Strong Dollar Slows S&P 500 Companies Sales Growth

Index Futures Net Changes and Settlements:

Foreign Markets, Fair Value and Volume:

• In Asia 7 out of 11 markets closed higher: Shanghai Comp +4.09%, Hang Seng +2.32%, Nikkei +0.37%
• In Europe 12 out of 13 markets are trading higher: CAC +0.52%, DAX +0.74%, FTSE +0.89%
• Fair Value: S&P +0.14, NASDAQ +12.73, Dow -11.66
• Total Volume: 1.99mil ESZ & 561 SPZ traded in the pit

Today’s Economic Calendar:

Today’s economic calendar includes Chicago Fed National Activity Index 8:30 AM ET, a 4-Week Bill Announcement 11:00 AM ET, a 8-Week Bill Announcement 11:00 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: Fade The Rallies Until The Midterm Elections

On Friday, the S&P 500 futures opened regular trading hours at 2778.25, up +5.50 handles. Buy stops propel the benchmark futures up to the high of day, which came early, just after 9:00, at 2800.50. From there the tables turned, giving way to strong sell programs that pulled the ES down to 2767.25, just after 11:30 for the morning low, and then rallied up to 2783.50 just after noon.

The afternoon saw more weakness in the S&P’s as they worked to a 2662.25 low just after the 1:00 hour, and then bounced to 2778.50 in the final hour, before printing 2769.00 on the 3:00 cash close, and settling the day at 2767.75, down -4.50 handles, or -0.16%.

In the end, the ES did rally after the open, but it seems like it used up all its buying power in the first 30 minutes. After that the sell programs showed up. The main culprit was the weakness in tech stocks. The NQ closed down -0.47%, while the ES ended the day down -0.17%, and the RTY (Russell 2000) closed down -1.20%.

In the markets overall tone, it looked like there was some rotation going on, but the markets acted weak. The ES that made a low at 2762.25, rallied a little late in the day, but reversed lower going into the futures close, and closed 1.75 handles off the low of the day. In terms of the days overall trade, the total volume ended up 1.95 million contracts traded, which is high. Additionally, 655,000 NQ contracts traded.

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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.}