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Daily Market Update – April 28, 2016 (Close) Yesterday, the market reacted positively to the FOMC Statement release. Going from a mildly negative position to a mildly positive position pretty much reflected what was in that FOMC Statement. Essentially, there was nothing, which itself wasn’t a surprise. That was some suggestion of confidence in the path of the economy, which then ignited talk of a June 2016 interest rate increase. This morning’s GDP may have given some clues as to how much the consumer is actually participating, but based on this morning’s futures, the market isn’t in a buying mood and apparently, neither were consumers. Oil, for a change, didn’t appear to be a precipitating factor this morning and really wasn’t throughout the day. Oil was absolutely flat to begin the morning, as the DJIA futures were down triple digits, with lots of earnings to come this morning. Ultimately, none of that mattered. All that really mattered was that Carl Icahn expressed his pessimism and revealed that he had sold his entire Apple position. With the week nearing its end, I was just hoping to be able to see my lone expiring position either get assigned or rolled over. Now, after the market sell off, that hope of assignment is more faint. However, I continue not minding seeing some of those positions get rolled over, even if their in the money, rather than assigned. Even as volatility falls, the rollover premiums are often good enough for select positions to make that a more lucrative, and perhaps less risky venture, than trying to find a new place to park money. On the other hand, I wouldn’t mind parking some money in cash, even as the market hasn’t been swooning. For now, it’s been mostly oil and commodities that have really lead the way for 2016, just as they led the other way for 2015. With that going on, I don’t mind being on the long side for a change and am happy to continue watching those positions move higher, even as they really don’t spell anything good for the broader market nor for the economy. Today ended up just being another day of out-performance thanks to some miserable performing positions that weren’t dumped. I’ll take that as long as it can keep on going |
