Trading Plan for Nov. 3, 2010

Current Short Positions (stop-losses in parentheses): None

BIAS: 62% Long

Economic Reports Due Out (Times are EST): MBA Purchase Applications (7am), Challenger Job-Cut Report (7:30am), ADP Employment Report (8:15am), Factory Orders (10am), ISM Non-Manufacturing Index (10am), EIA Petroleum Status Report (10:30am), FOMC Meeting Announcement (2:15pm)

My Observations and What to Expect:

• Futures are up slightly – very little overnight price action. 
• Asian and European markets are seeing positive gains. 
• The market did break through the 200-week moving average, albeit by less than a half point, but the MA has acted as a major barrier to the market advancing further in this rally. 
• Volume recently hasn’t been overly strong. 
• Still failed to close above recent highs. But today, the market is currently poised to gap above those highs. 
• A break of recent highs should clear the way for the S&P to challenge the April highs.
• Today’s FOMC meeting will carry huge importance in defining the ultimate direction of the market session. Expect a lot of volatility. I’ll also be sure to post the FOMC Statement at 2:15pm. 
• Election mid-terms have seen bullish returns the last three times, and overall, mid-term election week, historically, tends to be very bullish.
• The bears should focus their efforts in just closing below the 10-day moving average and Monday’s lows. 

Actions I Will Be Taking:

• Stop-losses tightened in SSO and JACK. 
• Added two new positions yesterday: JACK & GHL.
• Stopped out of BAC yesterday. 
• Should the market break the recent highs, may be encouraged to add another 1-2 positions to the portfolio. 
• Not hedged going into the open.
• Follow me in the SharePlanner Chat-Room today for all my live trades, including my day-trades.