The S&P 500 futures (ESZ19:CME) closed at 3143.75 Tuesday, the 100th new all-time high since Trump took office, 9 points above its opening print of 3134.50, after closing Monday at 3132.75. Its trading range (3128.00 – 3144.00) was quite boring for traders. My senses tell me the good ones are somewhere else, and you should be too. This is my second Thanksgiving this year, after celebrating the first in Canada in October. The people on Vancouver Island know how to do cooking right. What a ride the last five years were up on the Island. I’m happy to be back in the good old USA, and ready for the next chapter. Hope you all are as well. chart courtesy of AMS Trading Group Our Trades On the trading side, we’re flat, except for the 15 soybean contracts at an average price of 887.50. We’ll buy 30 more if the price drops. Otherwise, nothing, don’t care, ain’t looking, better things to do. Hope you do as well. Thanksgiving is a time to do just that; say thanks. Let me start by thanking you for reading what is written. It’s fun for me, and hopefully beneficial for you. I have to thank Danny, Marlin and my partner Niels at AMS for getting me this gig. It is possible to resurrect the dead. There’s a lot more ahead between our two companies. There should be; we complement each other well. Rather than bore you with the details, let’s agree that I’ll wait until next month to do that. What Are You Thankful For? So, what are you thankful for? Kind of a wide-open question in this adventure we call life. One minute you are sitting on top, and the next, well you’ve all been through it and have something in common; you’re still here, you survived. That’s to be complemented, it’s also something to be thankful for. Me, I’m the luckiest guy on the face of the earth. Like I said before, wonderful last five years; here’s to the future together with someone more important to me than anyone ever before. A Canadian project that followed me to the states, and more. Keep emailing me at david@amstradinggroup.com and let me know what you want me to highlight and teach when time allows. In the interim, thanks for reading what we post. Enjoy your Thanksgiving! China’s Upbeat Assessment Of Tariff Talks Push Stocks and Bonds Higher When is this crazy stuff with China and the U.S. going to be over? The answer; never. While the U.S. did help build China, it’s not at all like what we did for Japan or Germany, which were rebuilt with Americam aid after WWII. Being the victor of WWII helped launch unparalleled wealth and prosperity. My dad was an Irish marine and was on the U.S. boxing team. He loved talking about history and the ‘great wars’. He also went to school and played football at Notre Dame, as did my brother Bill. As much as he loved a good ND football game, I’m not sure what would win out; National Geographic and a series on WWII, or a ND football game. That would be what you call a ‘dilemma’ for him!!! That said, I also love history, and I wanted my daughter to go see the movie Midway because I think most kids today don’t even know about the sacrifices so many Amricans made to keep democracy safe. Some take that for granted, NOT ME! Anyways, the U.S., like many other countries, supplied China with knowledge, technology, infrastructure and education. The combination, put together with China’s workforce, helped build out its manufacturing sector and helped to rebuild an economy that was very poor, stagnant, centrally controlled, vastly inefficient, and relatively isolated from the global economy, into a global financial and military giant. There is no way the U.S. can take credit for where China is today, but we clearly helped, and now their growing economic influence and the trade policies have significant implications for us. Many in congress think China’s incomplete transition to a ‘free market economy’ has resulted in economic policies deemed harmful to U.S. economic interests, such as industrial policies and theft of U.S. intellectual property. I think this is at the heart of what President Trumps ‘tariff wars’ stand for. Getting A Deal Done Trump is looking for a level playing field, and likes to play the ‘friend game’, but that hasn’t worked in North Korea or China. I don’t think you have to be a straight A student to know that the Chinese are in no hurry to sign a trade deal. For one, China knows about the Trump impeachment proceedings, and his reelection bid in 2020. As they have said, they are in it for the long game, and are clearly playing that card. Yesterday there were all sorts of positive headlines that said the United States and China are "getting really close" to striking a preliminary trade deal. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News that, "We feel that a deal is going to happen, and we continue to work arduously toward that." Trump also said that the two sides were in the "final throes" of negotiating an agreement. I hate to say it, but we’ve heard this a thousand times. Trump is punch drunk. I want to see a deal get done, I just don't know when, or if, it's even possible. Our View Chart courtesy of Scott Redler @RedDogT3 - Mostly green arrows around the World as trends continue & China/US trade optimism continues. The 8/21 day has been the guide to stay in Portfolio approach. We look above 3142 this morning. Make sure to trim into Strength so u can buy dips. The S&P was trading at 3145.00 at 9:00 pm CT last night, can you believe it? There are no pullbacks, its all 4 or 5 handle spills, then a of a lot of ‘back and fill’ and a big time game of ‘thin to win’ right now. The PitBull thinks the markets will crash if it comes to no deal with China, I do not disagree, but I'm not sure that won't just be another big dip before going to new all time highs again. The fed’s QE4 has expanded its balance sheet by $270 billion in just two months since the US "repo" market seized up. At the end of the day, we have seen how the markets act when the fed printing presses are turned back on, and it's the identical price action we are seeing today. Our lean is to buy the pullbacks. As more traders take time off for Thanksgiving, it will be harder to knock the S&P down much. Market Vitals Technical Analysis for Wednesday 11-27-2019 [gview file="http://mrtopstep.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Market-Vitals-19.11.27.pdf"] 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. Decisions 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.