The Table Is Set For A Market Move

Unfortunately, it won’t happen today.

PRE-OPEN MARKET COMMENTS MONDAY – Friday’s PPI was “hotter” than expected and the PCE and hourly wages came in high a week earlier. The Fed and the ECB have been saying that inflation is persistent and they will continue to tighten. Tomorrow the CPI will be released and Wednesday the FOMC statement will be released.

This morning the S&P 500 is up 13 points before the open and it is recovering some of the losses from the last 30 minutes of trading Friday. Global markets were soft overnight.

There wasn’t any major news over the weekend and this is likely to be a very dull day. Traders will wait for the CPI Tuesday and then the FOMC statement Wednesday. Triple witching is Friday and that increases the chances that we will see a decent move one way or the other in the back half of the week.

Longer term swing traders should remain sidelined. If you sold OTM bullish put spreads, use the 100-day MA on SPY as your guide and hold the positions as long as it closes above it. Time decay should have been eating away at those positions and I would take some gains before the FOMC statement.

Day traders, we need volume. This is historically a very light volume time of year. The action the last 3 trading days was terrible and I am expecting similar today. Try to find stocks that are breaking through major technical levels on heavy volume. If you can find a couple of these stocks, they will be your best chance to make a little money today. Stacked candles of a single color with volume would be a sign of trend strength. If you see it, go with it, but don’t expect it. Reduce your trade count and trade size.

Support is at the 100-day MA and resistance is at $396 and $400.