S&P 500 MODEL TRADING PLANS for MON 01/13

Markets Getting Tightly Wound Up? Markets are getting tightly wound up in the wake of the much hyped geopolitical tensions from last week. While the tensions may not be declared gone, they surely are not at a level to impact the markets adversely. This, coupled with the retail positioning, could be tightly winding the markets (more…)

S&P 500 MODEL TRADING PLANS for THU 01/09

Lack of Potential Economic Bust does NOT Equal to an Economic Boost! De-escalation of potential geopolitical nightmares may be explained as driving the markets from crashing, but it can not really be explained for markets to make new highs! That is what is perplexing most market players in the wake of new market highs being (more…)

S&P 500 MODEL TRADING PLANS for WED 01/08

Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread The Iranian attacks on US bases in Iraq last evening lead the futures markets to nose dive with the S&P 500 futures dropping to below 3200 – only to spring right back up as soon as it became a bit clear that a bit cautious and prudent (more…)

S&P 500 MODEL TRADING PLANS for TUE 01/07

Geopolitical Headlines Not too Strong to Drive any Directional Moves, Yet On the lines of our caution to the bears to not jump the gun, the market action on Monday was anything but panicky, and could have trapped some bears. Nevertheless, this should NOT make the bulls beat their chests yet. The geopolitical fallout from (more…)

S&P 500 MODEL TRADING PLANS for MON 01/06

Key Inflection Points to be Tested this Week Friday’s US airstrikes killing the Iranian military general could be setting off an avalanche of geopolitical tensions, and triggering a potential bull trap in the markets. The chances for these tensions to escalate are higher than not, and it could add to the technical risks the markets (more…)

S&P 500 MODEL TRADING PLANS for FRI 01/03

Geopolitical Tensions Back on the Radar – Setting up a Bull Trap or Just a Blip? The overnight US airstrikes killing the Iranian military general could be setting off an avalanche of geopolitical tensions, and triggering a potential bull trap in the markets. The chances for these tensions to escalate are higher than not, and (more…)

S&P 500 MODEL TRADING PLANS for THU 01/02

The Last Hurrah of the Bulls or the Next Leg? Many professional and institutional traders may not be back in full strength until Monday. Whoever is back could be driving some wild spiky moves in either directions, so caution is warranted when jumping into positional trades on spikes up or down. Structurally, we are still (more…)

S&P 500 MODEL TRADING PLANS for TUE 12/31

Fireworks Ahead! Happy New Year’s Eve to everyone! Enjoy tonight’s fireworks – they sure are going to be followed by more fireworks in the markets in the coming days! Most professional and institutional traders are not in the markets until the New Year. Models indicate subdued trading to continue until normal liquidity and volumes return (more…)

S&P 500 MODEL TRADING PLANS for MON 12/30

Squaring off Positions Into the Year End  The volumes today and tomorrow are likely to be mainly driven by traders squaring off their positions into the year end. Most professional and institutional traders are not in the markets until the New Year. Models indicate subdued trading to continue until normal liquidity and volumes return post (more…)

S&P 500 MODEL TRADING PLANS for FRI 12/27

Thin Liquidity and Options Expiration Thinly liquid markets with volatility related expiration events (options expiration Friday) are known to lead to exaggerated or exasperatingly narrow moves in either direction to chop out weak hands/stops and it could be the theme for today’s price action. Models indicate the theme to continue until normal liquidity and volumes (more…)