{"id":5051,"date":"2011-11-21T08:28:46","date_gmt":"2011-11-21T13:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=5051"},"modified":"2011-11-21T08:28:46","modified_gmt":"2011-11-21T13:28:46","slug":"before-the-open-nov-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=5051","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Nov 21)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed down across the board. India and Taiwan dropped more than 2%; Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore dropped more than 1%. Europe is getting hit hard. Austria is down 3.5%, and Belgium, France, Germany, Amsterdam and Norway are dowm more than 2%. Futures here in the States point towards a large gap down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nBesides the weak overseas markets, weighing on the futures is the expectation the Super Committee will concede defeat in its attempt to lower the deficit. The committee’s co-chairs will issue a statement later today. Also, Moody’s warned France’s credit rating could be cut. Higher borrowing costs were cited as a reason. <\/span>
\nThe US markets have held up well the last month given the flow of negative news out of Europe. Earnings here haven’t been bad, and econ news has been tolerable. The market wants to move up, but unfortunately it’s being held hostage to Europe’s financial situation. Last week the market cracked, and this week it could completley break if news flow doesn’t improve. We live in a very connected and correlated world. We can buck the trend in another market for a period of time, but eventually positive and negative feelings elsewhere take their toll here. <\/span>
\nHere’s the 30-min S&P chart we’ve been following the last 7-8 days. Today’s open will be near the blue line. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\nI remain in conservative mode…mostly because I’m a technical trader who prefers trading when the natural forces of supply and demand are playing out, but when major news is circling, I don’t like having a lot of exposure because a huge gap and run (in either direction) could happen any time. Hence I’ve been doing much more day trading the last few weeks while Europe sorts itself out. More after the open.<\/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>
\n