Friday Effect With Elections And QE2 Looming

The markets are trading flat today as the normal Friday Effect is taking place. The Friday Effect is based off of black box trading programs and the Federal Reserve wanting to keep the markets flat to higher on a Friday. The point is to keep market self esteem up into the weekend. This keeps the musical chair game going and gets consumers spending. As an example, what if the markets were to drop 300 points on a Friday? Do you think the consumer would be as likely to spend as much money over the weekend? Definitely not. The American consumer spends 90% of their money a week on the weekends. Therefore it is extremely important to the government and Federal Reserve to keep the markets flat or higher on a Friday. This is known as the Friday Effect. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF

is trading around the flat line at $118.46, +0.06 (+0.05%). It is highly likely the markets will remain around the flat line not only because of the Friday Effect but because of the impending elections next Tuesday and the biggest FOMC Meeting possibly ever. The FOMC will be releasing their QE2 (quantitative easing two). Chevron Corporation

is being hit sharply today after reporting earnings that missed Wall Street estimates sharply. The stock is trading at $82.82, -1.62 (-1.92%). This is a key component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. International Business Machines Corp.

is shooting higher today, reaching its all time highs just over a week after dropping sharply on earnings. This is an impressive recovery and move. The stock is trading at $142.83, +1.93 (+1.37%). This is also a Dow Jones Industrial Average component and has a large impact on the the index. Gareth Soloway Chief Market Strategist www.InTheMoneyStocks.com #1 Rated