Good Morning friends and Happy Monday!

I hope this note finds you all happy, healthy, rested and ready to kick off another week of trading.  We have a lot going on this week with earnings really ramping up and some the heavy hitters such as AAPL and AMZN reporting this week.  We also have FOMC minutes and the big employment report to deal with this week which truly makes anything possible.

Futures this morning are looking lower seeming to show disappointment in the president’s travel ban.  Weekends always seem to have an element of danger to them because you just never know what might happen while the market is closed.  This is a good example as to why I don’t like loading up on stocks on a Friday and favor taking profits and cleaning up the portfolio ahead of a weekend.

We have a couple report on the economic calendar this morning but personally, I doubt very much that they will really move the market very much unless they are a big surprise.  There are 68 companies reporting today so be mindful of that making sure you check reporting dates before making a purchase adding new risk.

Have an awesome day!

Trade Wisely,

Doug

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Good Morning friends and Happy Friday!

Why is Friday always happy?  Because that is the day we make an effort to put profits in the bank paying ourselves for the hard work of the week.   Never forget that part of successful trading is learning to take profits consistently.

Futures are basically flat this morning as we wait for a couple big economic numbers and earnings reports.  At 8:30 eastern we will get a reading and Durable Goods Orders and GDP.  I’m expecting both to be positive but you never know anything is possible.  I personally think these numbers will set the market tone for the day.  Fridays and mostly been up days with all the good feelings heading into the weekend.  However, you never want to count on that so make sure you are managing the positions you are in first.

As you know from time to time I will add new positions on a Friday but as a general rule, I lighten my risk heading into the weekend rather than add.  It all depends on the trade and the attitude of the overall market.

Please meet me in the RWO room right after the open so we can make some decisions on the MSFT position after the positive earnings and the morning gap up.  See you there!

Everyone have a fantastic weekend!

Trade Wisely,

Doug

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Good Morning traders, it’s Thursday and the market is still happy!

I always have a little worry in the back of my mind after a big breakout move that the market will reverse with a nasty head fake.  However, the positive energy we started yesterday translated around the world with all the major world markets getting on the bullish bandwagon.  This morning we have already seen some very good earnings reports that we can only hope will keep that warm and fuzzy feeling going for a follow through day.

We have the normal International trade and jobless claims numbers that come out at 8:30 eastern time and later in the morning we have housing sales but I my guess is they would have to surprise pretty badly to move the market.  There are 165 companies reporting today so make sure you are positioned correctly based on your risk tolerance for those reports.  I mostly will avoid an earnings report altogether.

I am bullish but I will try to avoid over bullishness until our new levels of market support are tested and hold with buyers reacting to those supports.  If we are so lucky to have that occur we could have great trading all the way into summer.  Only time will tell.

Have a fantastic day and remember to put some money in the bank as we head toward the end of the week.

Trade Wisely,

Doug

Click Here to Watch the Morning Video

Good Morning RWO!

The market made such a nice move up yesterday on the back of the new president’s decisions and it’s setup to power higher again this morning with futures pointing to a nice gap up. Dow 20K seems to be back in the cards and even higher.  Yesterday the QQQ made and all-time closing high and it is also showing more gains this morning.

Mortgage apps showed a surprise increase of 4% last month even the midst of rising rates.  Personally, I see that as very positive because the consumer is showing a level of confidence in the future that we haven’t seen for some time.  Let’s hope it’s not a flash in the pan and that we are seeing the beginning of a positive emergence of actual growth.  We will get a reading on the Oil status this morning.  A story out yesterday said OPEC’s efforts have started working to stabilize the sector.  Let’s hope we begin to that in the actual number of supply today.

For a couple weeks, I have been talking caution but I now think it’s time to lift some of that caution and perhaps be slightly more aggressive.  We still have the upper resistance to breakout and hold as support so we are not totally out of the woods just yet but I think the price action is suggesting a new wave of upside momentum could have begun yesterday.

I wish you all a productive and profitable day!

Trade Wisely,

Doug

Click Here to Watch the Morning Video