Financials: Mar. Bonds are currently 13 lower at 145’22 and the 10-year Note 5 lower at 132’04.5. The overall trend remains down. The high for the week has been 146’19, close to my recent recommendations of going short in the 146’20 area. To be honest I have missed this trade. In the event that you were a bit more aggressive than I was and went short on the recent rally, either take the short term profit or use a protective buy stop in the 146’06 area. Continued talk of the debt ceiling and budget could spark either rallies or breaks and I urge you to be nimble using close stops (about 10 points from initial position levels). For the near term support is currently 144’12 and resistance remains in the 146’20 area. Longer term resistance remains at the 200-day moving average of 148’00.
Grains: Mar. Corn is currently 1’0 lower at 730’2, Mar. Beans 2’6 lower at 1433’2 and Mar. Wheat 1’2 at 784’0. Support remains at 707’0 and resistance the 740’0 level for Mar. Corn. I am currently on the sidelines. As mentioned earlier in the week it is time to start paying attention to deferred contracts particularly Dec. Wheat.
Cattle: Feb LC is currently 10 lower at 128.42 after falling 190 points yesterday and Mar. FC 10 lower at 148.10 after dropping 215 points yesterday. Support for Feb. LC is currently 127.40 a level you might consider trading from the long side for a bounce. Hedgers (producers) who took advantage of recent rallies might consider purchasing out-of-the-money calls against their short hedges to protect themselves from unexpected price increases in March, April and May contracts.
Silver: Mar. Silver is currently $0.33 lower at $31.21 and Feb. Gold $11.00 lower at $1,672.00. We remain long Silver. I will once again be looking to the long side of Gold in the $1,657.00 area if the market allows.
S&Ps: Mar. S&Ps are currently 8.50 higher at 1474.00 after making a multi-year high of 1476.00 after a better than expected Housing Starts Report (up 12.1%) and better than expected Weekly Jobless Claims Report (-37K). We remain short this market with a protective buy stop just above the 1480.00 level. If the market trades below the 1462.00 level, lower your buy stop to the 1476.50 level.
Currencies: As of this writing the Mar. euro is currently 56 higher at 1.3352, the Swiss 22 lower at 1.0715, the yen 114 lower at 1.1190 and the pound 8 lower at 1.5992. If you remain short the euro, lower your protective buy stop to the 1.3390 level.
