Next Friday is Options Expiry. Looking at the Weekly charts of YM, ES, NQ & TF below, we can see that they closed the week at or just below resistance on higher volume, with Bollinger Bands widening, which suggests an upward continuation. In support of this suggestion, the Dow 30, Dow Transports, Dow Utilities, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all closed above their support levels that I mentioned in my post on January 10th.

If they break and hold above, they may make a run towards the upper Bollinger Bands on the charts below…each candle represents a one-month Options Expiry period…the current candle will close on January 20th. We'll see if they do break and hold above resistance, and how far they rally…alternatively, price may drop to the mid-Bollinger Band on either timeframe. Inasmuch as it's a short week, we may see daily opening gaps occurring from aggressive overnight trading with market makers running prices further up during market hours in order to reach such lofty targets.

Enjoy your long weekend!

http://strawberryblondesmarketsummary.blogspot.com/

My post of January 10th made reference to a 10-Day 30-Minute chartgrid of the YM, ES, NQ & TF. I mentioned that any repeated attempts to advance convincingly beyond last week's high will need to be accompanied by higher volumes. The updated chartgrid below shows, firstly, that the YM has not been able to sustain a breakout above that high, while the ES, NQ & TF advanced today after re-testing this level. Today's initial drop occurred on higher volumes, with the bounce on lower volumes. My prior comments still apply…I'd be looking for higher volumes on any sustained breakout to validate a bullish setup.

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The following graphs/charts (courtesy of www.Stockcharts.com) depict percentage gains and losses in the Major Indices and Sectors during several periods since the beginning of January 2011.

The first two charts show price action from January 3rd, 2011 to today's close. Prices topped in July of 2011 and bottomed in September. 

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That is my question of the day.

With Europe's GDP shrinking well below 2008 levels and Britain's trade balance declining below 2009 levels, is the U.S. really immune to the knock-off effects? Time will tell…

P.S. And, who's minding the store with U.S. politicians focused on the election this year rather than on fiscal and economic problems? The Fed can only do so much with monetary policy…

http://strawberryblondesmarketsummary.blogspot.com/