9:00am (EST)
The bulls were able to snap a 3-sesion skid following an opening bounce and more reassurance from Uncle Ben. The Fed Chairman said that even though the U.S. economy has improved, he has no plans to slow quantitative easing until he is convinced the recovery can be sustained.
The unemployment rate has fallen to 7.7% but Bernanke repeated that the Fed plans to keep its short-term interest rate near nada until unemployment is below a “threshold” of 6.5%. Big Ben also said the central bank may vary the size of its current $85 billion monthly bond purchases depending on if and how much the job market keeps improving.
In other words, Bernanke is waiting for more people to slowly “retire” from the workforce because the real unemployment numbers are north of 10%. Initial Claims are counting a worker who works 2 jobs twice because they can’t find full-time jobs. Companies are cutting hours to 30 or less to avoid Obamacare with small companies keeping payrolls under 50 employees to avoid healthcare costs.
Bernanke’s carefully thought out words were all the bulls needed to hear and why the bears are having a hard time fighting the Fed. With the printing presses at full speed ahead, the market powered higher to recoup much of this week’s losses. (read more…)
****************************
If you are not a subscriber but would like to read more please click here. We are one of the fastest growing stock options trading advisors on the internet and we had an incredible 2012. We offer 2-3 powerful call or put option trades each week (depending on market conditions) aimed at triple-digit returns for our Daily newsletter and our Weekly Wrap Covered Call Portfolio strides for double-digit returns on a monthly basis. Together, we were 159-70 (70% win rate) for both newsletters in 2012 with over 30-triple-digit winners. Our 5-year track record from 2008-2012 is now a staggering 621-273 that is also a 70% win rate. We doubt you will find a better options trading service.Closed Trades for 2013: 26-13, for a 67% win rate, including the Weekly Wrap that is 8-1).