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Daily Market Update – January 12, 2015 (8:30 AM) Last week was quite a week. Even though there was lots of important economic news and there was certainly enough going on in the world, the market followed none of it. It didn’t listen to the FOMC, it didn’t listen to the EMployment Situation Report. It also didn’t melt when events unfolded in France. Anyone who follows charts or believes in technical indicators would also be at a loss to explain either the sharp decline or the strong rally back. This week there isn’t quite as much news and the markets look as if they are going to get off to a better start than they had last week. Most of all, another earnings season begins this week and it may hold the key to finding something that may propel markets higher. If the theory that reduced energy prices will be good for the consumer is true, there’s some chance that we’ll catch a glimpse of it soon enough, as the quarter being reported should reflect some of that data. If it does, you can expect companies to give guidance that will be more cheery than we’ve heard in a long, long time and if investors have shown that they really like anything, it’s positive guidance. By the same token they don’t like negative guidance, but that’s an issue for another time. This week I wouldn’t mind seeing a repeat of last. Even though the broad market was lower there was lots of opportunity to rollover existing positions and sell calls on some uncovered positions. While there was one assignment for the week, the only real disappointment was that there weren’t more, as I’d like to be sitting on more cash than is currently in reserve. This week with 8 positions set to expire as the monthly January 2015 option cycle comes to its end, another week that has some positive days, especially some strong days higher, may offer the opportunities to have a repeat of last week. While there may still be some potential new positions that look appealing this week, I don’t think I’ll be very aggressive in adding to the existing roster, although I thought that last week, as well, and was actually a little surprised to have added any. This morning’s rise in the futures has an optimistic tone, but it is slowly being degraded by even further price drops in oil prices, so it would be especially nice to see some stability coming to that market. The stock market and the economy don’t necessarily need those prices to go any lower, as the decline in energy prices has already been a significant gift, well beyond what has been expected. It’s unlikely that companies, as they do guide forward, will be The removal of uncertainty in the direction and magnitude of energy prices would likely be good for most everyone, even if oil prices move higher. In the absence of a significant decrease in production, possibly due to some geo-political event, it’s not too likely that we’ll see the kind of price increase similar to the decline, so anything that removes the downward uncertainty may end up being a gift that keeps giving for quite a while. I’m ready to accept whatever gifts may come my way and would like to start this week.
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