China Sets Yuan At 7.0365 Against US Dollar

Index Futures Net Changes and Settlements:

Foreign Markets, Fair Value and Volume:

• In Asia 10 out of 11 markets closed higher: Shanghai Comp +2.10%, Hang Seng +2.17%, Nikkei +0.71%
• In Europe 12 out of 13 markets are trading higher: CAC +1.30%, DAX +1.48%, FTSE +1.26%
• Fair Value: S&P +0.72, NASDAQ +7.88, Dow -4.06
• Total Volume: 1.62 million ESU & 359 SPU traded in the pit

_{*As of 7:00 a.m. CST}

Today’s Economic Calendar:

Today’s economic calendar includes E-Commerce Retail Sales 10:00 AM ET, a 3-Month Bill Auction 11:30 AM ET, and a 6-Month Bill Auction 11:30 AM ET.

S&P 500 Futures: August Option Expo Upside Stop Run

Chart courtesy of Scott Redler @RedDogT3 – $spx futures +25 giving some upside follow thru to Friday’s strength. Thursday it reclaimed 2939 (RDR buy) & Friday it hit resistance#1 with decent participation. I’d trim into 2930 area not add, but it doesn’t mean it’s an easy short (from Italy).

During Thursday nights Globex session, the S&P 500 futures (ESU19:CME) printed a low at 2849.50 just after the open, then rallied 29 handles to print a high at 2878.50, and opened Friday’s regular trading hours (RTH) at 2865.50, up +17 handles.

The overnight strength carried over into the day session, and with a little help from the August options expiration, the ESU rallied 11 handles after the 8:30 CT bell. From there, the futures traded sideways for the next hour, before a headline came out of Europe saying Germany is ready for deficit spending if a recession were to hit.

The market took this as good news, and by 10:00 the ES had traded up to a new high at 2892.50. That was the only real excitement of the day though. After that the futures drifted sideways in a 10 handle range until the close.

When the MiM reveal came out showing $650 million to sell MOC, the ES was trading at 2890.50, and quickly rallied to print a new high at 2894.75, before heading lower into the close. It would then go on to print 2889.75 on the 3:00 cash close, and end the day at 2891.75 on the 3:15 futures close, up +43.25 handles.

It was another grinder, and volume was on the light side. If you subscribe to our premium service, then you saw that we were expecting it. Thin-to-win is a real thing, and it could take over until after the Labor Day holiday. 

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As always, please use protective buy and sell stops when trading futures and options.

_{Disclaimer: Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. Any decision to purchase or sell as a result of the opinions expressed in the forum will be the full responsibility of the person(s) authorizing such transaction(s). BE ADVISED TO ALWAYS USE PROTECTIVE STOP LOSSES AND ALLOW FOR SLIPPAGE TO MANAGE YOUR TRADE(S) AS AN INVESTOR COULD LOSE ALL OR MORE THAN THEIR INITIAL INVESTMENT. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.}