1:00pm (EST)

The market started off in the red as a stronger dollar motivated the bears but the bulls have rallied back and are trying to turn the tables.  A better-than-expected Consumer Confidence Index for October helped stop the morning slide and came in at 50.2, up from last’s month reading of 48.5.  Wall Street was looking for a print of 49.0.

Most of today’s headlines have been dominated with earnings announcements, some good, some bad, and this week is full of high-profile names set to report.  We gave you a list this morning and highlighted the ones in bold we are watching so be on the lookout for a possible new trade if we decide to play.

Steel stocks are among the weakest members of the Materials sector after a couple of lousy reports from both U.S. Steel (X, $40.70, down $1.57) and AKSteel (AKS, $12.76, down $0.61).  We are taking a serious look at a straddle or strangle option trade on U.S. Steel at current levels because we think shares are going to be at $35 or $45 by December.  For those of you who have purchased our options trading manual, How to Trade Options on Momentum Stocks, take a look at the December chain and start doing the math.  We may try to do a video tonight to go over the trade setup but as of now we have done no homework.

Elsewhere, Amgen (AMGN, $56.96, down $0.99) is trading lower despite posting better-than-expected earnings for the quarter after the closing bell on Monday.  The company reported a profit of $1.36 a share, which was 9 cents better than the analyst’s estimates of $1.27.  Sales came in at $3.76 billion but missed estimates of $3.78 billion which is why we are seeing a slight sell-off.


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  Going forward, Amgen reaffirmed its full year revenue and earnings guidance of $15 billion, and $5.05-$5.25 a share.

We have a updated all of our current trades and we have explosive situations about to happen with TWO of them. As we head to press, the Dow is off by a point to 11,163 while the S&P 500 is up by a fraction of a point and is at 1,186.  The Nasdaq is up 9 points and right on our 2,500 target.  A close above it clears the way for 2,600.  Subscribers, check for the updates.     

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