Today's Markets

Wal-Mart did well with the rebate checks as did Costco. Unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell as well -- although "the four-week average for people receiving benefits edged up to 3.086 million, the highest level since March 6, 2004". That means this week's drop is stands a decent chance of being a blip on the radar screen. S&P went ahead and cut Ambak's and MBIA's ratings to AA. Oil popped $5 dollars after ECD President Trichet said an interest rate was possible next month (I'll have more on this tomorrow).



The SPYs popped hard at the open. Notice the extremely strong bars along with the large volume spike right after 9AM. Prices cooled a bit, falling to the 20 minute SMA. Prices then continue to move higher until lunch when they traded sideways until 1PM. The fell down to the 50 minute SMA, then fell through far harder on a big volume spike. Also note prices fell to the 38.2% Fibonacci level. But they recovered and rallied into the close.



The QQQQs also spiked up hard at the opening of very strong volume. Prices moved sideways, trading in a very narrow range until 1PM. Then prices broke support and dropped printing two strong bars with a big volume spike. After that prices moved higher, and formed a consolidation pattern at the close.



The IWMs spiked up hard at the open on incredibly strong volume. They moved sideways until 11 AM, using the 10 and 20 SMA as support. Then we saw some volume come into the market moving prices higher. There was a big sell-off about 1:25 on high volume, but prices recovered and rallied into the end.