From the desk of Joe Rios…

U.S. stocks rose modestly on Friday after late news of merger talks with chipmaker Intel Corp buying rival Altera Corp. Healthcare also helped the indices as biotech stocks ended higher after suffering a -7.0% drop earlier in the week. None the less, for the week the Nasdaq led the stock indices lower closing the week down -2.7%. Technically speaking the S&P 500 found a temporary support level set from the prior week’s price action at 2,030.75 and resistance level at 2,107.00. The new box range should be closely monitored for trading opportunities on the first few days of trading for the new week.

In the commodity market Crude Oil closed the week higher 4.0% but fell sharply on Friday erasing the previous session’s gains as Yeman’s conflict looked less likely to disrupt Middle East Crude shipments and focus turned to a potential Iran nuclear deal that could put more supply on the market. Natural Gas dropped by -5.3% testing a major key support level at the edge of a prolonged box range pattern.

In the currency market the US Dollar traded sideways in consolidation mode following the prior week’s steep fall. The weekly chart illustrates a Spinning Top formation in Japanese candlesticks signaling a lack of near term conviction from traders. A new box range was also established for most foreign currencies.

There is plenty of economic data in the upcoming holiday shorten week.  Interestingly the Non-Farm Employment Change and Unemployment Rate will be announced on Friday while the markets are closed for the holiday. I expect traders to adjust positions during the week leading up to Friday.

– Joe Rios

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Scheduled economic data that may have an impact on the markets.

Monday

All Day    EUR        German Preliminary CPI

8:30 AM   USD        Personal Spending

10:00 AMUSD        Pending Home Sales

3:00 PM   USDA      Agricultural Prices

8:00 PM   NZD        ANZ Business Confidence

Tuesday

4:30 AM   GBP        Current-Account

5:00 AM   EUR        CPI Flash Estimate

8:30 AM   CAD        GDP

8:50 AM   USD        FOMC Member Lockhart Speaks

9:45 AM   USD        Chicago PMI

10:00 AMUSD        CB Consumer Confidence

12:00 PM USDA      Grain Stocks

8:30 PM   AUD        Building Approvals

9:00 PM   CNY        Manufacturing PMI

9:45 PM   CNY        HSBC Final Manufacturing PMI

Wednesday

4:30 AM   GBP        Manufacturing PMI

8:15 AM   USD        ADP Nonfarm Employment Change

9:00 AM   USD        FOMC Member Williams Speaks

10:00 AMUSD        ISM Manufacturing PMI

10:30 AMCL           Crude Oil Inventories

8:30 PM   AUD        Trade Balance

Thursday

4:30 AM   GBP        Construction PMI

8:30 AM   USD        Trade Balance And Unemployment Claims

8:30 AM   CAD        Trade Balance

8:30 AM   USDA      Weekly Export Sales and Trade Data

10:30 AMNG          Natural Gas Storage

Friday

Holiday

8:30 AM   USD        Nonfarm Employment Change