{"id":4273,"date":"2011-05-06T07:40:55","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T12:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=4273"},"modified":"2011-05-06T07:40:55","modified_gmt":"2011-05-06T12:40:55","slug":"before-the-open-may-6-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=4273","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (May 6)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment numbers day.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed down across the board. Japan and S. Korea lost about 1.5%. Europe is currenly mixed and without any standout winners or losers. Futures here in the States suggest a positive open for the cash market, but this of course can change when the employment data is released.
\n<\/span>
\nHere are the numbers:<\/span>
\nunemployment rate: 9.0% (from 8.8%)<\/span>
\nnonfarm payrolls: up 244K (vs. 186K estimated)<\/span>
\nprivate payrolls: up 268K (vs. 200K estimated)<\/span>
\naverage workweek: will post when I get data<\/span>
\nhourly earnings: 0.1% (vs. 0.2% estimated)<\/span>
\nThe market’s reaction to the news has been very positive. Futures have jumped and now indicate a large gap up for the cash market that will put the S&P near yesterday’s high and Wednesday’s close.<\/span>
\nI still consider the long term trends to be up. The indexes continue to make higher lows and higher highs, and other than a couple commodities (silver, oil), this week’s pullback has not been out of the ordinary. This doesn’t mean I hold longs, I don’t. I sold my longs on Monday and bought reverse ETFs. Then I sold those ETFs yesterday. <\/span>
\nGiven that it’s a Friday and the charts are looking messy, I don’t see a reason to be super aggressive here. There are very few good looking long set ups, and most shorts are too far gone to chase. Trading is not hard when you take the easy and obvious trade and let the rest go by. Right now there aren’t many high-probability set ups, so that means I do much more watching than trading…especially considering it’s a Friday. <\/span>
\nMy hunch is we go down again, take out yesterday’s low and have a more complete wash out. I’d be very surprised if the market gapped up today and took off. Then again, we know many big moves start with an unfilled gap up. More after the open.<\/span>
\nheadlines at Yahoo Finance<\/a><\/span>
\ntoday’s upgrades\/downgrades<\/a><\/span>
\nyesterday’s sector performance<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Economic Numbers<\/a><\/span>
\n