{"id":4963,"date":"2011-10-21T07:36:15","date_gmt":"2011-10-21T12:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=4963"},"modified":"2011-10-21T07:36:15","modified_gmt":"2011-10-21T12:36:15","slug":"before-the-open-oct-21-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=4963","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Oct 21)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly down. Only South Korea (up 1.8%) moved more than 1%. Europe is currently up across the board. Germany and Norway are up more than 2%. Belgium, France, Amsterdam, Stockholm and London are up more than 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a relatively big gap up open for the cash market. <\/span>
\nEven though the market has been up and down this week, I’ve stuck to my guns with my bias. Here’s the daily S&P 500. In my opinion it’s trading in a little flag pattern within a mini uptrend, and this is all taking place within a range that has lasted approx. 11 weeks.<\/span>
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\nJust because the market goes down (as it did on Monday and Wednesday) doesn’t mean I’m going to panic and immediately shift to the other side. It pays to back up and see the bigger picture. The S&P had rallied 150 points in two weeks. Was I supposed to change my bias after Monday’s weak day? I don’t think so. <\/span>
\nWe’re going to get some news out of Europe this weekend, so make sure you recognize the risk holding over the weekend. I’m not suggesting you completely go to cash, just that you may want to lighten up. Europe is, after all, the major road block going forward. Another thing on my mind. Options expire today. The market has moved perfectly this week to cause lots of pain. Namely it held up to expire lots of put options worthless. What happens on Monday when the invisible hand is no longer in play? We’ll see. It’s another reason to be a little conservative here until we see what happens early next week. <\/span>
\nBarring a big sell-off today, my bias will remain to the upside heading into next week, and the first couple days of next week should be very telling.<\/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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