{"id":4778,"date":"2011-08-17T07:32:18","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T12:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=4778"},"modified":"2011-08-17T07:32:18","modified_gmt":"2011-08-17T12:32:18","slug":"before-the-open-aug-17-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=4778","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Aug 17)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed…only Australia (up 1.3%) moved more than 1%. Europe is currently mixed with a bullish bias. Futures here in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nOver the last 8 days the market has been up 4 and down 4, and the net change has been very little. There has been lots of movement for short term traders or day traders to play with but not much for swing traders. That’s just the way it goes. Swing traders trade aggressively when there is a directional move but have to significantly shorten up their time frames when the near term isn’t clear. Such is the current situtaion. <\/span>
\nUntil proven otherwise, my overall bias is to the downside, but short term we are in no-man’s land. A high-percentage, favorable risk\/reward short is somewhere near prior support (near SPX 1260). A high-percentage long is somewhere near last week’s low (near SPX 1100). I use the word “somewhere” on purpose. The market isn’t going to go to an exact level, wait for you to enter and then reverse. You may have to scale in as those levels are approached and then put a stop beyond those levels. <\/span>
\nSaid another way, favorable risk\/reward set ups don’t exist right now – at least not to the degree I want to see them. With volatility being high, the intraday ranges being big and support and resistance being far away, it’s hard to give a swing trade a chance to work out because the noise of the market can easily stop you out.<\/span>
\nDon’t over trade. Don’t chop your account. Better set ups are coming for those who have the patience to wait.<\/span>
\nheadlines at Yahoo Finance<\/a><\/span>
\ntoday’s upgrades\/downgrades<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Earnings<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Economic Numbers<\/a><\/span>
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