Lowest Trading Volume Of The Year

Index Futures Net Changes and Settlements:

Foreign Markets, Fair Value and Volume:

• In Asia 9 out of 11 markets closed higher: Shanghai Comp +0.39%, Hang Seng +0.14%, Nikkei +0.43%
• In Europe 13 out of 13 markets are trading lower: CAC -1.51%, DAX -2.25%, FTSE -0.22%
• Fair Value: S&P +1.03, NASDAQ +18.16, Dow -31.85
• Total Volume: 823k ESU & 62 SPU traded in the pit

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

Today’s Economic Calendar:

Today’s economic calendar includes the 8-Week Bill Settlement, the FOMC Meeting Begins, Personal Income and Outlays 8:30 AM ET, Redbook 8:55 AM ET, S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller HPI 9:00 AM ET, Consumer Confidence 10:00 AM ET, and Pending Home Sales Index 10:00 AM ET.

S&P 500 Futures: Drop, Chop & Rally

Chart courtesy of Stewart Solaka @Chicagostock – $ES_F Retesting 3D pivot again today after o/n bounce into retesting Friday’s high and falling short. (running out of buyers?) 16 key for buyers to defend Friday’s 10 low. Below Friday’s low shake out longs into retesting Thurs low. Bull nd close >3d pivot, close below = negative.

After printing a new all time high at 3029.50 on Friday’s cash close, the S&P 500 futures (ESU19:CME) were held to just a 7 handle range during Sunday nights Globex session, printing a high at 3028.25, and a low at 3020.00.

The ESU opened Monday’s regular trading hours (RTH) at 3026.00, and immediately got hit by several low volume sell programs, pulling the futures down to an early low at 3015.50. From there, thin-to-win took over, and by 11:00 the ES had rallied back through the bottom of the opening range.

Things really quieted down after that, and the futures went on to trade sideways in a 5 handle range for the rest of the day.

Even when the MiM reveal came out showing $840 million to buy MOC, the ES remained dormant, and went on to print 3021.50 on the 3:00 cash close, and 3022.00 on the 3:15 futures close, down -2.50 handles on the day.

In the end, it was the lowest volume of the year, for a full trading day. At 2:30 there was a total of 655,000 contracts traded, and over 100,000 of that volume came from Globex. In terms of the markets overall tone, it was just too thin not to bounce. 

After the early sell programs lured people short, the selling dried up, and the futures drifted higher. In terms of the days overall trade, forget it…

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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.}