From the Trading Desk

Stocks Fall despite Bin Laden’s Assination

News spread quickly Sunday night regarding the killing of Bin Laden. Stock market futures immediately jumped on the news vaulting nearly one percent. It appeared as if the market was going to rally hard, but by the end of the day the market was a far cry from its highs. Economic news was better than expected where construction spending jumped month over month. The ISM manufacturing survey was better than expected, but fell below March’s level. Eleven o’clock tends to be the point in time where highs and lows are set and today’s was no different. Buyers were able to save the market from a freefall just after noon time. However, buyers simply couldn’t keep up and the market dropped to set new lows for the session. Today was the first blemish on the market whereby the market notched a stall day after nearly running straight up.
Over the next few days we’ll get a glimpse to see if this market can consolidate and push higher. Leadership stocks continue to act well overall, but many of them are very extended from proper buy points. Attention all day was away from stocks mainly and focused on the moves in the metals markets. While the financial news media focuses on precious metals, we’ll be focused on the leaders. Don’t get me wrong, precious metals and rare earths have the “fundamental” case. But, we our business is the stock market and we’ll make sure we keep on top of it.
Sentiment survey’s continue to be mixed where the AAII survey is showing something MUCH different than what the II survey is telling us. After today’s move it will be interesting to see if the number of bulls drop as this market moves along. Perhaps they will, a lower sentiment figure would certainly be helpful for our case. The caveat is whether or not this market can avoid stalling and distribution. But, falling sentiment with leaders in tact is a great sign for us. Remember, always make sure you understand what can take you down. Successful stock market trading relies on proper risk control meaning CUT YOUR LOSSES SHORT.
Best of luck to the rest of the week!

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