End of the Week - S&P 500's Daily & Weekly Charts:

http://day-trading-the-stock-market.blogspot.com/

First, let's take a look at last week's Daily Chart...Tuesday was the first price that set a new high on a closing basis...The big move up on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday was the market's reaction to the mid-term election on Tuesday, and hearing from the Fed that it would go ahead with $600 Billion Dollars worth of Quantitative Easing - Part II...

What "usually" happens after a big breakout to the upside out of a long standing Level of Resistance (the dotted blue line) is that the Index will quite often pull back to the blue line to re-test it, and then it can "possibly" become a Level of Support...One reason I called for a pullback last weekend was the candlesticks closed way above the upper Bollinger Band last Friday, and the rule about BBands is that candles cannot survive outside of them for more than a few days at a time...It's like a fish jumping up above the surface of a lake...It can't breath up there, and must return to it's normal environment to catch it's breath before it can jump again...Or not...



This week's Daily Chart shows that it did pull all the way back to the dotted blue line on last week's chart (at 1195.) during Friday's session...Why?...For many reasons...Most of the Economic Reports on this very light week for reports were mixed, and so were Earnings with the exception of a really poor report out of Cisco (Nasdaq-CSCO) that sent that Index tumbling late in the week...The "excitement" over the mid-term elections wasn't long lived because of the Gridlock in Congress we'll be experiencing for the next two years...Next, there was a huge amount of negative press related to QE2 out all week...Also, there was the negative reaction to the astronomical cost of the President's trip to India (plus a couple of thousand of his friends/advisors/security forces) on his way to Seoul, South Korea for the G20 meeting...

Then came the actual G20 meeting that didn't go very well for the USA on a number of issues...First, the President failed to get the Trade Agreement with South Korea he was hoping to sign before returning home...Second, was the backlash over QE2 from much of the world...And third, the failure of many G20 nations to support the USA's position of getting the Chinese to change their monetary policy...Plus, the big news of Friday was the fear of Inflation in China...

I'm starting to get the feeling that the previous week's action may have been what I like to call "The PUMP Before THE DUMP!"...As evidenced by: Insider Selling Hits All Time Record Of $4.5 Billion In Prior Week...

The $SPX has bounced UP off of the 15 Moving Average/Middle Bollinger Band four times in the past since the current rally began in late August (green arrows)...

The BIG QUESTION at this point in time is: Will it do it again, or NOT?...I'm beginning to think it WON'T this time, but that all depends on the News, Earnings, and Economic Reports that come out next week...But there appears to me to be a Paradigm Shift in the air, with problems with China and the EU cropping up again...Plus, all of the problems we face here at home...Only time will tell...



The Weekly Chart looks BAD for the first time since late August when the rally began...Take a gander at that UGLY/Bearish looking candlestick it formed this week...Many of the major pullbacks we've seen in recent years begin with a candlestick that looks like this...For example, the candle that formed at the end of April, which was much more Bearish looking because it was a Fully Engulfing candle over the previous week...Now notice that the Parabolic SAR showed up as Negative the following week, which was the first week of May...IF we see a negative SAR at the end of next week on this weekly chart, that would be VERY Bearish...The Index still hasn't given either of my primary Sell Signals YET, and that happens when the candle CLOSES below the 5 Moving Average at the end of the week, and the CCI drops below the +100 line at around the same time...



Here's a breakdown of how each of the nine major Sectors performed this week...Industrial Goods (-3.5%) and Financials (-3.8%) took a huge hit:


http://finviz.com/grp_image.ashx?bar_sector_w.png&rev=633755108690766250

Next week on the Economic Calendar is a BUSY one!...Retail Sales, the PPI, the CPI, Industrial Production, Housing Starts, and the Philly Fed Survey all have RED Stars, meaning these reports have the ability to MOVE the markets...Also of importance are the Treasury International Capital and the Housing Market Index on Tuesday, and Leading Indicators and Weekly Jobless Claims on Thursday...


http://online.barrons.com/public/page/barrons_econoday.html
(be sure to click on November 15th to get to next week's reports)

I don't usually comment on things of a "political" nature, unless they directly effect the market...But I'm going to make an exception here, and spout of some off my observations of recent events...It's called blowing off some STEAM!...

During the recent mid-term election, America spoke out quite CLEARLY that we are tired of our government "as is"..."Change you can believe in"???...I've seen LOTS of changes in the past two years, and have YET to see ANYTHING I can believe in...Quite to the contrary in fact...

The main concerns of the American people as expressed at the exit polls was JOBS, THE DECIFIT, and THE ECONOMY...Plus, massive government waste, government interference being forced down our throats (Obummer Care)...And what happens the very next day after the election is over?...Helicopter Ben takes off again to start throwing ANOTHER $600 BILLION DOLLARS out of the window, on a misguided mission to save our failing economy...

Then, the President takes a few thousand of his closest friends, advisors, and the huge assortment of security personnel and equipment necessary to insure everyone's safety on a week long trip to India (and a few other countries) on the way to the G20 meeting in South Korea...AT WHAT DAILY COST TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE???...All kinds of news reports give various numbers, the highest of which is $200 MILLION per DAY!...It probably wasn't really that much per day, but none the less, I'm sure it was very high...

So...The American people SPEAK that they are tired of massive government waste and spending, AND THE VERY NEXT DAY the Fed slaps them across the face with another huge bill future generations are stuck paying, and the President sticks his middle finger up at the American people with an extremely costly trip halfway around the world...I'm SURE he could have planned this trip MUCH more economically...But what else can you expect from the man who had THE MOST expensive inauguration in the entire History of the USA?...

This government is completely OUT OF CONTROL, and this will certainly show up in the Market in due course...I've been calling for a MAJOR pullback to happen for a while now...It's not of matter of "IF"...It's a matter of "WHEN"!!!...Our FIAT economy is built out of a house of cards, that is SURE to come crashing down...Sooner, rather than later...In my humble opinion...

Got SILVER?...Got GOLD?...Solar and/or Wind Power?...Your own water well with a manual backup pump?...At least a years worth of beans and bullets?...

Happy Trading! next week...
chartaholic
zigzagman
Tom
;0)

To read the articles I found most interesting this week, go to my Twitter page:
http://twitter.com/chartaholic

End of the Week - S&P 500's Daily & Weekly Charts:

http://stockmarketchartanalyst.blogspot.com/

The daily chart did exactly what everyone said it would do if the mid-term election went the way it did, and the Fed's QE2 number was above $500 Billion...Making money the second half of the week was too easy!...Friday's candlestick closed waaayyyyyy above the upper Bollinger Band, and the market may have to move sideways or downtick for a few days until the candles are back inside the upper BB...The exciting and market moving news from last week about the election and QE2 is over, plus it is a very light week for economic reports on the Economic Calendar, and also a light week for Earnings Reports...So what's the motivation for a strong move to the upside to continue?...Many times after a breakout above a big Resistance level, the market will drop back to test that level of Resistance, so a drop back to 1195. seems possible sometime during next week...



The weekly chart broke out to a new 52 week high on decent Volume...All of the indicators are Bullish, and even though it is VERY Overbought (and has been for weeks), that doesn't mean a whole lot...Because Stochastics is an over rated indicator when it reaches Overbought conditions, since it can remain that way for much longer than many people think it can...



The Economic Calendar for next week is VERY light...There is only one red starred report (a potential market mover), and only two gold stars, which means those reports have a chance to MOVE the markets...The big report due out next week is International Trade on Wednesday at 8:30am ET, and weekly Jobless Claims numbers at the same time...Friday's big report is Consumer Sentiment for the month of October, due out at 9:55am...

http://online.barrons.com/public/page/barrons_econoday.html
(Click on the "Consensus" button to see what the market is expecting for these reports)



Stocks go UP, while the Dollar CRASHES!...And Gold, Silver, and most of the other Commodities go up, Up, UP!!!...Is this what Helicopter Ben intended with all of his Quantitative Easing?...Hyperinflation of food, gas, and other basic necessities?...This is a very interesting article that explains how the rise in equities is not such a good thing after all:

Stocks Have Collapsed in 2010 - When Priced in Wheat

http://www.oftwominds.com/blognov10/stocks-quatloos11-10.html




Don't forget that Thursday is Veterans Day!...

Happy Trading next week!...
chartaholic
zigzagman
Tom

End of the Week - S&P 500's Daily & Weekly Charts:

http://stockmarketchartanalyst.blogspot.com/

This will be one of the most interesting weeks this Quarter! By the opening bell on Wednesday, we will know the outcome of the mid-term election for the US House and Senate. It will be interesting to know the new balance of power there, but the market may or may not react much because it has already baked that outcome in. It's clear that the Democrats will lose a number of seats in both houses of Congress. The most important task for them to complete before the end of the year will be to decide if the Bush Tax Cuts will be continued, eliminated, or some kind of compromise is made to extend some (or all) of them.

Also on Wednesday at 2:15pm ET, we will hear what the Fed is going to do in the way of Quantitative Easing - Part 2 (QE2). The amount of QE2 they decide upon will be critical to how the market reacts to it. Not enough, say under $500 Billion, and the market probably will react in a negative way. Too much, say over $1 Trillion, and the market may not like that either. Anywhere between $500 Billion to $750 Billion is what the market is hoping for. And to hear the details of how the Fed will go about it will also get some kind of reaction from the market.

We are still in the middle of third quarter Earnings Reporting season, and it is also a very busy week on the Economic Calendar. So how the market moves this week will be decided by the outcome of the mid-term election, what the Fed decides to do with QE2, and the reaction to all of the week's Earnings and Economic Reports.

The Daily Chart shows a lot of Volatility last week, but by the end of the week the Index only closed up by 0.18 Points, and only up 0.02% I've been mentioning the Bearish Divergences on the CCI, STO, and MACD Histogram for a few weeks now, and with diminishing Volume every day last week, and large downticks on these three indicators, it looks to me like the market is running out of steam. But...the market was in "wait and see" mode the entire week waiting to see the outcome of the mid-term election, and what the Fed will do about QE2 next Wednesday. Basically, the Index churned (or consolidated) in an uptrend all week, and that is quite often Bullish. A close above the closing price from the previous Friday (10/18/10) with a tall white candlestick with above average Volume would be a breakout into Blue Sky Territory, and would obviously be Bullish...So would be a close above the 200Day Moving Average on the Weekly Chart, that currently sits at 1194.20



The Weekly Chart appears to be running out of steam. Volume has diminished the past three weeks, and the CCI has downticked the past two weeks. It is still in very Overbought territory in the mid-90's, and the fast line of Stochastics is now below the slow line. And the MACD Histogram also downticked last week. The Doji candlestick that formed this week may very well be a reversal signal this time, since the intra-week high last Monday finally tagged the 200Day Moving Average early in the session, and then pulled back hard the rest of the day to form a Bearish Shooting Star candlestick on the Daily Chart (see the daily chart above). A close below the low of the week from last week would be confirmation that the Doji candlestick formed last week was indeed a reversal signal.



I see a possible Bearish Double-Top Chart Pattern developing on the Daily Chart:



IF there is to be a Pullback, the Fibonacci's 61.8% level on the Weekly Chart is 1136.88 but there are some minor levels of Support to break below before it can get down to there.



The Commitment Of Traders (COT) chart is showing Large & Institutional Traders have been moving to the Short Side for a while now. These kinds of traders are hardly ever wrong. It is the Small and Individual Traders that are usually behind the curve.



It is a very busy week for Earnings Reports and the Economic Calendar. There are too many S&P 500 companies reporting this week to name them all, but the most important Economic Reports due out this week are signified by gold and red stars. A gold star report has the potential to move the market a small amount, and a red star has the potential to move the market in a big way. One of the most important reports due out this week besides the FOMC Announcement on Wednesday at 2:15pm is the Employment Situation report for the month of October, which is due out on Friday an hour before the opening bell:

http://online.barrons.com/public/page/barrons_econoday.html



I posted a number of very interesting news articles last week. Too many to list all of them here. They are posted on my Twitter page. Many of these articles discuss how effective will QE2 be, plus there are a number of articles about the economy in general and more about the Foreclosure-Gate fiasco.

My Twitter Page:

http://twitter.com/chartaholic

Happy Trading! next week...
It should be an exciting one!...
Stay Nimble...It could go either way...
zigzagman/chartaholic

Update - Thursday's S&P 500 Daily Chart:

The post I put out Monday (see below) after the closing bell has been verified by today's weak economic reports. The economy is not recovering as well a we had hoped it would, and my Bearish stance is confirmed even more by today's data:

"U.S. stocks tumbled to their lowest close in nearly a month on Thursday as the latest batch of data amplified concerns the economy is stuck in neutral.

The selloff was broad, with five stocks falling for every one rising on the New York Stock Exchange. Sectors most sensitive to growth were hit hardest.

A report showing factory activity in the mid-Atlantic states contracted in August for the first time since July 2009 blind-sided investors, who had been expecting activity to increase. Earlier, the Labor Department said first-time claims for jobless benefits rose to a nine-month high."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SP-500-Nasdaq-fall-2-rb-40862475.html?x=0

Here is the post I made on Monday on my other blog after the closing bell...There are a few other charts of interest in that post:

http://stockmarketchartanalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/update-mondays-s-500-daily-chart.html

Don't forget that tomorrow is Options Expiration Friday...Unusual activity is the norm...

Stocks rise as investors sort through mixed earnings; Apple scores but Yahoo falls short.

Seth Sutel and Bernard Condon, AP Business Writers, On Tuesday July 20, 2010, 5:04 pm

NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors are trying to get a read on the economy using earnings reports. They're finding it's not so easy.

The result Tuesday was yet another erratic day of stock trading. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75 points after having fallen 140 in early trading in response to a series of disappointing revenue reports. Analysts were hard-pressed to come up with a reason for the turnaround. But trading was extremely light, and that tends to skew stock prices.

Analysts said some investors were getting a little more upbeat as they awaited earnings reports from Yahoo Inc. and Apple Inc. after the close. But those reports came in mixed, just like those from the many companies that have also reported second-quarter results. Apple's stock surged in after-hours trading, but Yahoo fell. Like IBM Corp., Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs Inc., its revenue fell short of expectations.

Investors have been quick to sell on even a whiff of bad news. Early Tuesday, they were motivated by the reports from IBM, J&J and Goldman. Investors have been focusing on revenue rather than bottom-line earnings because of the link between companies' sales and the economy. If revenue is down because consumers aren't spending, that's a sign that the economy could remain weak.

Investors seem to have decided as Tuesday wore on that earnings didn't look quite as bad as they first thought. Analysts noted that Goldman's drop in revenue was similar to those reported by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. Their revenue fell not because of a weak economy, but because their customers decided to avoid the financial markets' turbulence during the spring.

Some analysts said there were technical factors involved in the market's moves.

"Investors may have been anticipating the market heading back to early July lows so when it didn't fall apart in early trading, they slowly came back in," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial Group in Westport, Conn.

Those investors were looking at charts that track the movements of indicators including the Standard & Poor's 500. When the S&P reaches, or doesn't reach, a specific level, that can prompt investors to buy or sell.

It was hard to predict what turn trading might take Wednesday. Yahoo and Apple are considered indicators of the overall economy, but their mixed results weren't giving investors a clear-cut direction for stocks.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 75.53, or 0.7 percent, to 10,229.96. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 12.23, or 1.1 percent, to 1,083.48 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 24.26, or 1.1 percent, to 2,222.49.

Advancing stocks were ahead of losers by 4 to 1 on the NYSE, where volume came to an extremely light 1.1 biillion shares.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stocks-are-higher-on-mixed-apf-1741651426.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=

Britain Is the First To Choose Deflation:

http://day-trading-the-stock-market.blogspot.com/2010/06/britain-is-first-to-choose-deflation.html

by Rick Ackerman - Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Over the last three years, the Federal Reserve has conjured up trillions of dollars of funny money in an attempt to breathe some inflation back into the economy. The attempt has cleared failed...

Now, it would appear, Britain has become the first country to throw in the towel on fiscal and monetary black magic. In effect, the country has decided to let deflation take its course, allowing the chips to fall where they may. In the essay below, Cameron Fitzgerald, a frequent contributor to the Rick’s Picks forum, takes a close look at the decision and what it will mean not only for Britain, but the world. He concludes with a list that spells out what to expect, and the kind of pain we will experience as the world’s financial system comes very slowly back into balance in the years ahead. If his predictions are borne out, the standard of living is about to fall sharply for billions of people around the world.

David Cameron's new Government in England announced Tuesday that it will introduce austerity measures to begin paying down the estimated one trillion (U.S. value) in debts held by the British Government. Lets let that sink in for a moment, for it is a stunning announcement. Now repeat it: England will introduce austerity measures in order to eliminate the deficit and begin paying down the national debt. And that being said, we have just received the signal to an end to global stimulus measures -- one that puts a nail in the coffin of the debate on whether or not Britain would “print” her way out of the debt crisis. That would have virtually guaranteed an eventual hyperinflation that would have spread to all Western nations, destroying the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency in the process and ending several hundred years of Western economic dominance.

This is actually a celebratory moment although it will not feel like it for most. But wait. The U.S. did not say it would pay down its debts. And anyway, everyone knows that debt pile is too large to ever be repaid. They are wrong. And the U.S. does not need to send any particular message at this time anyway. The U.S. has been in a deflationary spiral since 2006, having discovered that nothing, not even oil flooding the Gulf, a nuclear North Korea threatening war, campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, nor threats that Israel might one day bomb Iran and shut down the oil pipe, can pump up energy prices enough to drive future inflation or save the economy the old-fashioned way. Not nearly enough to escape the gravity of the housing and asset collapse anyway.

Out of Ammo

We have run out of the ammo of cynicism and old-style politics. Debts will have to be paid. Creditor arrangements will be made, concessions granted, standards of living will decline and countries will be sent to the table to bargain in a cooperative effort to resolve credit imbalances. There will be horse-trades, payments out of key commodities and access granted where previously it has been denied. There will be recovery eventually and it is a better future than what a hyperinflation would bring us all. And yes, the bills will be settled. Time to rejoice.

To my way of thinking, the U.S. will not, cannot, resort to regular debt monetization, printing press economics or the eventual and guaranteed destruction of their currency, economy and way of life before attempting first to harness what appear to be insurmountable debts and obligations. Particularly if European nations and England (first among them) begin taking serious steps toward fiscal discipline and bringing in measures of restraint. Many will argue against my theory. They will all be wrong. And so the English have opted to go with the devil they know. They have chosen a path that means their economy will contract, perhaps significantly. Where unemployment will surge as public sector layoffs and the elimination of programs are required to harness the debt bomb are enacted and all spending is carefully scrutinized, fleshed away, even eliminated.

Minimal Safety Net

Everything could conceivably be on the chopping block short of core government services, social service spending, basic medical services, pensions and the safety net itself. The debt is just so big that nothing less than all the efforts of Government and the cooperation of the majority of the public in accepting restraint will allow it to work. But what does this mean in the wider picture when one of the leading members of the G8 has deliberately chosen the path that signals a deflationary trend? Possibly even bringing on a global depression as an outcome of that choice?

As I said, the English have chosen the devil they know, and that is economic contraction. The last serious bout they experienced on that front was of course during the 1930's and again following the Second World War, but over the years Britain has seen many recessions. Some were deep, and folks may recall the Maggie Thatcher days of fiscal restraint, elimination of public programs and a sell-off to the private sector of everything from coal mines to railways and airlines.

Hyperinflation ‘Devil’

The devil the British does not know is hyperinflation -- not up-front, ugly and in their faces, anyway, but only anecdotally from the experience of others. No major modern economy in the West has ever hyperinflated. The exception, Germany, did so only under duress brought on by destructive and debilitating reparations following the First World War. Nobody wants a repeat of that. So this is actually a relatibrly safe move from that standpoint.

Those other nasty outcomes are already too well-known from readings of the history books out of the Weimar Republic. A complete destruction of the currency there resulted from ill-conceived “fixes” followed by a total failure of the financial, investment, banking and insurance systems. Printing press solutions led to widespread public misery and hunger. Bond and debt defaults were manifest and eventually the worst insult was when the country was saddled by an inability to borrow and rebuild following its confidence crisis. Last came radicalism and political instability as the people demanded solutions to all their problems.

Social Collapse Possible

We know too that hyperinflation can lead to chaos and social disorder. Nor is social collapse out of the question under that scenario -- particularly with so many people dependent on our existing system, and as the population ages and becomes more dependent on fewer folks of working age. No Brit wants that either. No Brit Government could survive it. The debt must be paid and the burden of that pain will be shared by all. It is the right decision. But at a high cost.

I think it is worth it. The likes of Russia, India, Brazil and China have been working in concert to develop an alternative world reserve currency, buying up gold in earnest, ostensibly to back their claim with real wealth under IMF auspices and the terms of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). Success will give them the kind of collective bargaining power that until now has gone automatically to the U.S. because of the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency.

So, will we just sit back, punish our creditors through an inflationary default and thus hand them the power and influence to control a new and developing reserve currency; or will we defend our position, pay off our debts fairly (or by concessions) and retain the rights we hold dear? Let’s first ask ourselves the following question: Why must hyper-inflation be the only alternative to deflation? Answer: Because governments all over the globe have already tried stimulating their way out of the recent credit crisis and recession to little avail. They have attempted fruitlessly to generate even mild inflation despite huge stimulus efforts and pointless spending. All they have to show for it is massive additional debt and an unfolding currency time-bomb.

No Buying Our Way Out

Clearly, we cannot buy our way out our debt burden. It is that simple. It has been tried and it does not work. We cannot dig our way out of a hole either. So instead, consumption, the driver of our Western economies, remains sluggish at best, real estate is badly overpriced almost everywhere and personal indebtedness is strangling the middle classes while unemployment continues to rise and the tax burden and obligations grow by the day. It is an unsustainable exercise that will not end well. We now know it will not work, cannot work and won't likely be tried again in any significant way except by insane self-serving governments and those that have just run out of creative solutions. It is time to just pony up and pay the piper. This is simply the better (and only reasonable) solution to all the alternatives. But it will mean a long, slow and deliberate winding down until solvency is within reach. It will mean cities, states and counties will go bankrupt and not be rescued.

And it will be painful. Public spending will be cut. Consumption could decline precipitously. Unemployment numbers may skyrocket and bankruptcies will stun readers of daily blogs like this one. It will put the brakes on growth around the world. Oil prices will fall along with the prices of most other commodities. Gold could soar while food costs rise as a relative percentage of daily expenditures. The Dow will crash and there will be ripple effects across the European union and eventually the globe. Hardest hit will be major exporting nations like China and India who depend on Europe and the Americas for their bread and butter income. Aid programs to the Third world will be gutted, and I cannot yet imagine the consequences that will bring to the poorest people on earth.

Announcement ‘No Coincidence’

The significance of the decisions announced Tuesday will impact every nation on earth. And this is not happening in a vacuum, nor is the timing of the announcement just weeks prior to the G8 and G20 meetings coincidental. The statements made today are designed to lead and they will. The EU is also attempting to bring spending and fiscal controls to its member states. Greece is only the first to face the specter of a declining standard of living, much higher taxes and interest rates, controls imposed from outside its borders, and seriously reduced government spending. But the idea proposed now by the Cameron Government has real traction and will gain momentum. Britain is signing on voluntarily and has done so before, its back is to the wall and no good options other than strategic default. I applaud them.

And the idea will spread. But with a twist this time: Instead of protectionist stances between governments, there will be more free-trade arrangements implemented. Access to markets will open, not close. Canada itself is undertaking to establish a major trade agreement now with the European Union that would include among other things greater labor mobility and freedom from past employment barriers between the partners. Structural change is in the air too. It will also be in the interests of all nations to cooperate and not enter into conflicts or trade wars.

This Is the Big One

Anyone who thinks that the massive debts piled up by governments can be discharged easily while we go through a mild recession is flat-out wrong. This is the big one. Markets may respond positively at first, but then that sinking feeling will bring on some very bearish sentiments. This could well occur over the next few weeks. A major global economic contraction will without a doubt take the steam off almost all stocks as reality begins to set in. This is the expected outcome. It will come as a big surprise, though, to all who were certain that uncontrolled spending, stimulus and debt monetization would be the solution chosen by governments to satisfy the electorate. While spoiled and self absorbed, the electorate is not stupid. They will get on board with a solid plan if it is presented in a way that assures them their core interests are protected and offers hope and a better future.

A major reckoning is now a foregone conclusion. The word reset comes to mind -- and then a long, slow grind from the depths of debt insanity, followed perhaps by an agonizing return to prosperity and economic health. A decade may well be too optimistic a time frame to bring balance back to the old world and economies of the West. Let's get used to it. We are all in this one together.

So deflation it is. It will come to Canada eventually, too, so let’s start having a real debate about what that will look like and get familiar with the idea. We have already experienced stark restraint in this country in a program that was masterfully crafted by Jean Chretien and Paul Martin in the 1990's. Sanity was brought back to this country after three hard years of belt tightening. But this next phase will be a much more bitter pill to swallow. We need to look to our leadership to guide us through the crisis as it unfolds. The inflationist's camp can now leave the room because none of us can stand to hear their anguished cries, angry foot-stomping and teary, selfish objections. So pathetic.

What to Expect

Here is a very short list of what can be expected -- and trust me, this is a much more palatable list than the ones I have analyzed involving an unthinkable and devastating hyperinflation. So put away the placards and protest signs. We all need to get on board with paying down debt like any responsible citizen debtor would do. We owe big-time and this is but a taste of how it may cost us:

*Major employment reductions amongst those working in the public service
*Health care services that are rationed. Fewer nurses, health practitioners and support staff
*Larger class sizes in schools and large reductions in the number of teaching positions
*Reduced public pensions and benefits, including social service payments
*Interest rates that will gradually rise and eventually settle at around six percent
*Strikes, labor unrest and supply chain breakdowns
*Widespread unemployment affecting virtually every sector of the economy. None will be spared
*An expansion of public works programs, green initiatives
*Civil disobedience, arrests, targeting of threatening movements by security agencies and government
*Increasing taxation, particularly on the wealthy and buoyant businesses
*Shortages of all kinds and the loss of variety on store shelves
*An erosion in standards of living for most but particularly for those who are indebted
*Cutbacks in military spending, defense, coastal patrols and overseas engagements
*Cherished programs that Government usually support being completely eliminated
*Larger police forces, prison expansions and a judiciary that is strained to the breaking point
*Cities, states and counties denied bailouts, forcing them to bankrupt
*A reduction in services that protect the environment, animal rights and special interests
*Closures of universities
*The list could stretch on and on, but you get the picture.

It will be a very difficult and long-lasting correction that will purge waste and inefficiency from the system. Few will be happy, but the alternative is just too distressing to consider. The only thing that will give you true immunity in the mean time is a fat blanket of cash. Be sure to have some.


Be liquid. Pay off debts. Rejoice in your good decisions. And live free...

http://news.goldseek.com/RickAckerman/1276063200.php

VIDEO - Fundamental & Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's Daily & Weekly Charts:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/zigzagman/videos/19/

Here is the end of the week Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's daily and weekly charts, plus a look at the important Economic and Earnings Reports due out next week...

Happy Trading this week...
zigzagman

How China Holds the American Economy by the Balls:

By Scott Thill / AlterNet
May 3, 2010

http://www.alternet.org/story/146702/how_china_holds_the_american_economy_by_the_balls/?page=entire

America stays afloat selling billions of American dollars and Treasuries to our Chinese sugar daddy to keep our faltering consumer economy alive.

On May 1, China popped the cork on Expo 2010 in Shanghai, a months-long international celebration signifying the ascension of the city, and thereby its parent nation, as a global economic and cultural powerhouse. Meanwhile, in the United States, China's economic and cultural power has come under mounting fire.

Short-happy hedge funder Jim Chanos, who prophesied the fall of Enron, argued in April that the country's heated property market was on a "treadmill to hell." Foreign Policy followed suit by more or less blaming China's alleged currency manipulation, rather than America's own corporate and economic malfeasance, for exporting unemployment to the United States. Even our President Barack Obama jumped on the dogpile, expressing concern that China has not moved its currency to a "more market-oriented exchange rate," during an April meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington. His administration stopped short, however, of releasing an April 15 report to Congress expressing this disapproval in concrete terms, choosing instead to trot out the disgraced deregulationist Larry Summers to soothe the Chinese that such matters will be taken up at future gatherings.

For its part, China has responded to the finger-pointing by the United States with its own middle digit.

"We oppose the practice of finger-pointing among countries or strong-arm measures to force other countries to appreciate currencies," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in March, before restating his well-publicized 2009 worries that U.S. Treasuries are in trouble. "In the press conference last year, I said I was a bit concerned about it. This year, I make the same remark. I am still concerned. I hope the U.S. will take concrete measures to assure its investors."

Good luck with that, China. From resilient wage and unemployment stagnation to revelations of investment banks like Goldman Sachs selling "shitty" bundles of toxic mortgages to national and international suckers with one hand while clandestinely shorting them with the other, the United States is in no position to assure investors of anything. Which is why they've taken lately to crowing about China, rather than settling their own business at home. That business includes, of course, selling billions of American dollars and Treasuries to our Chinese sugar daddy to keep our faltering consumer economy alive.

"China holds about $820 billion U.S. dollars, and about $480 billion is in U.S. Treasuries," Stefan Halper, senior fellow at the Cambridge Centre of International Studies and author of the new book The Beijing Consensus, told AlterNet by phone. "China would not take steps to decrease the value of the dollar, because that would decrease the value of its own holdings. China doesn't want to bring the dollar down or the U.S. economy down, but it is benefiting from American consumers, who buy its exports. which represents about 60 percent of its economy per year."

Halper is firmly in the camp of those who are tagging China as a currency manipulator. In The Beijing Consensus, he argues that the rising 21st century superpower is suppressing the yuan, exporting unemployment and even standing in the way of America's lagging recovery from the global recession. In the process, Halper writes, China is also exporting its overall philosophy of economics and governance at the expense, pardon the pun, of our own.

"Beyond everything else that China sells to the world, it functions as the world's largest billboard for the new alternative of 'going capitalist and staying autocratic,'" Halper explains in The Beijing Consensus. "Beijing has provided the world's most compelling, high-speed demonstration of how to liberalize economically without surrendering to liberal politics."

Of course, he admitted, China couldn't have done it alone. America was more than happy, drunk on deregulation and war, to dig its own grave.

"The disastrous involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan have just depreciated the American story and the American example," Halper told AlterNet. "You can look at the Pew data: There has been rising disapproval of the U.S. since Bush put us into those two wars. Plus, the Washington Consensus proved not to be a good form of Third World development, which opened the door to Chinese offers of low-interest loans and non-interference. So yeah, we've done things poorly. We've had a recession, and an inability to regulate our markets. We're certainly not perfect."

That's probably the understatement of the new millennium. Viewed through that prism, the argument that our preeminent funder is somehow partially responsible for our own extensive economic troubles is disingenuous, even if esteemed economists like Paul Krugman have been sipping the blame-China Kool-Aid. What's gets lost in the financial wonkery -- or wankery, if you will -- is the fact that, through our own corruption and greed, we have willingly pushed nations into the arms of China rather than earn their trust. Through the misguided Washington Consensus, we and others tried and succeeded at establishing a rapacious list of interventionist measures -- concretized as "stabilize, privatize, and liberalize" by Harvard professor of international political economy Dani Rodrik -- since the 1990s that has ultimately culminated in our current lunacy. To argue at this late stage of the game that China is partially to blame for this is playing the kind of crappy defense that loses championships in pro sports. It shows, above all, that we have no game.

"China will make decisions in its own interests, just as the U.S. does," Rachel Ziemba, senior analyst for China and oil-exploring countries at Roubini Global Economics, told AlterNet. "It's actually in China's interest in the mid-term to have a more flexible exchange rate as it increases their monetary policy autonomy and could boost domestic purchasing power, helping domestic consumption. It also could help control domestic inflation. But domestic dictates, not U.S. pressure, will determine Chinese policy moves in this area. Chinese authorities are balancing different economic pressures, and an appreciation of the currency would increase the price of Chinese exports."

Like Halper, Krugman and more, Ziemba thinks that China is indeed a currency manipulator. "The pace of foreign-exchange reserve accumulation implies that the Chinese central bank is intervening heavily in the foreign-exchange market, implying that, yes, it is manipulating its currency."

In that, it's not very different than anyone else playing the currency game, including the United States. Except that it's deftly playing the pegging game -- to the dollar, then to a managed float in 2005, then back again to the dollar during the crisis -- for the benefit of its nation, rather than a select few banks, funds and other entities. It's in it to win it. For everyone, depending on who you ask.

"The bulk of China's foreign exchange reserves are recycled into dollar-based assets, which helps fund the massive U.S. savings shortfall," Morgan Stanley Asia's Stephen Roach wrote in a Council on Foreign Relations roundup called "Is China a Currency Manipulator?" "Who might deficit-prone Washington turn to if it shuts off the Chinese funding spigot? At a minimum, reduced buying by America's largest foreign lender would spell sharp downward pressures on the dollar and/or higher long-term U.S. interest rates -- developments that could well trigger the dreaded double dip in the U.S. economy."

In other words, China is keeping its eye on the prize -- its own economic and political survival -- while the rest of the world, from the United States to the European Union treads water. And why not? A modest accounting argues that China's economy expanded at over 10 percent in the first quarter of 2010. Meanwhile, U.S. real gross domestic product probably grew around 3 percent in the same period.

"We believe consumer spending is being buoyed by a variety factors that will not be maintained over the long term," Ethan Harris, chief North American economist for Merrill Lynch, told MarketWatch in late April. "Even with the recovery in net worth, households have essentially lost 15 years of saving."

"Many countries have imbalanced economic systems," Ziemba told AlterNet. "China's economy has low external debt, which is a big plus, but the contingent liabilities of the government have increased as bank loans have increased. Yet with deposits having climbed as much as loans, China's banking system is well capitalized."

In the final analysis, complaints about China's financial practices should be properly contextualized, especially when those lodging the complaints have done more to disrupt global financial practices than anyone else. Perhaps when those complainers have settled their own accounts -- with vampire squids like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase, or the print-happy Federal Reserve Bank, or the Supreme Court that recently ruled that corporations possess the same rights as people -- then their whining about China's currency manipulation should be taken a bit more seriously. But not sooner.

"To the question of American excess and inability to regulate our financial markets, you're right," agreed Halper. "We have fallen down on that, and the Chinese have taken the opportunity to extol their model. But you've got compare China over time. What you see is two things: A rising middle class with a strong commercial material culture, and a highly repressive iron hand on the part of the central government. And that really is the most fascinating thing we see today. It's not classical communism. It's in business to perpetuate its own power, and we have to come to grips with it."

Sure, no problem. But only after we come to grips with the business of perpetuating our own power first. Change begins, after all, at home.

VIDEO - Fundamental & Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's Daily & Weekly Charts:

Here is the end of the week Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's daily and weekly charts, plus a look at the important Economic and Earnings Reports due out next week...

Happy Trading...
zigzagman

The $SPX Daily Chart had a Major breakdown today...

Today's selloff of the overall market was pretty severe...Today's bad news was about Portugal and Greece getting their credit ratings slashed by Standard and Poors...Plus a GS executive is being grilled by a Senate subcommittee...He's denying all wrong doing...

The $SPX closed below the middle BBand today and took out the previous level of support it had two Fridays ago when the news the SEC was accusing GS of fraud...I see the $SPX heading to the lower BBand at 1168 now...Closing below the intraday low set on the 19th is a breakdown of a double-top chart pattern...

Today it closed below the 15MA for the first time in since mid-February...That's very Bearish IMO...The CCI dropped below zero today, and STO is dropping hard and may blast down thru 50 if we see two more down days in a row...The MACD looks Bearish...Volume was very high on the selloff today...

Tomorrow should be another down day according to the shape of today's candlestick...The $SPX closed only two points above the intraday low...The canldestick is very tall and solid red...Expect a smaller red candle tomorrow, a smaller one the next day, maybe a hammer or a doji the following day...

If this was a stock, that's how it would usually go...Since it is an Index, it's a bit harder to predict what it will do over the next few days because of the massive amount of news it gets every week...There's lots of Earnings and Economic Reports to come out this week...

Overall, this chart just turned very Bearish in only one day...See what bad news can do?...

US HOT STOCKS: Hertz, Thomas Weisel, Whirlpool, Goldman, Citi:

U.S. stocks were mixed Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24 points to 11228, but the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.3 points to 1216 and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 2.1 points to 2528. Among the companies whose shares are actively trading in the session are Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (HTZ), Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc. (TWPG) and Whirlpool Corp. (WHR).

Car-rental company Hertz ($15.13, +$2.25, +17.43%) plans to acquire rival Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. (DTG, $42.32, +$3.47, +8.93%) for $1.27 billion in cash and stock, giving Hertz a larger foothold in the leisure-rental market when its core business-travel operation remains in the doldrums. Avis Budget Group Inc. (CAR, $16.62, +$1.95, +13.29%) also traded higher.

Stifel Financial Corp. (SF, $53.28, -$2.46, -4.41%) and Thomas Weisel ($7.18, +$2.82, +64.68%) agreed to merge. Each Thomas Weisel share will be exchanged for 0.1364 shares of Stifel stock in a deal valued at over $300 million.

Whirlpool's ($117.64, +$15.42, +15.09%) first-quarter earnings more than doubled, smashing analysts' estimates, as revenue surged and margins increased amid an improving global economy. The appliance maker also raised its 2010 earnings outlook.

Financial stocks slid Monday as proposed regulation from Senate Democrats about sweeping new rules for the derivatives market would likely hurt revenue at most big banks, though many investors think there is little chance of the measure passing in such a stringent form. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS, $152.52, -$4.88, -3.10%), Morgan Stanley (MS, $31.14, -$0.80, -2.50%), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM, $43.99, -$0.95, -2.11%) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC, $18.29, -$0.14, -0.76%) all fell.

The Treasury Department said Monday it would sell up to 1.5 billion Citigroup Inc. (C, $4.69, -$0.18, -3.60%) shares, the first round of a plan to divest its entire 7.7 billion share stake in the bank holding company.

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT, $72.21, +$3.43, +4.99%) swung to a sharply higher-than-expected profit in the first quarter following prior-year restructuring charges, though sales fell and taxes rose. The heavy machinery maker also raised its 2010 forecast. Other machinery stocks also rose, with Deere & Co. (DE, $62.95, +$1.16, +1.88%), Terex Corp. (TEX, $28.44, +$0.70, +2.53%), Joy Global Inc. (JOYG, $63.88, +$2.43, +3.95%), Manitowoc Co. (MTW, $16.28, +$0.65, +4.16%) and Bucyrus International Inc. (BUCY, $70.94, +$2.57, +3.76%) all gaining.

Switch & Data Facilities Co. (SDXC, $19.61, +$1.91, +10.79%) said federal regulators raised no antitrust concerns about Equinix Inc.'s (EQIX, $102.12, +$6.38, +6.66%) purchase of the company. The two data-center providers expect the deal to close next Friday.

Digirad Corp. (DRAD, $2.62, +$0.56, +27.18%), which makes medical-imaging products, said it got clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market and distribute its ergo large field-of-view, general-purpose portable imaging system.

Mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc.'s (PMI, $6.27, -$0.36, -5.43%) first-quarter loss widened and was worse than analysts expected. In addition, its main mortgage insurance unit may have fallen below a minimum capital threshold. As a result, the unit may be required to stop selling new business in some states, the company said in a regulatory filing Monday.

[b]Other Stocks In Focus:[/b]

Biotechnology company AspenBio Pharma Inc. (APPY, $4.27, +$0.53, +14.17%) shares hit their highest level since January 2009 amid chatter that a partnership or takeover is in the works. AspenBio has been gaining lately as data from a pivotal trial on its blood-based diagnostic test for appendicitis is expected this quarter. ThinkEquity didn't dismiss the chatter, but said a partnership/takeover is more likely after the company gets further down the regulatory pathway. Based on its recent naming of a CEO with sales and marketing experience, it looks like APPY wants to be the one to commercialize the test, ThinkEquity said.

While medical-products company Baxter International Inc.'s (BAX, $47.81, -$1.51, -3.07%) shares have fallen 16% since its 2010 guidance cut last Thursday, JPMorgan thinks they'll be "range-bound" around this level because of lasting uncertainty about the plasma market. The firm lowered Baxter's rating to neutral from overweight. JPMorgan said management lowered the bar enough for 2010, but that isn't the concern. "The underlying issue is the lack of visibility on 2011, an absence of catalysts, and the likelihood that we won't have visibility until December at the earliest or more likely 1Q next year," it said.

BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BPAX, $2.19, +$0.05, +2.34%) said it entered into a deal which carries an option for "a major pharmaceutical company" to get a non-exclusive license to use BioSante's antibody technology.

BlackRock Inc.'s (BLK, $193.50, -$17.52, -8.30%) first-quarter earnings quintupled as the money-management firm continues its integration of Barclays Global Investors, which it bought late last year. However, the results missed analysts' estimates as the company has run into some trouble with the deal.

Jefferies International lowered British Sky Broadcasting (BSY, $38.07, -$0.92, -2.36%) to hold from buy ahead of the company's fiscal third quarter results, due Thursday, saying it expects "uninspiring" results with net adds below last year. At 18 times calenderized 2010 per-share earnings, the stock is up with events and fully valued, the firm said, adding it thinks the stock is likely to be influenced by the court decision expected imminently relating to a stay of execution on channel wholesale regulation. News Corp. (NWS, $18.64, +$0.14, +0.76%) which owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire, has a roughly 39% stake in BSkyB.

Pharmaceutical-research Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (CRL, $34.30, -$5.47, -13.75%) and Chinese drug-research contractor WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) (WX, $19.44, +$2.87, +17.32%) will merge in a $1.6 billion deal. Charles River also announced first-quarter earnings that slightly missed expectations, while revenue came in ahead of views.

CKE Restaurants Inc. (CKR, $12.37, -$0.48, -3.74%) said Saturday it has agreed to be sold to Apollo Management Group for $694 million, or $12.55 a share, after private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners declined to match Apollo's higher offer for the operator of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's fast-food chains. CKE shareholders will get $12.55 a share, but shares slipped Monday as it appeared there would be no bidding war.

Dendreon Corp. (DNDN, $41.99, +$1.89, +4.71%) gained after Brean Murray Carret raised its target price on the stock to $50 from $40. Analyst Jonathan Aschoff said the boost emphasizes his confidence Dendreon will get U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for Provenge, the drug company's prostate cancer candidate. Some of Brean Murray's peers are backing out of the stock at what Aschoff believes is "exactly the wrong time," he wrote.

Eagle Materials Inc.'s (EXP, $34.18, +$1.73, +5.33%) fiscal fourth-quarter profit declined 73% as sales fell and extended plant shutdowns increased operating costs. But results at the maker of concrete, cement and gypsum wallboard for buildings and infrastructure beat analysts' estimates.

BMO Capital Markets adjusted its ratings on several real-estate investment trusts ahead of first-quarter earnings reports. The firm said it believes "management teams are on the verge of becoming collectively more optimistic about the future, and we think this improvement in operating expectations could happen as soon as this coming earnings season." The firm boosted its ratings on Equity Residential (EQR, $45.26, +$0.66, +1.48%) and Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (MAA, $54.78, +$0.95, +1.76%) to outperform from market perform and Essex Property Trust Inc. (ESS, $105.98, +$1.99, +1.91%) to market perform from underperform, but it cut its ratings on Apartment Investment & Management Co. (AIV, $22.19, +$0.08, +0.36%) and Colonial Properties Trust (CL, $83.76, +$0.49, +0.59%) to underperform from market perform.

Oppenheimer downgraded regional bank First Midwest Bancorp (FMBI, $16.36, -$1.55, -8.63%) to perform from outperform, saying the stock was strong last week on much better-than-expected results. First Midwest also had an FDIC-assisted transaction last week in which it acquired the assets of a failed bank, and the firm said it is concerned investors might be disappointed with that news, as two other banks had multiple, larger deals.

Guess? Inc. (GES, $50.63, +$1.01, +2.04%) shares have more than doubled in the past year, but they may well rise another 25%, Barron's said. Sales could grow in the double digits this year, and profit margins are strikingly high. The apparel retailer is finding a new edge, updating its trademark jeans and peddling in-the-moment items like jeggings (jeans/leggings) for young women and embroidered, distressed t-shirts for men.

Credit Suisse turned indecisive, downgrading ITT Educational Services Inc. (ESI, $109.51, -$2.28, -2.04%) and DeVry Inc. (DV, $64.69, -$4.77, -6.87%) just two weeks after upgrading them as it says government draft policy on "gainful employment" regulation may not be so generous after all. Other for-profit education companies trading lower included Apollo Group Inc. (APOL, $62.59, -$0.94, -1.48%) and Corinthian Colleges Inc. (COCO, $17.27, -$0.62, -3.47%).

Lorillard Inc.'s (LO, $80.50, +$0.93, +1.17%) first-quarter profit jumped 26% as shipments at the tobacco company increased following prior-year disruptions.

Caris & Co. boosted its price target on Netflix Inc. (NFLX, $107.08, +$7.35, +7.37%) by 25% to $120, saying that the online video-rental company continues to post strong growth and has surpassed its price target for the fourth time this year. The firm said consensus expectations are moving up, but fiscal 2011 numbers still look too low.

Bernstein cut its rating on Nokia Corp. (NOK, $12.44, -$0.32, -2.51%) to market perform from outperform, saying the fate of the world's largest maker of mobile phones is now too dependent on the success of Symbian 3, the delayed revamp of its "smartphone" operating system. The broker also told clients that the first-quarter results showed that the improvement in gross margins witnessed since the second quarter of 2009 has been halted and said Nokia's guidance cut for the second quarter of 2010 shows that "this isn't a temporary weakness but a trend that will stop only with the next product portfolio refresh."

Shares of Office Depot Inc. (ODP, $9.01, +$0.56, +6.63%) traded sharply higher Monday after Credit Suisse upgraded its stock-investment rating on the office supplier, with the positive sentiment also boosting shares of OfficeMax Inc. (OMX, $17.48, +$0.85, +5.11%). Credit Suisse said in a note Monday that channel checks point to a modest but slow improvement in the first quarter at Office Depot. "This sector has not yet seen the pickup other retail sectors have shown," the firm said as it raised its rating on Office Depot to neutral from underperform.

Quaker Chemical Corp. (KWR, $35.53, +$2.26, +6.79%) continued on its bullish April, rising to a new all-time high after gaining by a third this month. Shares have nearly doubled over the past three months and the specialty chemicals maker will report its first-quarter results after the close Tuesday.

Global Hunter Securities cut its stock-investment rating on Perry Ellis International Inc. (PERY, $25.31, -$1.44, -5.38%) to neutral from buy based on valuation. The firm said that while it expects to see strong execution from operations due to gross margin expansion and cost controls, the apparel company's shares have exceeded its price target.

PrivateBancorp Inc. (PVTB, $15.04, -$2.03, -11.89%) swung to a first-quarter loss that was wider than analysts' estimates as provisions for loan losses quadrupled.

Private equity firm GTCR LLC said Monday it is acquiring security systems firm Protection One Inc. (PONE, $15.40, +$1.64, +11.92%) from a group including Quadrangle Group LLC and Monarch Capital Partners.

SPX Corp. (SPW, $69.97, +$3.07, +4.59%) was boosted to buy from neutral by Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts who said the diversified industrial company should see improvements to its businesses, particularly its flow and test measurement segments, while the industrial and thermal markets remain muted.

Thoratec Corp. (THOR, $35.07, +$0.72, +2.10%) agreed to sell its International Technidyne division, which makes a wide range of equipment for hemostasis management and point-of-care testing, to manufacturing company Danaher Corp. (DHR, $84.80, -$0.61, -0.71%) for at least $110 million.

Titan International Inc.'s (TWI, $12.05, +$0.58, +5.06%) first-quarter profit fell by 70% but at 6 cents a share was still twice the Street's consensus as revenue also slightly topped views as well. The maker of wheels and tires used for off-highway machinery, such as tractors, which said agriculture demand should remain strong in the second quarter. It also said mining looks bright and added it was increasing prices.

Travelzoo Inc. (TZOO, $19.00, +$2.50, +15.17%) reported first-quarter results better than the one analyst covering the stock expected. The company, which is paid by travel companies to advertise their offers, said the number of subscribers to its newsletter in North America and Europe jumped 25% from the previous year.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut bank holding company Trustmark Corp. (TRMK, $26.06, -$0.77, -2.87%) to market perform from outperform on valuation, saying the shares have been strong since its exit from TARP in December, and there's limited upside left to its 12-month target price. "We continue to like TRMK's strong core profitability," the firm said.

Tuesday Morning Corp. (TUES, $7.56, -$1.03, -11.99%) shares fell after the home decoration close-out retailer posted third-quarter earnings just shy of expectations. The shortfall comes two weeks after the company raised its full-year earnings guidance to reflect a bump-up in sales on improved traffic.

-By Dow Jones Newswires; write to hotstocks@dowjones.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100426-711600.html?mod=WSJ_Banking_middleHeadlines

The Sickening Abuse Of Power At The Heart of Wall Street:

Written by Simon Johnson
April 24, 2010 at 3:02 pm

http://baselinescenario.com/2010/04/24/the-sickening-abuse-of-power-at-the-heart-of-wall-street/

Here’s where we stand with regard to democratic discourse on the future our financial system: leading bankers will not come out to debate the issues in the open (despite being approached by reputable intermediaries after our polite challenge was issued) – sending instead their “astro turf” proxies to spread KGB-type disinformation.

Even Larry Summers, who has shifted publicly onto the side the angels (surprising and rather late, but welcome anyway), cannot – for whatever reason – bring himself to recognize the dangers inherent in our unstable and too-big-to-manage banks. Or perhaps he is just generating excuses that will justify not bringing the Brown-Kaufman amendment to the floor of Senate?

So let’s take it up a notch.

I strongly recommend that the responsible congressional committees request and require all assistant secretaries at the US Treasury (and other relevant political appointees over whom they have jurisdiction) to appear before them early next week.

The question will be simple: Please share your calendar of meetings this weekend, and provide us with a complete accounting of people with whom you met and conversed formally and informally.

The finance ministers and central bank governors of the world are in Washington this weekend for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund. As is usual, the world’s megabanks are also in town in force, organizing big meetings and small dinners.

Through these meetings dutifully troop US treasury officials, providing in-depth and off-the-record briefings to investors.

Banks such as JP Morgan Chase and the other top tier financial players thus peddle influence, leverage their access, and generally show off. They accumulate information from a host of official contacts and discern which way policymakers – their “good friends” – are leaning.

And what is the megabank whisper mill working on? Ignore the “economic research” papers these banks put out; that is pure pantomime for clients-to-be-duped-later. I’m talking about what they are telling the market – communicated in specific, personal conversations this weekend.

They are telling people that, based on their inside knowledge, Greece and potentially other eurozone countries will default on their debt. Perhaps they are telling the truth and perhaps they are lying. Most likely they are – as always – talking their book.

But the question is not the substance of their whisper campaign this weekend, it is the flow of information. Have they received material non-public information from US government officials? Show me the calendar of the top 10 treasury people involved, and then we can talk about whom to summon from the private sector to testify – under oath – about what they were told or not told.

There is no question that the megabanks derive great power and enormous profit from their web of official contacts. We should reflect carefully on whether such private flows of information between governments and “too big to fail” banks are entirely suitable in today’s unstable financial world.

Large global banks make money, in part, through nontransparent manipulation of information – this is the heart of the SEC charges against Goldman Sachs. But the problem is much broader: the Wall Street-Washington corridor is alive and well on its way to another crisis that will empower, enrich, and embolden insiders (public and private) while impoverishing the rest of us.

The big players on Wall Street are powerful like never before – and they use this power to press for information and favors from sympathetic (or scared) government officials. The big banks also appear hell-bent on abusing that power. One consequence will be further destabilizing global financial markets – watch carefully what happens to Greece, Portugal, Ireland, and Spain at the beginning of next week.

It is time for Congress to step in with a full investigation of the exact flow of information and advice between our major megabanks and key treasury officials. Start by asking tough questions about exactly who exchanged what kind of specific, material, market-moving information with whom this weekend in Washington.

AIG Gets Away With It:

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2010/04/aig-gets-away-with-it.html

Posted by Jesse at 10:09 AM
06 April 2010

Do you think the paper shredders and 'delete keys' were working overtime?

Do you think the Justice Department was highly motivated to nail the guy who could probably implicate the biggest of the TBTF banks and their enablers in the government?

Do you think the American President was just playing you when he said, "I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street."

Do you think Joe knows where a lot of the bodies are buried - on Wall Street and in London and Washington?

Do you think it pays to be a 'Friend of Lloyd' and a feeder source of campaign contributions to most of the Congress?

Do you think the people are just itching to vote out every incumbent in November?

Do you think the spineless lack of serious investigation and reform is setting the US up again for another, even bigger, fianncial scandal and crisis?

You might be right.

******************************************

No Criminal Charges Likely in AIG Collapse

By Armen Keteyian
CBS News
April 2, 2010 6:43 PM

CBS NEWS has learned that former AIG executive Joseph Cassano - the prime focus of the investigation into its collapse - will meet with Department of Justice attorneys next week in what will likely be an end to the two year criminal investigation into the company.

Sources tell CBS News that the criminal case against Cassano - once called "the Man who Crashed the World" - has "hit a brick wall" - meaning that it is likely no one will be held criminally liable for the downfall of the company that triggered a $182 billion dollar federal bailout.

Sources tell CBS News federal investigators have been unable to uncover any evidence that Cassano lied to his bosses or shareholders about financial problems at AIG.

In recent months, Cassano's lawyers - citing internal documents - argued that he never broke the law. Instead, he simply got caught up in a financial tsunami that engulfed Wall Street.

http://tiny.cc/ynryn

Posted by Jesse April 6, 2010
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2010/04/aig-gets-away-with-it.html

Senior SEC Employee Warns of Potential Municipal Bond Market Collapse:

Sunday, April 4, 2010
By Rick Bookstaber

http://rick.bookstaber.com/2010/04/municipal-market.html

This represents my personal opinion, not the views of the SEC or its staff.

My first blog post was in June, 2007. It was titled “What sorts of crises am I worried about now”. My answer was housing and credit. With the benefit of hindsight, this might be considered a no-brainer, although at the time it was not so clear where things would go.

Now as the dust settles from the crisis that emerged in 2008, we can start to think about what might come next. And yes, the crisis really is settling down, despite the alarmists who, thinking we were in a 1930’s style depression, pushed the panic button and stuffed their mattresses (or portfolios) with cash. For whatever reason, be it astute government intervention or the natural healing process, we are looking back at something along the lines of a bad, credit-driven recession.

I don’t think we will see a big crisis emerging for some time in banks, hedge funds or derivatives, mostly because, like with a knockout punch, the risks that matter don’t come from where you are looking. Unless the current push for legislation is a failure, which, of course, still remains to be seen, we will have steely eyes hovering over these sources of crisis. It will be awhile before the guards start dozing off at their posts.

So, where to look next. To see other potential sources of crisis, let’s first recount the lessons learned from this crisis:

1. Problems occur when things get leveraged and complex (and thus opaque).

2. If the problems occur in a very big market, especially in a very big market like housing that is tied to the credit markets, things can go systemic.

3. The notion that you can diversify by holding a geographically broad-based portfolio, (“there has never been a nation-wide housing recession”), works fine – until it doesn’t.

4. A portfolio that is apparently hedged can blow apart. So we have to look at the gross value of positions, even if they are thought to be hedged.

5. Don’t bet on ratings, because rating agencies are conflicted and might not be all too dependable at their job.

6. Defaults are never easy to manage, but it gets worse when there are a lot of them happening at the same time. It is harder to manage the mess, and there is less of a stigma in defaulting. And it is all the worse when, as is the case in the housing markets, those defaulting are not businessmen. As an added complication, with housing the revenue that we thought was there really wasn’t. Income that was supposed to be there to finance the mortgages – even when that income was fairly stated – became committed to other areas (like second mortgages). .

Well, guess where we have a market that is (1) leveraged and opaque, that is (2) very big and tied to the credit markets; and is (3) viewed by investors as being diversifiable by holding a geographically broad-based portfolio; with (4) huge portfolios where assets and liabilities are apparently matched; and with (5) questionable analysis by rating agencies; and where (6) there are many entities, entities that may not approach default with business-like dispatch, and that have already mortgaged sources of revenue that are thought to support their liabilities?

Answer: The municipal market.

Leverage and Opacity. Leverage in the municipal market comes from making future obligations to employees in order to pay them less now. This is borrowing in the form of high pension benefits and post-retirement health care, but borrowing nonetheless. Put another way, in taking lower pay today, the employees have lent money to the municipality, with that money to be repaid via their retirement benefits. The opaqueness comes from the methods of reporting. For example, municipalities are not held to the same standards as corporations in their disclosure.

Size and potential systemic effects. That this is a big market in the credit space goes without saying.

Diversification. Geographic diversification would give a lot more comfort for municipals if it hadn’t just failed for the housing market. Think of why housing breached the regional barriers. It was because similar methods of leveraging were being employed through the country. So the question to ask is: Are there common sorts of strategies being applied in municipalities across the nation?

Gross versus net exposure. The leverage for municipals is not easy to see. It might appear to be lower than it really is because many, including rating agencies, look at the unfunded portion of these liabilities. They ignore the fact that these promised payments are covered using risky portfolios. And not just risky -- the portfolio might apply hefty (a.k.a. unrealistic) actuarial assumptions of asset growth.

Rating agencies. In terms of the work of the rating agencies, here are two questions to ask. First, list the last time they did an on-site exam of the municipalities they are rating. Second, are they looking at the potential mismatch between assets and liabilities, or simply at the net – the under funded portion of the portfolio.

Defaults. Municipalities are not quite as numerous as homeowners, but there certainly are a lot of them. And they have the same issues as homeowners. Granted, they will not pour cement down the toilet before walking away. But they have a potentially equally irrational group – the local taxpayers – to deal with.

Oh, and just as homeowners took their income and locked it up via secondary loans, much of the tax base for municipalities is already mortgaged, through the sale of tax-related revenues streams like tolls and parking fees. Indeed, although general obligation bonds are considered the cream of the crop, they might just as well be regarded as the residual claim after anything with solid fee streams has been sold off.

Once a few municipalities default, there is a risk of a widespread cascade in defaults because the opprobrium will be lessened, all the more so if the defaults are spurred along by a taxpayer revolt – democracy at work.

VIDEO - Fundamental & Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's Daily & Weekly Charts:

Every Sunday evening, I post a video here and on a few other sites that shows the technical analysis of the $SPX daily and weekly charts. I also show the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite, and the Russell 2000 charts, and talk about what kinds of news, earnings reports, and economic reports to pay attention to in the coming week.

Happy Trading next week,
zigzagman

$SPX - End of the Week Chart & Fundamental Analysis

Here is the video I make every weekend that analyzes the daily and weekly charts of the S&P 500's ($SPX) daily and weekly charts. I also mention Fundamental Analysis items you need to be aware of in the coming week.

Happy Trading next week...
zigzagman

Is The United States Headed For A Commercial Real Estate Crash Of Unprecedented Magnitude?

Will commercial real estate be the next shoe to drop in the ongoing U.S. financial crisis? While most eyes are on the continuing residential real estate disaster, the reality is that the state of the commercial real estate market in America could soon be even worse. Very few financial pundits are talking about this looming disaster but they should be. The truth is that U.S. commercial property values are down approximately 40 percent since the peak in 2007 and currently approximately 18 percent of all office space in the United States is now sitting vacant. That qualifies as a complete and total mess, but the reality is that the commercial real estate crisis is just starting.

In fact, the commercial real estate market is likely to get a whole lot worse. It is being projected that the largest commercial real estate loan losses will be experienced in 2011 and the years following. Some analysts are estimating that losses from commercial real estate at U.S. banks alone could reach as high as 200 to 300 billion dollars. To get an idea of how rapidly the commercial real estate market is unraveling, just check out the chart below....



Does that look like things are getting better to you?

And unfortunately, all indications are that the commercial real estate market is going to get much worse.

According to Real Capital Analytics, the default rate for commercial property mortgages held by all U.S. banks more than doubled in the fourth quarter of 2009 and may reach a peak of 5.4 percent by the end of 2011.

But even that estimate may be way too conservative as we shall see in a moment.

According to a recent report by the Congressional Oversight Panel, approximately 3,000 U.S. banks are currently classified as having a risky concentration of commercial real estate loans. All of them are small to mid-size banks which have been already severely weakened by the recent financial crisis.

So could the crisis in the commercial real estate market lead to a massive wave of failures among small and mid-size banks?

Count on it.

In fact, the FDIC has acknowledged that the number of banks on its "problem" list climbed to 702 at the end of 2009. To get an idea of just how bad that is, keep in mind that only 552 banks that were on the problem list at the end of September 2009, and only 252 banks that were on the problem list at the end of 2008.

Are you starting to get the picture?

So how are banks responding to this commercial real estate quagmire?

They are rapidly raising loan standards and they are dramatically reducing the number of loans they are making.

Just a few years ago, the number of commercial real estate loans was exploding, but now the bubble has burst, and as the chart below reveals, commercial real estate lending has absolutely fallen off the map....



What is making things even worse is that owners of commercial real estate are starting to walk away from properties that are heavily "underwater" just as many residential homeowners have been doing. This has caused default rates to start shooting through the roof.

One of the latest and most high profile commercial property owners to do this is Vornado Realty Trust. Earlier this month Vornado indicated that it would walk away from two heavily underwater loans totaling $235 million.

In the past commercial property owners would be very hesitant to do such a thing, but the reality is that the stigma has faded for these kind of "strategic defaults". Just as with residential real estate, these kinds of defaults have almost become accepted practice now.

The number of defaults is likely to skyrocket even further with so many commercial real estate loans scheduled to rollover in the next few years.

You see, commercial real estate properties typically carry mortgages with lives of 5 to 10 years. A vast array of commercial real estate loans made between 2000 and 2005 are coming up for a rollover, but because credit standards have tightened, borrowers may find that they simply do not qualify for refinancing.

In fact, a report entitled "Commercial Real Estate at the Precipice" estimates that even under lenient lending standards, approximately 57 percent of existing commercial real estate mortgages will not qualify for refinancing.

That is a nightmare.

But if you apply more conservative lending standards, it is estimated that almost two-thirds of all commercial real estate borrowers will not qualify for a rollover.

So what is going to happen to the U.S. commercial real estate market when large numbers of borrowers start walking away from their "underwater" loans and about half of those who want to rollover their loans don't qualify for refinancing?

What do you think that is going to do to commercial real estate prices?

Somebody better do something, because both the commercial and the residential real estate markets in the U.S. face a crisis of unprecedented magnitude.

But most Americans still have no idea that the great economic machine that their forefathers built is falling to pieces all around them. They would rather numb the pain by watching the latest episode of American Idol or by catching up on the latest round of celebrity gossip.

But that is not going to stop what is about to happen.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/is-the-united-states-headed-for-a-commercial-real-estate-crash-of-unprecedented-magnitude

Stocks to Watch for Feb. 26, 2010 - LEHMQ - WAMUQ - LTXC - SMSI - TRLG - CCE:

All of these stocks had unusually high volume, broke out to new highs, or got really interesting news out today:

LEHMQ - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.



WAMUQ - Washington Mutual Inc.



LTXC -LTX-Credence Corporation



SMSI - Smith Micro Software Inc.



TRLG - True Religion Apparel Inc.



CCE - Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.

Introduction to Time & Sales and Level 2 - Tools for Day Trading:

Day Traders use every tool at their disposal to help them decide when a good time to enter or exit a trade will be.

Time & Sales and Level 2 are two such tools. This video is a brief explanation of how these tools are used to determine if a stock or Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) will go up or down in the next few seconds.

These tools can not be used for Swing Trading or for day trades that last for hours when the market is trending strongly either up or down.

These tools do help when you are doing Scalping types of day trades. Scalping is when you enter a trade that will only last for a few minutes with a large block of shares. When the stock or ETF has moved up or down ten to fifty cents very quickly, that is a good time to exit the position to lock in your profits before the trend reverses.

When I do Scalping trades, I usually buy 1000 to 5000 shares. With 1000 shares, I'm looking for a move in the ten to thirty cent range in five to fifteen minutes. A ten cent move yields $100. and a thirty cent move yields $300.

When I trade 5000 shares, I'm looking for the stock to move five to twenty cents in five to fifteen minutes. A five cent move yields $250. and a twenty cent move yields $1000.

Sometimes I trade using 10,000 shares. Each penny the stock moves in the direction I want it to is worth $100. So if a stock moves ten cents, that yields $1000. usually in less than fifteen minutes.

These tools work better on some stocks or ETF than others. It is hard to use these tools on a stock or an ETF that trades 100 million shares each day. They work best on stocks that trade 5 to 25 million shares per day. The less daily volume a stock gets, the easier it is to see how these tools work.

While I can show you the basics of how these tools work, the only way you will get proficient at reading them is to study them for many hours each day over a period of a few years. If you would like to read more about Time & Sales and Level 2, here is a good article on the subject:

http://www.investopedia.com/Level 2

If you watch the three videos at the top of the Video Charts page of my website that show me doing real-time day trades while the market is open, you'll see that I mention these two tools and show how they work in action.

www.stock-market-lessons.com/videocharts.html



Happy Trading,
zigzagman

Day Trading the Stock Market:

There are two kinds of Day Trading:

The first is called Scalping, which entails entering very short term trades with a large amount of shares, hoping for a relatively small movement in the price. Most Scalping trades usually last no more than five or ten minutes, and can give you a few hundred dollars or more in net profits. These kinds of trades are usually done primarily using the one-minute chart, with help from the five-minute chart.

The other style of Day Trading can last much longer. This kind of Day Trade can last as long as an hour, or even a few hours if it goes very well. I will teach you when it's time to stay in a trade to maximize profits if the trade is going well. These kind of trades primarily use the five-minute chart, but I also use the fifteen-minute and the hourly charts too.

Day Trading is a very exciting and fast paced way to trade the Stock Market. It is also the fastest way to learn all about Charts and Technical Indicators in the shortest amount of time. Due to the extreme volatility we've seen in the market in 2008 - 2009, Day Trading is the safest and most profitable way to trade these days.

Day Trading requires a solid understanding of reading Candlestick Charts and just a few of the Technical Indicators that are included with them. The Technical Indicators will give you very clear Buy and Sell Signals many times a trading session. You must also know how to read Time & Sales and Level 2 windows. That is exactly what you will learn when you take these lessons.

Here is an example of a one and a half day chart of Akamai Technologies (AKAM),
which was my favorite stock to Day Trade in 2005-2006.



As you can see, it moves a dollar or more very quickly, and I'll teach you how to play these swings up and down so that you can profit either way it moves. On the chart below, you are not only limited to buying at the bottom and selling at the top. Once you sell at the top, you can immediately take a Short position and ride it to the bottom. Then you will Cover your Short position and immediately take a Long position and ride it back up to the top.



There are just a few Technical Indicators necessary for my Day Trading strategy to work. The Commodity Channel Index (CCI) gives very clear and accurate Buy and Sell Signals, and I use Stochastics (STO) to confirm them. Bollinger Bands are also very important in my strategy, and Volume is too. The last two Indicators I use are the 5 Simple Moving Average (5-SMA) and the 15 Simple Moving Average (15-SMA) which also give good Buy or Sell Signals.

The chart of TSO below shows how I setup my charts for Day Trading. I also use three extra Technical Indicators known as the Money Indicators. They basically show if there are more Buyers or Sellers. The dark green one at the top is Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), the yellow line is On Balance Volume (OBV), and the light blue one is the Accumulation/Distribution (A/D) line.

In order for my strategy to work, you don't really need to learn these three additional Technical Indicators. It works fine without them, but if you want to learn how to use them that's okay too. That is an advanced lesson I teach after you have mastered the CCI, Stochastics, Bollinger Bands, and the two Moving Averages.



These days I Day Trade the 2X ETF's for the most part. My favorites are SDS and SSO which are the UltraShort S&P500 ProShares, and the Ultra S&P500 ProShares on the Long side. A 2X ETF moves two points for every point the S&P500 moves, and that is an easier way to make more money in a shorter period of time. The charts of SSO and the S&P500 move in tandem and almost tick for tick since SSO is benchmarked to the $SPX chart. The chart for SDS move two ticks in the opposite direction from the $SPX chart.

As you can see in the chart below, SSO can move up one dollar very quickly. If you had bought 1000 shares at $24.80 you could have sold it fourteen minutes later at $25.80 for a gain of $1000.00 The CCI Buy and Sell Signals on this chart worked perfectly for this trade.

My net income from Day Trading exceeds $100,000. per year if I trade full-time, and I can teach you how to do this too! These days I just trade part-time. I begin my day before the opening bell, and I do two, three, or four trades before lunch time and then call it a day so I can go do something else.

Here is a screen shot from 2006 of a five day period of my Excel spread sheet that I do my daily accounting on after the closing bell rings. This was the year that I finally perfected my strategy, and my gains have improved dramatically since then. I had 13 winning trades for a total of $1786.27 and 5 losing trades of $523.04 for a total of $1263.23 in five sessions, which is a very good weekly income. Especially since I was usually done trading before lunchtime each day. Also notice that my losses were all around $100.00 except for the one that got away from me because it was moving so fast that by the time I sold it, it had cost me another $50.00 or five cents with 1K shares. This screen shot is too wide to fit onto this webpage, so click:

HERE (to view it in a new window)

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It's also a good idea to find stocks that mirror the movements of the Exchange it's traded on. That makes it much easier to anticipate the next move of any stock. AKAM is real good about moving in tandem with the Nasdaq Composite's charts most of the time like these charts show. As you can see, this two and a half day time frame shows that AKAM moved nearly tick for tick with the Nasdaq.

These days, one of my favorite stocks to trade is TSO because it mirrors the movements of the Dow Jones Industrial Average's chart. I took a Short position when TSO broke below $10.21 this day, and forty-five minutes later I Covered my Short position one dollar lower and made nearly $1000.00

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Day Trading doesn't rely as much on understanding the Fundamentals of a company you are trading like Swing Trading does. But you must keep up with the latest News Releases, and any recent Insider Buying or Selling. You must also know if any analysts that cover your favorite companies have given them an Upgrade or a Downgrade recently, or have changed their EPS estimates for the upcoming quarter or fiscal year. All of thing things can have an impact on the near-term movements of your favorite stocks.

An interesting time to Day Trade is when an Economic Report on the economy is released. This happens many times a week as this Economic Calendar shows: It very important to know what Economic Reports are to be released each day and at what time, especially when you Day Trade stocks that mirror the movements of the Nasdaq and the other indicies. That's because when one of these Economic Reports is released, the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P500 can move up or down a lot very quickly depending on how The Street views the Report. It's also important to learn which of these reports can have a bigger impact on the overall market when they are released. There is a lesson on this subject in these lessons.

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It's essential to always have a program on your TV like CNBC at all times while Day Trading. World events and news from a company that is a Dow component can have a dramatic effect on the movements of the Stock Market during the course of a day. Day Traders look for these kinds of opportunities.

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Learning that a Company has just received an Upgrade or Downgrade from the Wall Street Analysts that cover it, is a good reason for entering a Day Trade on that particular Stock. These kinds of trades playing Upgrades or Downgrades usually last all day, and can be played again the next day too.

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Reporting Season is another great time of year to Day Trade. It comes four times each year when SEC regulations require that every company reports their earnings for the quarter and/or their fiscal year. When a company beats (or misses) the analyst's expectations for earnings per share and revenue, the stock can have some interesting and sometimes extremely volatile moves in a very short period of time. Most companies do not report earnings while the market is open, so you must have charting software that will show the charts moving in real-time during the pre-market and after-hours sessions. I do not recommend that novice traders attempt to trade Earnings Reports in the extended-hours sessions. But if you are an experienced trader, I can show you how to play these Earnings Reports.

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As a rule, Day Trader's almost never hold a position overnight. Here is why I only Day Trade these days. Look at how the Dow dropped about 450 points in the last hours of this day's session. If you weren't watching the market all day, you would have been right back where it started at the low of the day at lunchtime. I like to ride it up going Long, and then go Short when the double-top chart pattern says to:

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Day Trading is my favorite style of trading. When I Day Trade, I have four charts up for the particular Stock I am trading in four different time frames, and a one minute chart for the Exchange it trades on.

It is necessary to have more than one monitor hooked up to your computer. I have four monitors on mine. I combine elements from the Scottrader and the Fidelity Active Trader Pro trading platforms. The Fidelity charts are the best I've ever found, but the Watch List and Time and Sales windows aren't as good as the one's Scottrader has. Here is what my four monitor trading setup looks like. Be sure to click on the image to enlarge it to full size, and scroll far to the right to see the whole thing:

CLICK HERE:

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If you don't have multiple monitors on your computer, here is the piece of hardware I have hooked up to mine that allows you to easily add two or three more monitors:

CLICK HERE:

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I will show you how to Day Trade any stock of your choice (if it meets certain criteria) successfully using only three charts, a Level 2 window, and a Time and Sales window. And on these three charts you will only need to have four Technical Indicators that are the cornerstone of my strategy.

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Here are links to my website. Be sure to visit the Video Charts page to view three sample videos that show actual Day Trades that I have done in real-time while the market is open. There are many videos below them that are all about Swing Trading, and you can learn a lot just by watching them.

HOME

DAY TRADE

SWING TRADE

MARKET DATA

VIDEO CHARTS

Here is a video of a couple of trades I did on SSO last year. This is just one of the 28 videos that you get when you order the series of lessons I offer on Day Trading. That's 18 hours of videos to study, and I'll be adding many more to the lessons this year.