The Globex session went well, and a rally after Wednesdays open had all the looks of the Santa Claus rally. After making an early high on Globex at 2690.75 the ES opened at 2688.25 on the 8:30 open, pulled back to the 2686.50 level, and then took out the Globex high by 1 tick at 2691.00. That’s when the party ended. The ES got hit by several small sell programs, and at 12:20 CT traded all the way down to 2683.00. It rallied a few handles and then double bottomed on the 2683.00s. Volume was slightly better, at 1:30 CT total volume was 450,000, most of it was due to the reversal. The technology stocks were under pressure in Asia and Europe, and crude oil hovered above 59.50 most of the day.
After a few more small pops, the ES traded down to a new daily low at 2681.50 around 2:40 CT, as the MiM started to show $243 million to buy. At 2:45 the actual NYSE MOC came out buy $280 million, and the ES started going back down again. After the early high the days trade was a case of failed rallies. Going into the 3:00 cash close the ES traded 2685.00, down 2.5 handles, or -0.06%. The ES traded up to 2686.25 going into the close and settled at 2685.00.
No Harm / No Foul
What can we say? When Santa doesn’t show, the end of the year walk away trade can take its place. Or, the other part of this is, nothing happens. It all comes down to what your flavor is, but like we have been saying, the best trade going into the end of the year is no trade. If you had a good year, why bother, and if you had a bad year, why press it when no one is trading and the volume is so low?
In the end the S&P 500 futures (ESH18:CME) settled at 2685.50, down -1.50 handles, or -0.05%; the Dow Jones futures (YMH18:CBT) settled at 24,788, down -4 points, or -0.01%; the Nasdaq 100 futures (NQH18:CME) settled at 6454.00, down -6.00 points, or -0.09%; and the Russell 2000 (RTYH18:CME) settled at 1545.50, down -2.00 points or -0.13% on the day.
As always, please use protective buy and sell stops when trading futures and options.
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- In Asia 8 out of 11 markets closed higher: Shanghai Comp +0.65%, Hang Seng +0.90%, Nikkei -0.56%
- In Europe 9 out of 12 markets are trading lower: CAC -0.16%, DAX -0.16%, FTSE +0.13%
- Fair Value: S&P +2.89, NASDAQ +19.59, Dow +2.67
- Total Volume: 664k ESH & 313 SPH traded in the pit
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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.
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