Markets Weaken, Jobs Report Misses Expectations

Broader Market Weekly Performance:

Dow -1.14%

S&P -0.73%

Nasdaq -0.18%

Russell -1.29%

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MARKET UPDATE:

Markets had a pretty tough week posting declines across the board. Even the Apple Index, some of you may know it as the Nasdaq, registered a negative week.

The S&P touched 1422 this week but then reversed course and found expected support in the high 1390's. We expected the markets to move higher this week into the employment report and earnings next week. But, the opposite happened and markets ground lower through the end of the week after printing a new recent high for the S&P and Nasdaq.

The announcement of the removal of the Fed punchbowl and weak European debt auctions (yields spiked) drug on markets this week. Friday markets were closed and it may have been a good thing. The Jobs Report was released and it missed expectations of 210k new jobs printing a number of 120k. The futures got pummeled.

The appetite for risk is waning and the S&P is at a pretty critical level between 1390-1400. The S&P has multiple areas of support to the downside. The current support area of mid-1390's will probably give way Monday with the next stop being the low-1370's which is the location of solid chart support, the lower Bollinger Band, and the rising 50 Day Moving Average. We do not expect a nosedive for markets but do expect some lower prices in the short term.

The anticipated weakness should stabilize with earnings season starting and some good opportunities for new positions will present themselves. However, don't rush into new trades. Be patient and judicious with new positions.

Navigate wisely and stay profitable, my friends. Happy trading!

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BOOKINGALPHA UPDATE:

Monthly Trading Service Commentary:

It was a quiet week for the Monthly Trading Service as we did not open or close any positions. Instead, we elected to sit back and let the market give us some indication of where it wants to go.

The S&P registered a new recent high of 1422 this week but pulled back to close the week below 1400. Friday's Job Report will provide a weak start to the coming week and will test strong support levels.

It will be an interesting week and should provide some good opportunities to open new positions. We will not be getting aggressive here as we do expect lower markets to begin the week but things should stabilize and consolidate. We do not expect a cliff dive for markets, simply a pullback and consolidation.

While losses are unfortunate, they are a part of trading. Looking at past trading years you will see drawdowns like this do occur and ultimately, how we prevailed. This is not a justification, merely a reminder that this situation is still within the realm of normal portfolio gyration. While it may be uncomfortable and is surely no fun, my position sizing allows for these drawdowns providing enough capital to recover. See past year's results and let them speak for themselves. For more information please read: Generating Alpha Comes With Volatility

Monthly Trading Service YTD vs S&P 500:

-13.88% YTD BookingAlpha Monthly Advisory

vs.

+11.06% YTD S&P 500

See Trading Record

Weekly Trading Service Commentary:

This week we opened an Iron Condor spread that expired successfully on Friday:

April06 1380/1385/1435/1440 SPX Iron Condor - expired worthless for +8.70% in 3 days.

The S&P touched 1422 this week but then reversed course and found expected support in the high 1390's. We took the opportunity to open the Iron Condor well above the 1422 high with the put side located under well defined chart support and moving averages.

We expected the markets to move higher this week into the employment report and earnings next week. But the opposite happened and markets ground lower through the end of the week after printing a new recent high for the S&P and Nasdaq. Our Iron Condor was never threatened though as the trade was positioned properly to account for a potential pullback, which inevitably did happen through the end of the week.

The successful Iron Condor was another step in the right direction in turning around the Weekly Trading Service portfolio performance YTD.