The real news started after the close. It seems AMZN botched something and lost 6% in the after hours market. This shut down a nice 4% immediate jump in GOOG which ended up about 2% anyway. We have XOM reporting tomorrow before the open. Everyone will see how big oil is handling sub-$50 oil prices.
VIX keeps climbing and now its above 15, but VXST is still lower and the terms structure still marks bullish for the market. SKEW fell a bit. $TRIN was bullish - hitting lows around 0.5 today! But nothing matters... The SPX is just in a range. In fact it is creating a small ascending triangle that could last a while longer and bring the market lower a bit. I have mentioned previously, lots of commentators are saying the market is sideways until the US election is resolved. In fact, historically that is what generally occurs. Research says that following the election the market moves 5% on average in the next 30 days. That would be a big move and warrant a position with long puts or calls.
The RUT says this triangle will break lower as the important 1200 level was lost today after putting in a textbook double top recently. The whole picture looks pretty awesome for a trade setup, especially if the 1200 was retested and failed in the next few days. The MarketForecast is pointing distinctly at that possibility as it is oversold to the point it made a bullish cluster today! I suspect tomorrow we could see some bullishness.
Today, I rolled the 2130/2120 SPX put spread that was set to expire tomorrow out to the 31st for another 35 cent credit.
I also added another 2150/2160 call spread on the SPX for expiration tomorrow, because it was paying a decent credit on the rebound today. I pulled in $1.20 credit while at close it was only worth 30 cents already. This was another small position, but everything helps!
The Nov9 2060/2050 put spread is taking heat as VIX expands and the market flops lower. It is still far out of the money, so I am not taking action yet. However, I will buy puts if the market is not able to bounce from here and SPX breaks 2110.
I have a few call spreads lined up for November and December, but I need a tick up to get decent pricing on spreads above the all time highs.
