Believe it or not, the market is open right now. It just doesn’t feel like it!
The indexes are hovering near the flat line as traders prove unwilling (thus far) to commit to a direction ahead of the main event of the day, the FOMC announcement at 2:15pm ET. And honestly, why would they?
Neither side has reason here to become overly anticipatory. The bulls have enjoyed an impressive run for 2+ months, while the bears have been shot down every time they’ve attempted to call for a top. Both camps are better off sitting tight and waiting for some clarity before looking to make any moves. The bulls can maximize profits by standing pat until a technical sell signal arrives, and the bears can wait for confirmation before taking action to avoid any more premature entries.
So far, I’ve closed out my swing trade in FLR (as per the email alert) since earnings are tomorrow and it came back down a bit off the open. Day trade candidates SOHU and PENN from last night have shown weakness off the open, failing to trigger. SONC gapped through my intended entry, negating the trade. On the short side, AUXL and VFC have each triggered but have yet to really do much. I’m looking to stay patient with them here as the overall market is currently still stuck in the range from late yesterday.
Overall, there isn’t a lot to do here. There’s plenty of hype over what today might bring, but the bottom line is that it isn’t here yet. Getting antsy ahead of the real catalyst is akin to overtrading, so be willling to exercise some patience here. The real fireworks, if we see some today, will happen in the afternoon. It’s also possible the market takes its time deciding what to make of the news, which could make for an eventful remainder of the week. So we’re poised for some volatility expansion, but it isn’t here yet.
