Trend Day

by Larry Levin

The market chose a direction and it chose it early: up. The Dow closed up 2.85% while the S&P notched a gain of 3%.

Although the overall gains were impressive, there were several times when the intraday market was dead. In fact, there were three separate periods when the market traded within such small ranges for greater than 60-minutes at a time, it made one wonder if the market was actually open. Given these periods of inactivity one should ask - how high was the volume during this massive advance? The answer is that it wasn't very high volume at all; it was lower overall and lower then the 10-day average. If this continues, a reversal may not find a great deal of opposition.

It was said that the rally was due to Lowe's raised earnings outlook and a bullish research note from Goldman Sachs that helped Bank of America close significantly higher.

Lowe's closed up $1.49/share (+8.1%) after we learned it LOST 22% in the first quarter. I guess "it could have been worse."



Previous Day's Trading Room Results:

Trade Date: 5/18/09

E-Mini S&P Trades*
(before fees and commissions):


1) VA buy @ 8:30am at 890.75 = +2.00 (1 lot)

2) OTF buy @ 11:00am at 896.50 = b/e (1 lot)

3) FT buy @ 12:20pm at 898.50 = +1.25 (1 lot)

4) OTF buy @ 1:20pm at 898.50 = -0.25 (1 lot)

5) Algorithm positions (2)...combined Secret's and Algo total...+6.00


Electronic (YM) Mini-Dow:

1) None today



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