1:00pm (EST)
All signs were pointing towards a higher open for Wall Street and the bulls this morning but disappointing economic data ruined the mood as the bears continue to put pressure on the major indexes.
Initial Claims were unchanged at 370,000 after a revised 2,000 increase to 370,000 the week before. The 4-week moving average fell to 375,000 from 380,000 (revised from 379,000). Continuing Claims rose 18,000 to 3.265 million, up from a revised 3.247 million.
Futures got a small pop on the news as the bulls’ explored positive territory at the start of trading but the Philly Fed numbers after the open were a disaster. The survey showed a reading of -5.8, versus expectations for a number north of 10.
In addition to these uninspiring numbers, Leading Indicators dropped 0.1% following a 0.3% increase for the prior month which snapped a six-month string of gains.
The market has come up off its lows but the action is still ugly and we love it.
We were able to close 3 more trades for half profits today and we have a couple of other trades that are surging. We currently have a bevy of triple-digit winning option trades whose gains we are trying to protect. We have moved up the Hard Stops on a few of them and we have PROFITS to take on another trade that is up nearly 75%.
Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Ka-ching! That’s what it sounds like to ring the register which our subscribers continue to do.
As we head to press, the Dow is down 80 points to 12,518 while the S&P is lower by 10 points to 1,315. The Nasdaq is showing a decline of 31 points to 2,842.
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