1:00pm (EST)
And we thought Curt Schilling had a curveball…
We said this morning things could get hairy but the bulls have shown some strength today despite being big underdogs this morning. The bears were hungry at the open but they have to be disappointed in the way today’s action is playing out.
Most of the headlines were pointing in the bears favor but the bulls got a bonus package and extra artillery after a way better-than-expected jobs report before the opening bell. The Labor Department reported 383,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week. The big news here is the number was below 400,000 and it represented a 3-year low.
Even better, the bigger news out is that Egypt’s top brass, President Mubarak will be stepping down today which has eased fears on the geopolitical front.
The Dow traded to a low of 12,156, down about 85 points, but held our 12,100 level and is at currently at 12,211 (-28). This was an encouraging sign but we still have to remember we are heading into the matrix (next week is February option expiration).
The S&P 500 is down less than a point to 1,320 after trading to a low of 1,311. The index held 1,307 but more importantly 1,300 was nowhere close to be being taken out. If the S&P can clear 1,325 then next week might not be so bad after all.
The Nasdaq fell to 2,762 but held 2,750 and also off by less than a point to 2,783. Wow.
Well, we said the curveballs and volatility was coming but we like today’s action. Although we were spanked on one of our trades, we had 2 others that we closed for double-digit profits (+25%, +40%) by having hard stops in place.
Given the market, we can handle hitting singles until the homerun pitch comes again but it looks like to go yard we are going to have to handle some of the pitches coming our way and be patient. For 2011, our portfolio has now CLOSED 13-out-of-14 winning trades to start the year. Three of them have been triple-digit winners (+182%, +150%, +125%). We have some wounded soldiers from today’s action but the bullish trend is still intact for now.
Subscribers, let’s go check the updates. If you would like to see our 2011 Closed Track Record so far, send an email to our support staff or check our Members Area when you sign-up for a subscription.
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