Evening Roundup
Well sportsfans, the market (again the S&P) did close above that important psychological level of 1100 today and I would imagine that the shorts are quite nervous. There may be a small bump around 1122 (if you remember from Las Vegas, that is the exact price of the 50% retracement from the big fall) as the shorts give it one more shot. In fact, they may try to sell the market right at the open tomorrow in an attempt to get the market back below 1100. The London open in a couple of hours will tell us more regarding the futures and the potential market open for the US.&n
Afternoon Update
The market continues to hold it's gains, with only one bump in the day. Just before Bernanke spoke, the dollar spiked (and as usual, the market sold off) anticipating any talk from Bernanke on the potential for raising rates in the future. Shorting the US dollar is a very crowded trade (meaning lot's of people doing it) and those traders, although wanting to stay short the dollar, are very wary of any news that the Fed is planning to raise rates, which would in turn cause a huge spike in the dollar.
Market Open
As mentioned last night, the futures (I am normally watching the S&P futures, so when I say "futures" assume it is the S&P unless noted otherwise) and held into the market open. All of the international markets were up overnight and we had some positive economic news as well. October retail sales (a common barometer for the strength of the consumer) rose 1.4 % which was above the .8% analysts had forecast. All was not rosey however, as when you take out auto sales, retail sales were up only .2% which was half of the forecast. At least, unlike September,
Welcome!
Hi everyone and a special welcome to our newest members from the Las Vegas Summit. This is where I will be posting daily "plain talk" market commentary regarding economic reports, earnings or just general comments regarding what is happening in the markets that day.