Good day! Feliz Cinco de Mayo! After two very slow days in the market, things did pick up a bit on Wednesday, but there was a still a great deal of down time when volume was very light and interest was lagging. The morning began with a slight upside gap that took the indices into price resistance from Tuesday's highs shortly after the open. This was enough to lead to a trading range for the first hour of the day until oil data came out at 10:30 ET and the market popped to new intraday highs.

Due to the strong upside move out of the early morning range, the market corrected more gradually going into noon. A triangle was most likely, but the extension on the 15 minute charts made new highs more difficult and the breakout attempt to highs failed, leading to a pullback into the 12:00 ET reversal period. The market found support there with the price zone of the prior breakout and we started to see a gradual climb again going into the early afternoon.

Due to some nasty weather with a good deal of lightening here in west central Florida, I missed out on the rest of the trading day as Mother Nature tried to decide whether or not to allow me internet and consistent electricity. The initial pace off mid-day lows was a bearish one, however, slowly creeping higher until the market hit the zone of the prior base at highs. At that point it fell into a range, creating a shallow Phoenix in the form of a Cup with Handle that allowed the slow upside pace to turn over with an even slower correction off the highs. This made it possible for the market to break higher going into 14:00 ET and it did so very quickly after volume had dropped off dramatically. If you blinked you would have easily missed the trigger. This move then continued with another 5 minute Bull Flag into the 14:00 ET reversal period, but with the 60 minute 200 sma in the way in the NASDAQ and an equal move also in on that time frame, the market didn't get to far before the closing bell.

With WLT and YELL closed due to trailing stops, the longs from last week are really the only ones left. PENN did very well on Wednesday, making new highs. Stops can be kept under Wednesday morning lows. AAP and ASKJ are still looking nice as position trades. AAP is basing at highs and ASKJ broke higher out of its trading channel. It has resistance at prior highs though, so we might see it base for a few days before it can get going again. I'll be watching ADSK for a long in about a week if it can form a smaller base at highs within this larger daily base. In the market as a whole, though, I expect some correction to this recent upside in the morning. We might just get a 15 minute bull flag though that allows for a test of the strong daily moving averages overhead, starting with the 50 sma.
Economic Reports and Events
May 05: Initial Claims 04/30 (8:30 am), Productivity-Prel. for Q1 (8:30 am)
May 06: Average Workweek for Apr (8:30 am), Hourly earnings for Apr (8:30 am), Nonfarm Payrolls for Apr (8:30 am), Unemployment Rate for Apr (8:30 am), Consumer Credit for Mar (3:00 pm)
May 09: Wholesale Inventories for Mar (10:00 am)
Earnings Announcements of Interest
Only stocks with an average daily volume of 500K+ are listed. List may not be complete so be sure to always check your stocks' earnings dates before holding a position overnight. (A) = Earnings after the close, (B) = Earnings before the open, (?) = Earnings time not specified at the time of this writing
May 05: ATVI (A), AES (B), ANR (?), AIV (B), BRL (B), BBI (?), BWNR (B), CVC (B), CPT (A), CLX (?), CPWR (A), CNO (B), CEI (B), CVS (B), DLTR (B), DISH (?), ENZN (B), FLR (A), FLYI (?), FTO (B), GMST (A), GSF (?), HRP (B), ICOS (?), JNY (?), MFE (4:30 pm ET), MCK (A), NEW (B), PXP (?), PPL (?), PRM (B), ROIAK (B), RRI (B), RRD (B), TSG (B), SGMS (A), SINA (A), SUN (B), SCON (A), G (B), PMI (?), THE (B), TXU (B), VRX (?), VPI (A), WPI (A), WMB (B)
May 06: ASTM (?), NOV (B), OATS (B)
May 09: AL (?), CRAY (?), DCEL (A), DYN (B), FSH (A), FTI (A), GNTA (?), IIP (?), MEDX (?), PCLN (A), PVX (B), SONS (?), TSO (?)
May 10: ANR (B), ASYT (A), CE (?), CQB (B), CSCO (A), EAGL (B), KFX (?), MDG (A), MSSN (B), MYGN (B), NPSP (?), NTLI (02:00 am ET), SRP (B), MAY (?)
Toni Hansen is President and Co-founder of the Bastiat Group, Inc., and runs the popular Trading From Main Street. She can be reached at Toni@tradingfrommainstreet.com.