Will Friday bring our pullback to finish the week?
Thursday another mixed day, Nasdaq Composite along with the S&P 500 closed red on the day. The Dow held up for the sixth consecutive day of gains. Volume still showing improvement for the past 4 days, leaving a distribution day on the Nasdaq and NYSE. A very weak open was quickly shrugged off and bought throughout the day across the markets to close near the highs. The Dow has a busy Friday morning with earnings, so there is likely to be many opportunities there. Crude fell on the day down $1.30 at $61.83, giving a nice drop with May contract expiring Friday. Gold also down today to close at $688.30 -5.00.
Friday is our equities expiration, the last 8 of 10 on the Dow have been up days. Given the Dow’s climb over the week and the fact that we have four Dow components reporting pre market. This could be a fireworks day and more active than a normal expiration day. We have stayed in a fairly tight range with a lot of variation on who was leading this bull race. Upside from here is going to need a boost in volume and a reason to move. Earnings have been overall positive and the growth very inline. We are seeing some guidance that shows some possible slowing in the quarter to come.
Out of the gate we may see some strength, then things should quiet down. With no economic data and only a Fed Governor mid day the volatility is likely to drop off mid day. Late day we should see some final position settling and heavier volume. That does not mean the range will be wide, but volume may play tug of war to keep the range minimized.
Economic Data for Week of April 16 – 20 Friday 12:00 Treasury Secretary Paulson Speaks, 12:15 Fed Governor Mishkin Speaks.
Some earnings for the week: Friday pre market CAT, HON, MAN, MCD, PFE, SAP, SLB, WL, WIT, XRX and nothing of interest after the bell. Keep in mind companies can change days and times of reporting last minute so you should check always if you are holding something reporting.
INDU (Dow) closed +4.79 at 12808.63. Support: 12783.50, 12694.69, 12615.50, 12579.70, 12493.20, 12462.64 50dma. Resistance: 12814, 13028.80. Daily chart below
Lets finish the week and put a bow on the Dow for a great performance.
