Category Archives: Daily Market Update

Daily Market Update – March 16, 2016 (Close)

Once again, the previous day did nothing to get 2016 closer to the breakeven point, but at least it didn’t push things further out of reach.

By the looks of the futures this morning, we might yet get to say the same thing, except that at 2 PM there was a scheduled big event and then maybe an even bigger one beginning about 30 minutes later.

Those would be the FOMC Statement release and Janet Yellen’s press conference, respectively.

What the market did yesterday was to dispense with the customary pre-FOMC rally, as stocks again followed oil.

First lower, but then recovering from a triple point loss to end with another visit to the baseline.

Today, it may just be a case of “wait and see” as no one really put themselves out on the line in advance of today’s events.

That was definitely the case as oil was sharply higher early in the morning before stocks opened and stocks decided not to play along.

I certainly didn’t feel like adding any risk with what could be a very big unknown, even as most expect no change in policy.

Sometimes, it’s not the change that makes the difference.

Often it’s the nuance contained in the FOMC Statement and when there also happens to be a press conference, any single word can cause gyrations.

Unfortunately, those surprises that may come are not only unpredictable in their own rights, but the reactions are equally unpredictable and subject to multiple reversals.

Today, as expected, there was no increase in rates, but what may have come as a surprise was the news that there would likely be fewer than originally expected increases for the year.

The market interpreted that positively, without thinking that means that the economy isn’t growing as had been expected.

I look at that as bad news. Maybe at some point so will others.

At the moment, I just hope to be in a somewhat better position to get some rollovers of the 2 positions expiring this week and perhaps adding to the dividend income for the week.

So, that’s not asking for much, but the market hasn’t given too much lately, anyway, leaving expectations low.

Lately Janet Yellen hasn’t sent markets higher, but I expected that she might have been able to help things out today, especially if the net result of the initial reactions to the FOMC Statement were negative. She does have a way of mollifying what could be perceived as bad news.

Instead, she neither helped nor hurt, although maybe on a net basis she helped, except that the DJIA actually closed 2 points lower than when she started speaking, despite having spiked an additional 50 points beyond the close during the beginning of her question and answer session

At least it was nice to think about something other than oil for a change

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Daily Market Update – March 16, 2016 (7:30 AM)

Once again, the previous day did nothing to get 2016 closer to the breakeven point, but at least it didn’t push things further out of reach.

By the looks of the futures this morning, we might yet get to say the same thing, except that at 2 PM there’s a big event and then maybe an even bigger one beginning about 30 minutes later.

Those would be the FOMC Statement release and Janet Yellen’s press conference, respectively.

What the market did yesterday was to dispense with the customary pre-FOMC rally, as stocks again followed oil.

First lower, but then recovering from a triple point loss to end with another visit to the baseline.

Today, it may just be a case of “wait and see” as no one really put themselves out on the line in advance of today’s events.

I certainly didn’t feel like adding any risk with what could be a very big unknown, even as most expect no change in policy.

Sometimes, it’s not the change that makes the difference.

Often it’s the nuance contained in the FOMC Statement and when there also happens to be a press conference, any single word can cause gyrations.

Unfortunately, those surprises that may come are not only unpredictable in their own rights, but the reactions are equally unpredictable and subject to multiple reversals.

At the moment, I just hope to be in a somewhat better position to get some rollovers of the 2 positions expiring this week and perhaps adding to the dividend income for the week.

So, that’s not asking for much, but the market hasn’t given too much lately, anyway, leaving expectations low.

lately Janet Yellen hasn’t sent markets higher, but i expect that she may be able to help things out today, especially if the net result of the initial reactions to the FOMC Statement are negative. She does have a way of mollifying what could be perceived as bad news.

In the event that those initial reactions are ebullient, she may serve us well by putting a little damper on any unrestrained fervor.

At least it might be nice to think about something other than oil for a change

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Daily Market Update – March 15, 2016 (Close)

Yesterday did nothing to get 2016 closer to the breakeven point, but at least it didn’t push things further out of reach.

Today turned out to be no different, as the market recovered from a 100 point decline in the first hour to close the day flat once again.

What was newsworthy yesterday was that with a lack of any news and while oil went lower on the idea that Iran would not be party to any production cuts, stocks didn’t follow oil sharply lower.

But this morning, as had been the case over the past 4 weeks or so, any notion that stocks and oil may be parting ways, has failed to be the case just a day later.

Oil was down sharply this morning as were the stock futures. as oil recovered, so too did stocks, so such much for yesterday being the start of a divergence.

For more than a year, though, the day before an FOMC Statement release has generally been seen a strong move higher. For the most part the same has been the case in the hours following the statement release.

While this morning looked like it may not make a break with oil,  it did look like it may make a break with its FOMC pattern as the futures were down somewhat.

Not really sharply, but close enough to a triple digit move to know that it could easily be possible as the opening bell gets ready to ring.

By the day’s close there was no pre-FOMC rally as we had become accustomed to seeing.

Expectations are not for a rate hike announcement tomorrow, but the FOMC has surprised before, even as most others weren’t able to discern the data that would have led to such a decision.

Most expect that such an action won’t occur until June. The market would likely not respond well to an interest rate increase announcement today, although it probably should greet such news as being good news.

Even if the unthinkable does happen tomorrow and the expected ensues, I think that cooler heads would prevail and see the opportunity to re-enter on what may be the next ground floor.

With a little bit of money in hand, i wouldn’t mind adding some new positions this week, but the uncertainty of the week’s FOMC meeting makes it a little more difficult to justify parting with cash.

I would much rather see some opportunity to do anything with existing uncovered positions or those positions set to expire this week.

There are lots of ways to encourage income streams, but unnecessary risk taking doesn’t feel right as part of the equation at the moment,

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Daily Market Update – March 15, 2016 (7:30 AM)

Yesterday did nothing to get 2016 closer to the breakeven point, but at least it didn’t push things further out of reach.

What was newsworthy yesterday was that with a lack of any news and while oil went lower on the idea that Iran would not be party to any production cuts, stocks didn’t follow oil sharply lower.

But this morning, as has been the case over the past 4 weeks or so, any notion that stocks and oil may be parting ways, has failed to be the case just a day later.

Oil is down sharply this morning as are the stock futures.

For more than a year, though, the day before an FOMC Statement release has generally been seen a strong move higher. For the most part the same has been the case in the hours following the statement release.

Thus far, this morning looks like it may not make a break with oil, but it may make a break with its FOMC pattern as the futures are down somewhat.

Not really sharply, but close enough to a triple digit move to know that it could easily be possible as the opening bell gets ready to ring.

Expectations are not for a rate hike announcement tomorrow, but the FOMC has surprised before, even as most others weren’t able to discern the data that would have led to such a decision.

Most expect that such an action won’t occur until June. The market would likely not respond well to an interest rate increase announcement today, although it probably should greet such news as being good news.

Even if the unthinkable does happen today and the expected ensues, I think that cooler heads would prevail and see the opportunity to re-enter on what may be the next ground floor.

With a little bit of money in hand, i wouldn’t mind adding some new positions this week, but the uncertainty of the week’s FOMC meeting makes it a little more difficult to justify parting with cash.

I would much rather see some opportunity to do anything with existing uncovered positions or those positions set to expire this week.

There are lots of ways to encourage income streams, but unnecessary risk taking doesn’t feel right as part of the equation at the moment,

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Daily Market Update – March 14, 2016 (Close)

It’s hard to believe that after such an abysmal start to 2016 that the market is almost close to the breakeven point.

There’s no doubt that the climb has been completely in line with the move higher in oil futures.

No other story has really carried any weight in 2016.

China, interest rates and anything else that may have popped up last year, especially acting to bring markets lower, have just not appeared on the radar screen this year.

What we have had this year have simply been large and basically fundamental free moves in oil in one direction and then the next. That has led to equally large and directionless movement in stocks.

That is, up until about 2 weeks ago when the direction in the price of oil has been mostly higher, despite an occasional dip lower or an intra-day reversal.

This week, though, we may get a little respite from oil as the FOMC Statement is released and there is a Janet Yellen press conference to follow.

Most don’t expect a hike in interest rates at this meeting, but the market doesn’t necessarily need anything tangible to blow things out of proportion.

Simple nuances or slight changes in wording in the statement itself could lead to one reaction and then the more nuanced words during Yellen’s prepared statement and her responses to questions afterward could lead to even more over-reaction.

Lately, the dovish Yellen hasn’t always sounded dovish and she hasn’t been able to give stock markets the same kind of euphoria that she did earlier in her tenure, but you never know what’s in store.

Maybe even a rate hike?

I would just like to have some opportunity to make money this week or to raise money.

I would love to see the market continue higher just to get those opportunities. Actually, it wouldn’t even take the market’s move higher to make me happy. Just some specific stocks, especially if I can get to sell some new calls.

With a few ex-dividend positions this week and a couple of opportunities to rollover or see assignments, I’d love to supplement whatever income already seems likely with some more.

Greedy? Maybe, but not overly so. All I want is a little bit more at a time.

Today, there wasn’t too much to be happy about, nor too much to regret.

As markets finished flat for the day, there came the realization that stocks failed to follow oil sharply lower today.

Over the past few weeks there have been a number of days in which it looked as if a disassocation between stocks and oil was in the works, but after just a day it was clear that the association still had life to it.

We’ll see what the next few days bring, particularly once the Federal Reserve’s capture of our attention has faded.

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Daily Market Update – March 14, 2016 (9:30 AM)

It’s hard to believe that after such an abysmal start to 2016 that the market is almost close to the breakeven point.

There’s no doubt that the climb has been completely in line with the move higher in oil futures.

No other story has really carried any weight in 2016.

China, interest rates and anything else that may have popped up last year, especially acting to bring markets lower, have just not appeared on the radar screen this year.

What we have had this year have simply been large and basically fundamental free moves in oil in one direction and then the next. That has led to equally large and directionless movement in stocks.

That is, up until about 2 weeks ago when the direction in the price of oil has been mostly higher, despite an occasional dip lower or an intra-day reversal.

This week, though, we may get a little respite from oil as the FOMC Statement is released and there is a Janet Yellen press conference to follow.

Most don’t expect a hike in interest rates at this meeting, but the market doesn’t necessarily need anything tangible to blow things out of proportion.

Simple nuances or slight changes in wording in the statement itself could lead to one reaction and then the more nuanced words during Yellen’s prepared statement and her responses to questions afterward could lead to even more over-reaction.

Lately, the dovish Yellen hasn’t always sounded dovish and she hasn’t been able to give stock markets the same kind of euphoria that she did earlier in her tenure, but you never know what’s in store.

maybe even a rate hike?

I would just like to have some opportunity to make money this week or to raise money.

I would love to see the market continue higher just to get those opportunities. Actually, it wouldn’t even take the market’s move higher to make me happy. Just some specific stocks, especially if I can get to sell some new calls.

With a few ex-dividend positions this week and a couple of opportunities to rollover or see assignments, I’d love to supplement whatever income already seems likely with some more.

Greedy? Maybe, but not overly so. All I want is a little bit more at a time.

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Daily Market Update – March 11, 2016 (7:30 AM)

The Week in Review will be posted by 10 PM and the Weekend Update will be posted by Noon on Sunday.

The following trade outcomes are possible today:

Assignments:  none

Rollovers:  none

Expirations:  GM

The following were ex-dividend this week;  HPE (3/7 $0.06), HPQ (3/7 $0.12), KSS (3/7 $0.50), NEM (3/8 $0.03), GM (3/9 $0.38), M (3/11 $0.36)

The following will be ex-dividend next week:  BBY (3/15 $0.28), JOY (3/16 $0.01), LVS (3/18 $0.72)

Trades, if any, will be attempted be made prior to 3:30 PM EST

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Daily Market Update – March 10, 2016 (Close))

The script seems to stay the same day after day.

It’s just the direction that’s subject to change,although sometimes there’s no direction.

That was case this morning as oil was fairly flat and so too were the stock markets that have dutifully been following.

Even the NASDAQ 100 has been pretty much in tune with oil, even as you scratch your head to wonder why that might be the case.

With little left in the final days of this week to offer anything substantive, you could be excused for casting eyes on next week and the upcoming FOMC Statement release.

At this point no one really expects any change in interest rates, but the Chairman’s press conference that follows may offer some glimpses into what the FOMC is thinking.

Janet Yellen did just that at her very first press conference, or may simply have “mis-spoke,” but she sent markets moving.

In that particular case it was in the wrong direction, but since then, her history is admirable and the market has generally taken note of her words with a sense of optimism.

Since we all know that the FOMC wants to increase interest rates as soon as the scantest data may warrant, you would think that traders would let out a sigh of relief once the uncertainty is over, at least for what may be the next cycle of interest rate increases, if the FOMC prediction script is going to be true to what people believe it contains.

For what’s left of this week, i would just like to have an opportunity to roll over the one position set to expire and certainly wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to sell calls on anything that’s not currently covered.

With the way the market was pointing this morning, I didn’t expect that today would be a very active day, but there’s still always tomorrow and that brings the chance of another uncalled for large move in oil and stocks.

To some degree, that large move may have started during today’s mid-day, as the market made up for a nearly 200 point loss in the DJIA to end up the day just how the futures predicted the future would turn out for the day.

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Daily Market Update – March 10, 2016 (7:30 AM)

The script seems to stay the same day after day.

It’s just the direction that’s subject to change,although sometimes there’s no direction.

That’s the case this morning as oil is fairly flat and so too are the stock markets that have dutifully been following.

Even the NASDAQ 100 has been pretty much in tune with oil, even as you scratch your head to wonder why that might be the case.

With little left in the final days of this week to offer anything substantive, you could be excused for casting eyes on next week and the upcoming FOMC Statement release.

At this point no one really expects any change in interest rates, but the Chairman’s press conference that follows may offer some glimpses into what the FOMC is thinking.

Janet Yellen did just that at her very first press conference, or may simply have “mis-spoke,” but she sent markets moving.

In that particular case it was in the wrong direction, but since then, her history is admirable and the market has generally taken note of her words with a sense of optimism.

Since we all know that the FOMC wants to increase interest rates as soon as the scantest data may warrant, you would think that traders would let out a sigh of relief once the uncertainty is over, at least for what may be the next cycle of interest rate increases, if the FOMC prediction script is going to be true to what people believe it contains.

For what’s left of this week, i would just like to have an opportunity to roll over the one position set to expire and certainly wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to sell calls on anything that’s not currently covered.

With the way the market is pointing this morning, i don’t expect that today will be a very active day, but there’s still always tomorrow and that brings the chance of another uncalled for large move in oil and stocks.

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Daily Market Update – March 9, 2016 (Close)

The script seems to stay the same day after day.

It’s just the direction that’s subject to change.

Following a few successive days of oil moving nicely higher, it continued to take the market along with it, but not the whole market.

Over the last week or so the trickle down to stocks had been concentrated in oil and commodities, but as we all know, what goes up must come down.

That’s especially true if what goes up has gone up suddenly and significantly as had some of those long beaten down commodities.

Yesterday was their day to come back down and they did so in very big ways.

This morning oil was pointing higher again during the futures trading and once again stocks were following.

Wednesdays are always a big day for oil as reserves are announced at 10:30 AM and the market can whipsaw much the way when an FOMC Statement is released. There are knee jerk reactions and then there are opportunists flocking in and then there is reason that may set in..

That’s exactly what ended up happening today, as stocks hit near the high for the day just minutes after the inventory releases and then hit the lows for the day in just another few minutes.

Today, though, the total range was barely 100 points, making it a pretty mild day, particularly as today marked the 7th anniversary of the start of the bull market.

We could have expected that stocks may have had some twinges at around 10:30 AM, as well, but unless the news was really drastic, those Wednesday mornings aren’t that consequential for stocks, although times are different right now.

Nonetheless, just as when the week started, there really isn’t anything else of consequence that should be able to move markets. Even as they’ve been following oil, there hasn’t been much of anything there either to supply a reason for any of the moves seen.

We get rig counts on Fridays, we get oil reserves and inventories on Wednesdays, but those just allow traders to make inferences as to what the future holds.

Those inferences are usually right for minutes and one week to the next can bring significant differences in the numbers and their interpretations, even as economies tend to move at very slow paces.

You wouldn’t know that by those weekly numbers and the often frantic reactions.

I’m not expecting to do anything frantic this week with what little time remains.

Markets were pointing a little higher this morning and I gladly accepted that as the day wore on and would like to see some of those big losses reversed as we get set to close out the week and maybe set the stage for something more moderate in terms of a climb higher.

Moderate and slow is far more sustainable if you’re watching from below.

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Daily Market Update – March 9, 2016 (Close)

The script seems to stay the same day after day.

It’s just the direction that’s subject to change.

Following a few successive days of oil moving nicely higher, it continued to take the market along with it, but not the whole market.

Over the last week or so the trickle down to stocks had been concentrated in oil and commodities, but as we all know, what goes up must come down.

That’s especially true if what goes up has gone up suddenly and significantly as had some of those long beaten down commodities.

Yesterday was their day to come back down and they did so in very big ways.

This morning oil was pointing higher again during the futures trading and once again stocks were following.

Wednesdays are always a big day for oil as reserves are announced at 10:30 AM and the market can whipsaw much the way when an FOMC Statement is released. There are knee jerk reactions and then there are opportunists flocking in and then there is reason that may set in..

That’s exactly what ended up happening today, as stocks hit near the high for the day just minutes after the inventory releases and then hit the lows for the day in just another few minutes.

Today, though, the total range was barely 100 points, making it a pretty mild day, particularly as today marked the 7th anniversary of the start of the bull market.

We could have expected that stocks may have had some twinges at around 10:30 AM, as well, but unless the news was really drastic, those Wednesday mornings aren’t that consequential for stocks, although times are different right now.

Nonetheless, just as when the week started, there really isn’t anything else of consequence that should be able to move markets. Even as they’ve been following oil, there hasn’t been much of anything there either to supply a reason for any of the moves seen.

We get rig counts on Fridays, we get oil reserves and inventories on Wednesdays, but those just allow traders to make inferences as to what the future holds.

Those inferences are usually right for minutes and one week to the next can bring significant differences in the numbers and their interpretations, even as economies tend to move at very slow paces.

You wouldn’t know that by those weekly numbers and the often frantic reactions.

I’m not expecting to do anything frantic this week with what little time remains.

Markets were pointing a little higher this morning and I gladly accepted that as the day wore on and would like to see some of those big losses reversed as we get set to close out the week and maybe set the stage for something more moderate in terms of a climb higher.

Moderate and slow is far more sustainable if you’re watching from below.

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Daily Market Update – March 9, 2016 (7:30 AM)

The script seems to stay the same day after day.

It’s just the direction that’s subject to change.

Following a few successive days of oil moving nicely higher, it continued to take the market along with it, but not the whole market.

Over the last week or so the trickle down to stocks had been concentrated in oil and commodities, but as we all know, what goes up must come down.

That’s especially true if what goes up has gone up suddenly and significantly as had some of those long beaten down commodities.

Yesterday was their day to come back down and they did so in very big ways.

This morning oil is pointing higher again during the futures trading and once again stocks are following.

Wednesdays are always a big day for oil as reserves are announced at 10:30 AM and the market can whipsaw much the way when an FOMC Statement is released. There are knee jerk reactions and then there are opportunists flocking in and then there is reason that may set in..

We can expect that stocks may have some twinges at around 10:30 AM, as well, but unless the news is really drastic, those Wednesday mornings aren’t that consequential for stocks, although times are different right now.

Nonetheless, just as when the week started, there really isn’t anything else of consequence that should be able to move markets. Even as they’ve been following oil, there hasn’t been much of anything there either to supply a reason for any of the moves seen.

We get rig counts on Fridays, we get oil reserves on Wednesdays, but those just allow traders to make inferences as to what the future holds.

Those inferences are usually right for minutes and one week to the next can bring significant differences in the numbers and their interpretations, even as economies tend to move at very slow paces.

You wouldn’t know that by those weekly numbers and the often frantic reactions.

I’m not expecting to do anything frantic this week with what little time remains.

Markets are pointing a little higher this morning and I would gladly accept that and would like to see some of those big losses reversed today and maybe set the stage for something more moderate in terms of a climb higher.

Moderate and slow is far more sustainable if you’re watching from below.

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Daily Market Update – March 8, 2016 (Close)

It’s was just another morning and oil was lower while stocks simply followed along.

Yesterday was more of the same, except that oil was higher and so were stocks.

In yesterday’s case oil was actually seriously higher, but stocks were sort of indifferent, with the DJIA showing the impact much more than the broader S&P 500.

This morning stocks were appearing to head lower than might be warranted by the move in oil.

But who knew what that would mean?

When oil ended the day falling by 4% the DJIA didn’t look too bad, but the S&P 500 which also had a broader representation of energy and commodity related stocks really showed weakness, just as it had showed relative strength over the past few days.

What goes up fast goes down the same way.

Most still have to be looking for any signs of a break in the association between stocks and oil, but the few times that it looked as if they may be getting ready to go their own way, the association quickly returned.

For now it’s still hard to see where any real economic growth would justify strength in oil. Normally a rise in oil prices would be net negative for stocks, unless there was significant economic growth behind an increase in demand for oil.

Now, it’s hard to even get anyone to agree why the price of oil had gone so low to begin with. Sure, it was over-supply, but what was the reason for that over-supply.

Now, most agree that it was more a case of over-production than under-demand, but as the price of oil has been moving higher, there’s no real indication that either supply is decreasing or demand is increasing.

It could simply be speculation at play, which could also explain some of the large moves and the frequent back and forth, although the net has been to the upside lately for both oil and stocks.

This morning both are lower and it just stayed that way all through the day as the market closed at its lows.

With a single new position opened yesterday, specifically identified for the dividend, I would have like to be able to capture that dividend, but I would have preferred if I had to rollover the position in order to keep the dividend, instead of watching it take a hit along with everything else today.

While I didn’t expect to be doing much more dipping into cash this day, if faced with losing shares to early assignment, I would have really liked to try and roll those short calls over an additional week to at least be able to get some extra premium if those shares are still going to end up being exercised early.

But not today.

At least tomorrow I’ll have the dividend. Now if only the position can be rolled or assigned, all will be good until next week.

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Daily Market Update – March 8, 2016 (7:30 AM)

It’s just another morning and oil is lower while stocks simply follow along.

Yesterday was more of the same, except that oil was higher and so were stocks.

In yesterday’s case oil was actually seriously higher, but stocks were sort of indifferent, with the DJIA showing the impact much more than the broader S&P 500.

This morning stocks are appearing to head lower than might be warranted by the move in oil.

But who knows what that means?

Most have to be looking for any signs of a break in the association between stocks and oil, but the few times that it looked as if they may be getting ready to go their own way, the association quickly returned.

For now it’s still hard to see where any real economic growth would justify strength in oil. Normally a rise in oil prices would be net negative for stocks, unless there was significant economic growth behind an increase in demand for oil.

Now, it’s hard to even get anyone to agree why the price of oil had gone so low to begin with. Sure, it was over-supply, but what was the reason for that over-supply.

Now, most agree that it was more a case of over-production than under-demand, but as the price of oil has been moving higher, there’s no real indication that either supply is decreasing or demand is increasing.

It could simply be speculation at play, which could also explain some of the large moves and the frequent back and forth, although the net has been to the upside lately for both oil and stocks.

This morning both are lower.

With a single new position opened yesterday, specifically identified for the dividend, I’d like to be able to capture that dividend.

While I don’t expect to be doing much more dipping into cash this day, if faced with losing shares to early assignment, I would likely try to roll those short calls over an additional week to at least be able to get some extra premium if those shares are still going to end up being exercised early.

Otherwise, we’ll see where the winds take us today.

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Daily Market Update – March 7, 2016 (Close)

It will be very interesting to see what this week brings.

The story of 2016 has really been just how closely the stock market and the price of oil have been correlated.

With oil now having some life breathed into it, even if the reason for its re-birth isn’t clear, the market has moved higher.

This morning came news that the average price of gas had moved higher by $0.07 in the past 2 weeks.

At some point, those celebrating the resurgence of oil are going to ask themselves how is that good news if there’s scant evidence that it’s an expanding economy that’s shifting the supply – demand relationship.

That’s a reasonable question to be asked, but as long as the energy sector is showing some life, I’m more than happy to see that question being delayed.

Today oil seemed to do far better than stocks. The narrower DJIA may have been more influenced by oil than was the S&P 500 today, but still, a gain is a gain.

I could get used to seeing more paper profits, or to be more accurate, less paper losses.

The opportunity to sell calls on uncovered positions is really all that I would like to see at this point as a means of generating additional income without having to dip into cash reserves.

Without a fundamental basis to believe that economic growth awaits or some other catalyst is out there, it’s hard to justify spending much money, especially after the run higher in the past 3 weeks.

With the S&P 500 opening the week at 2000, it’s only 5.5% below its all time high, but the run higher has been too swift to feel comfortable about.

While next week has an FOMC Statement release and a Chairman’s press conference, there’s nothing of much significance this week to really move markets.

That is, unless, oil still holds court.

Futures were pointing to a slightly lower open to begin the week but perhaps it was that strong showing in oil that allowed it to be yet another day higher.

With another week of having a lot of ex-dividend positions I don’t feel the need to spend money, but I’d still like to generate some more income, so I was looking for the opportunity to do so, as 2016 has been an incredibly quiet year so far for any new positions to have been opened.

With a nice dividend, General Motors seemed to fill the bill. Maybe this week will mark a change, but I’m not convinced of that, at least not for the rest of the week..

I’d be happy to have repeats of any of the last 3 weeks when I barely lifted a finger to pound out a buy or sell order, but it did feel good to have at least made some effort today and gotten something to show for that effort.

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