The wild roller-coaster ride continued as the Dow opened higher but by the end of the session had given away all of its early gains and closed lower.  Early the market enjoyed a double dose of upbeat economic data from the Commerce Department. First, the government said new-home sales rose nearly 15% in April, rallying to the loftiest level in nearly a year as buyers rushed to capitalize on an expiring tax credit. In addition, new orders for durable goods rose by much more than expected last month, soaring to their highest level in 18 months.  Afternoon trading was rougher, with some media reports attributing the about-face to China’s hesitation to buy more European debt. The market failed to hold the 10,000 level by the close.

We remain cautiously bearish.  We think we will continue to trade in this 1045-1090 range on the SPX, until we get a clear break through either.  We have failed to break above 1090 several times in the past several sessions and each time the market has rolled over and headed to the 1050 level.  We are expecting a weak open tomorrow and we think we’ll test the 1045 support level early.  If that level fails to hold, we could see a rapid decline.  We’ll continue to position ourselves with puts until we see a solid move above 1090.

Weekly Economic Calendar:

Thursday

  • Weekly initial jobless claims will be released, followed by a second look at first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). Big Lots Inc. (BIG), Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ), Tiffany & Co. (TIF), Guess?, Inc. (GES), J. Crew Group Inc. (JCG), Novell Inc. (NOVL), and OmniVision Technologies Inc. (OVTI) are scheduled to report earnings.

Friday

  • Friday closes the week with April’s personal income and spending reports, the PCE core index for April, the Chicago Business Barometer for May, and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for May. There are currently no earnings reports scheduled for release on Friday.

New Trade Idea:

Buy Wells Fargo (WFC) June 29 Put @ $1.95 or Better:

Options 5.26

The financials gave up their leadership role today and WFC was under pressure the entire session.  Use $3.00 as a target and $0.80 as a mental stop loss.

Open Positions:

Sony (SNE) June 30 puts @ .90:

The stock is in a clear decline now and we should see a test of $30 before the weekend.  Continue to hold.  Use $1.80 as a target to the upside and $0.45 as a mental stop-loss.