{"id":4613,"date":"2011-07-14T07:22:08","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T12:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=4613"},"modified":"2011-07-14T07:22:08","modified_gmt":"2011-07-14T12:22:08","slug":"before-the-open-jul-14-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=4613","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jul 14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Thursday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed; there were no big winners or losers. Europe is currently suffering moderate, across-the-board losses. Futures here in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nAfter yesterday’s close Moody’s put the US’s debt rating on watch for a possible downgrade due to the possibility it won’t be able to make interest and principle payments on its bonds if the debt ceiling isn’t raised. Even though Moody’s has no credibility because they partially caused the financial crisis, this makes sense. The US has more debt than any country in the history of the world, but because it can print money, it has always paid its bills on time. Failure to pay wouldn’t just result in seniors not getting their social security checks, it could result in the government missing an interest payment which would prompt a downgrade of our debt which would increase the cost of borrowing money in the future which would be disastrous (how’s that for a nice run-on sentence).<\/span>
\nAfter the announcement was made, S&P futures dropped a quick 10 points but those losses have been recaptured plus a little extra. <\/span>
\nSwing trades have been nonexistent the last week. We got a great move up and now a decent move down and several large gaps. I’ve been laying low all week because I haven’t seen any good risk\/reward set ups. Waiting is tough, but it’s wise when the coast isn’t clear and there is no dominant near term trend. <\/span>
\nI’d still consider the market to be trending up on a long term basis. On an intermediate term basis (since the beginning of the year), the market is neutral and range-bound. <\/span>
\nFor now I’m content to watch and wait for better set ups. 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>
\n