{"id":4096,"date":"2011-03-15T07:27:50","date_gmt":"2011-03-15T12:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=4096"},"modified":"2011-03-15T07:27:50","modified_gmt":"2011-03-15T12:27:50","slug":"before-the-open-mar-15-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=4096","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Mar 15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday. Happy Fed Day. It’s not a happy day for those who are long any market anywhere in the world.<\/span>
\nEvery index in Asia\/Pacific and Europe closed down or is down, and most are down several %. Futures here in the States point towards a huge gap down open for the cash market.<\/span>
\nFor a while there the market was moving down in slow motion. It took 3 weeks for the S&P to move from 1300 to 1340 and then 3 more weeks to move back down to 1300. Tops tend to be rounded and drawn out; they frustrate everyone. Hence why it took about the same amount of time to go up and come back down. But once the ball starts rolling, that’s when weeks or even months of gains can be wiped out in a short period of time.<\/span>
\nRight now everything is about Japan. The market took the earthquake in stride (it moved up last Friday), but with news of their nuclear crisis and such, traders are selling first and asking questions second. Japan itself is down over 20% in just a couple days. <\/span>
\nToday is an FOMC day, but does it really matter? The Fed rarely does anything that induces more than a short-term hiccup anyways, so I’m expecting more of the same. If anything, the situation in Japan allows the Fed to keep rates low for a longer period of time, and as June rolls around we’ll find out if there’ll be QEIII.<\/span>
\nStrap on your seat belts, it’s gonna be a wild ride. The Fed doesn’t matter. Options expiration doesn’t matter. News out of Japan rules right now. More after the open.<\/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