{"id":4490,"date":"2011-06-17T07:26:23","date_gmt":"2011-06-17T12:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=4490"},"modified":"2011-06-17T07:26:23","modified_gmt":"2011-06-17T12:26:23","slug":"before-the-open-jun-17-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=4490","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jun 17)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly down, but only Hong Kong lost more than 1%. Europe is currently posting solid, across-the-board gains. Futures here in the States point towards a big gap up for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nThe dollar is down. Gold and silver are down slightly. Oil very quickly has retreated from the 100 area down to the low 90’s.<\/span>
\nOne reason for the good feelings this morning is French President Nicolas Sarkozy hinted at progress regarding a deal to resolve the Greek debt situation. Greece is a teeny tiny country, but it’s failure to pay its debt and its possible exit from the European Union threatens both the EU and the euro, and this is not viewed as a positive for Europe or the US. <\/span>
\nThe S&P is down about 3 for the week. Today’s gap up will put the index solidly in positive territory, and as long as the gains can be held, a seventh consecutive down week will be avoided. <\/span>
\nFor all the bad news the market has had to absorb, today’s open will be at the close of 7 days ago. That’s not bad. The market is trying to find a bottom. I’ve made a handful of comments the last few days about 1) not getting too bearish, 2) taking partial profits on shorts and 3) having a game plan in place should the market move up. Whether today’s gap up holds or not is not something I know, but since trading is a game of odds, taking a few bucks off the table was a no brainer. <\/span>
\nThere will be lots of event risk going into this weekend. If a Greek bailout package does emerge, the market could definitely follow through on today’s gap up gains. But if not, everything could be given back very quickly. It’s probably not a bad idea to lay low and wait til this passes before initiating new positions. 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 Earnings<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Economic Numbers<\/a><\/span>
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