{"id":6599,"date":"2013-05-01T07:36:04","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T12:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6599"},"modified":"2013-05-01T07:36:04","modified_gmt":"2013-05-01T12:36:04","slug":"before-the-open-may-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=6599","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (May 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Wednesday. Happy Fed Day.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. China dropped 1%; Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan did well. In Europe, London rallied 0.7% while the rest of markets were closed for a holiday. Futures here in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.<\/span>
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\nThe dollar is down. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. <\/span>
\nToday is Fed day. It’s the day the FOMC targets the overnight rate (the rate at which banks borrow money from each other) and the discount rate (the rate at which banks borrow from the Fed). No changes are expected, but as has been the case the last couple meetings, their statement will be closely read for clues regarding the possible end to their QE operations. I don’t expect any change. I think the Fed is likely to do too much QE than too little. Besides, they’ve already stated they’re keeping rates low until the unemployment rates drops to 6.5%, and that’s not happening for a while. Commodity prices have perked up a little lately but not enough for inflation to be a real possibility.<\/span>
\nExports in South Korea registered 0.4% year-over-year growth vs. consensus expectations for 2.0%. The number is considered an economic canary in a coal mine for Asia because of its exposure to Japan and China. <\/span>
\nHere’s the S&P daily. It’s been range bound in a 60-point range for two months…nothing wrong with this. It’s moved up 7 of 8 days and is now at an all-time high. For a technical standpoint, I’d rather not see a breakout right now. It’s rallied too much the last week to expect the index to be able to tack gains on top of gains. I’d prefer a rest.<\/span>
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\nThe long term trend remains solidly up. The intermediate term trend is neutral. As a swing trader who plays the bigger swings, my bias is certainly to the upside. <\/span>
\nThe market is likely to be slow ahead of the Fed. 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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