\nThe big news comes out of Libya where protesters are following in Egypt’s path. Oil has surged 9% because the the country is responsible for ~ 2% of the world’s daily output, and it’s feared the unrest could led to shortages in supply. <\/span>
\nAll the indexes registered new highs on Friday, so the trend remains solidly up. Every other “crisis” from overseas has been absorbed by the market; will this be any different? I suspect the market will again make new highs this time around, but I can’t say when it’ll happen. Other than some weakness in November, the market has been steadily climbing since the end of August. It needs a rest; perhaps news from Libya will be the excuse the market needs to take time off. <\/span>
\nHere’s the 60-min SPX chart. The index could drop 50 points and still be considered in a solid up trend. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNews trumps the charts. Play good defense with current positions and see how things settle out today.<\/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