{"id":5547,"date":"2012-04-20T07:32:28","date_gmt":"2012-04-20T12:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=5547"},"modified":"2012-04-20T07:32:28","modified_gmt":"2012-04-20T12:32:28","slug":"before-the-open-apr-20-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=5547","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Apr 20)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. China rallied 1.2%; Malaysia and Taiwan dropped more than 1%. Europe is currently up across the board. Austria and Germany are up more than 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nThe dollar is down. Oil and copper are up about 1%. Gold and silver are up.<\/span>
\nHere’s the 60-min SPX chart I’ve been posting all week. Allowing for a little wiggle room, the index remains in its rising rectangle pattern. Right now it has bearish implications, but if it lasts much longer, the pattern, relative to the “flag pole,” will be too big and therefore will be much more neutral.<\/span>
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\nDespite the increase in volatility, the market is flat over the last 8 days and also flat since the end of February. We’ve had some ups and downs, some scary days for the bulls and bears, big gaps in both directions and in the end there is very little net change. This isn’t a time to be super aggressive. Don’t churn your account while the market figures out what it wants to do next.<\/span>
\nOn the earnings front, many stocks are experiencing big moves after releasing their numbers. Be careful. Holding into a report is pure gambling. Look at IBM, INTC, QCOM – each got hit hard. Today RVBD and SNDK are getting clobbered before the open. On the other hand EBAY gapped up big. Today GE and MCD will gap up. Flip a coin.<\/span>
\nI’m maintaining my defensive posture. More after the open.<\/span>
\nheadlines at Yahoo Finance<\/a><\/span>
\nheadlines at MarketWatch<\/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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