To save time on reading we are cutting back on the archived letters of this expiration cycle by taking out the Economic effects, Next Weeks economic effects sections as they are very large. We also took out the track records section as you can find it in another part of the site. This expiration cycle contains 4 letters.
May Expiration April 24th 1998
Davidsons View
Well, we finished the week off with a bang as selling set in once again. At
the start of the day it looked like the market might make a big comeback from
yesterdays sell off as the internet stocks were reported to have a strong open
today. The market actually rallied the first hour of trading but when the buyers dried up
so did the rally! From there it was all downhill. At its low the Dow was off 123.00
points, S & P 500 was off 14.50 points. The Dow came back to close off of its
low in the last half hour to finish the day at 9064.62, losing 78.71 points. The S
& P 500 closed at 1107.90 to lose 11.68 points. The S & P 100 lost -5.98
points to close at 535.17. Although this seems dramatic, it has been so long since we have
seen that sharp of a sell off I still consider the market to be just grinding lower. For
example, for the week the overall market lost only about 1.3% and the Nasdaq composite was
actually up. (see below) The good thing was that many people reported fills today as they
were able to squeak into the long put trades on the S & P 500 1075/1070s and the
S & P 100 510/505s. They were also able to grab the ultra 1050/1040 put trade.
Prices are listed below. The market is moving lower and has now broken some key support
levels but it is far from major support lines. The S & P 500 has good support at 1090
and we just may see that level tested next week. As we get closer to May though the market
will likely begin to move higher as it is already showing signs of being oversold and the
month of May is usually a stronger month. We could see a trading range between 9200 on the
upside and 8900 on the downside for the Dow being established as we move into the summer
doldrums trading. This will be good for us as golf and tennis season is fast approching so
we wont be bored but well still be making money as the flatter the market
is,,, the better!! It is fun though to see some down moves in the market right now to keep
things interesting and profitable for us!!!
Interesting News this week
We found this article in last weeks Barrons and we thought you may be interested in reading this portion of it as it talks about "speculators" of the market.
Jim Bianco knows how to use a computer. Which, of course, doesn't truly distinguish him from millions of other folks, including the hordes that have some connection with Wall Street. What does distinguish him is that he uses his computer creatively. No one we know is more adept at teasing meaning out of disparate and often arcane investment data. Jim runs Bianco Research. (How do they think up those clever names?) And what prompts that little gush of encomium above are both past examples of his handiwork that have graced these columns -- notably, his innovative graphic depiction of the stock market as a percentage of GDP -- and, more immediately, his latest communique, which contains an intriguing sell signal on the market. Actually, what's intriguing is less the "sell" than the signal (although we should note that Jim is neither chronically bearish nor bullish). Specifically, tracking the behavior of big traders in S&P 500 futures, he finds that they are net long and, in fact, have been so two weeks in a row. That's extraordinary and significant; literally extraordinary because this group is rarely net long, and significant because when they've been so in the past it inevitably preceded, at the very least, a long dull stretch, and at worst, a sizable selloff in the stock market. Those so-called large traders are venturesome types who are averse to dealing directly in stocks and who have more than 300 futures contracts. They are, in other words, those horrid animals -- speculators -- and include the likes of floor traders, commodity funds and small hedge funds eager to get the greater leverage offered by futures and the commodity marts in which they're traded. They generally share certain traits: They're trend-followers and devotees of technical systems of trading. They are distinct and separate from hedgers (commercial and institutional types), who constitute the other major participants in the futures markets. You can tell the speculators from the hedgers by the different kinds of margin the two groups are permitted to use, duly recorded on forms that must be filed with the powers-that-be. Jim uses these filings to determine the weekly positions of the speculators. As noted, the speculators have been net long for two straight weeks. Which, perhaps coincidentally, perhaps ominously, is the first time they've been in that position for back-to-back weeks since October 9, 1987. In all, Jim reports, only six times previously since 1984 have large traders in the futures markets been net long. The first was on November 2, 1984, and for the next five months or so, stocks pretty much were in the doldrums; only when the speculators went heavily net short did stocks rally. They next went long on April 4, 1986, on the heels of a huge rally in late '85-early '86, and stayed that way for some months. Stocks did nothing for the rest of the year. The aforementioned October 1987 instance was followed by -- but why stir unpleasant memories? After the big traders went long on August 29, 1988, the market moped along for six months; when it resumed its ascent, they were, need we say, short. The speculative contingent next went long on February 3, 1989, and stocks took 11 weeks to make a new high. Finally, on January 27, 1992, the large traders were once again bullish, and stocks once again topped out; it took eight months for prices to reach a fresh peak. Wherefore is this stock-market sell signal different from all other stock-market sell signals? Simple, Jim declares: "This one actually works!"
Technically
This past week we were talking about how the market had a head and shoulders top in place. Once again it became short term bullish instead of bearish. In the 80s a head and shoulders top always meant you were headed down. In the 90s it means that youre heading up. It will be interesting to see when the change comes once again. Maybe next time will mean a sideways market!! Even though the markets head and shoulders pattern didnt break down, the advance/decline line did and is headed lower. This is a little worrisome and could result in a stronger correction later on so we are watching it closely.
Mclellan Oscillator: -115 -100 oversold +100 overbought (Thursdays
numbers)
Summation Index: 2362 (Thursdays numbers)
Five day arms: .90 .80 and below, overbought 1.00 and above, oversold
Ten day arms: .79 .80 and below, overbought 1.00 and above, oversold
Bulls: 54.6 previous week 52.8 50% plus overbought/bearish
Bears: 23.1 previous week 23.6 50% plus oversold /bullish
Correction: 22.3 previous week 23.6
Five day Qvix: 20.73 10-15 bullish, low volatility 15-40 bearish, high volatility
MARKET CLOSES
Index |
Last Week |
This Week |
Change |
Percent |
Dow Jones |
9167.50 |
9064.62 |
-102.88 |
.01 |
S & P 500 |
1122.72 |
1107.90 |
-14.82 |
1.3 |
S & P 100 |
542.87 |
535.17 |
-7.70 |
1.4 |
Nasdaq |
1866.60 |
1868.94 |
-2.34 |
0.1 |
30 Year bond |
5.87% |
5.96% |
Program Trades
Well, we had a good week getting all of our fills on trades. We filled the long calls early in the week so they are now looking great with the downturn in the market. Today we filled the long puts with the strong down move we had. We were able to get into the ultra put with the big downturn in the market Friday afternoon with the Dow off 122 points, S & P 500 14.50 points. Well now wait and see how far this correction carries. Normally the first stage down in a correction is not that deep and usually the market will retrace most of its fall or even retest the old high. While all of this is happening our premiums on our trades are decaying!!! Just what we want!
Current Trades
Average Entry price |
Bid |
ask |
last |
|
510 sold OEX Put $3.50 |
Long trade |
3.38 |
3.50 |
3.50 |
500 bought OEX Put $2.75 |
$.75 long trade |
2.88 |
2.93 |
2.88 |
1170 sold SPX Call $4.32 |
Long trade |
1.25 |
1.44 |
1.32 |
1175 bought SPX Call $3.58 |
$.75 long trade |
.75 |
.93 |
1.25 |
1075 sold SPX Put $9.00 |
Long trade |
9.88 |
10.88 |
9.63 |
1070 bought SPX Put $8.13 |
$.88 long trade |
8.00 |
9.00 |
9.00 |
1050 sold SPX 1050 Put $5.88 |
Ultra trade |
5.75 |
6.00 |
6.00 |
1040 sold SPX 1040 Put $4.88 |
$1.00 ultra trade |
4.75 |
5.50 |
5.00 |
1185 sold SPX Call $2.00 |
Outright short $2.00 |
.06 |
.56 |
.44 |
May Expiration May 1st. 1998
The tidal-wave flow of cash into U.S. stock mutual funds showed signs of slowing in April, this past week saw net outflows but for the month remained strong enough to generate some concerns about investors possibly unrealistic expectations. April inflows for equity funds are projected to hit $18.7 billion, according to Mutual Funds Trim Tabs, which tracks monthly investments and withdrawals at mutual funds. That compares with the $23.18 billion in new cash that U.S. equity funds accepted in March, according to revised figures released on Wednesday by the Investment Company Institute, an industry trade group. As stocks keep on climbing to record levels, so do cash flows this is keeping many people awake at night. While Trim Tabs projects a slight decline from the March figure, its still a lot of money. In a news release, ICI said that new cash going into equity funds in March declined from the $24.17 billion these funds accepted in February. But some fund companies said they took in more new cash in March than in February, and that April new cash acceptances were running strongly ahead of Marchs pace. Inflows into equity funds were $1.7 billion in March, while through April 27 these funds had taken in $824 million. International funds still experienced outflows in March, but at a much lesser pace than earlier in the year. And for April so far, the flows into these funds are positive. Weve turned the corner here on international, mainly due to Europe being so strong of late. We need to watch this data closely as it will give clues to the strength of the stock and bond markets in the future and if recent in-flows have been just for tax purposes.
Davidsons View
Well the economy seemed to be moving into an inflationary mode at the start
of the week with the 30 year bond rising to 6.07% but by the end of the week the economy
was moving along at a steady pace with no inflation in sight. The important thing to note
is that the market was threatened at the start of the week by a RUMOR and by the end of
the week economic indicators clearly revealed that inflation is under control and the
economy is chugging along. For example, one of Allan Greenspans most important
indicators came out much weaker than expected this week, employment cost index was only up
+.07%. For the 12 months ending in March, overall employment costs rose 3.3%, unchanged
from the 12-month gain in December. That advance had been the fastest since a 3.5% rise in
1993. Although it is hard to believe, we still dont see any inflation in the economy
after 8 years now of an expanding economy. The market however sure gave us signs that it
will react if there is any idea of inflation coming back. One of the reasons the
market is nervous is because of the lower earnings that are coming out. So far, 87% of the
S & P 500 have reported their earnings and they are 8% above predictions however, they
were already revised down strongly and 2nd quarter earnings are expected to be
even less. I think the advance will continue in this rally at least until expiration but
we may be finally seeing a top being put in place. The Dow could rally to 9400, S & P
500 1150. That isnt even close to our trades so we dont have to worry and
looking at the expiration chart it reveals that any move from here would have to be
parabolic in nature to even get close to 1170 by May 15th. I think the downside for now,
will be limited as the market appears to be quite oversold. A typical condition in the
first part of a correction. None the less it should be an interesting week!
Technically
Mclellan Oscillator: +8 -100 oversold +100 overbought
Summation Index: 1268
Five day arms: .97 .80 and below, overbought 1.00 and above, oversold
Ten day arms: .94 .80 and below, overbought 1.00 and above, oversold
Bulls: 53.8 previous week 54.6 50% plus overbought/bearish
Bears: 23.5 previous week 23.1 50% plus oversold /bullish
Correction: 22.7 previous week 22.3
Five day Qvix: 23.08 10-15 bullish, low volatility 15-40 bearish, high volatility
MARKET CLOSES
Index |
Last Week |
This Week |
Change |
Percent |
Dow Jones |
9064.62 |
9147.07 |
+82.45 |
0.9 |
S & P 500 |
1107.90 |
1121.01 |
+13.11 |
1.2 |
S & P 100 |
535.17 |
541.47 |
+6.30 |
1.2 |
Nasdaq |
1868.94 |
1873.43 |
+4.53 |
0.2 |
30 Year bond |
5.96% |
5.93% |
Program Trades
This week was loads of fun as a few people decided to leg out of the 1170/1175 long trade to pick up a 10% profit on the spread and own the 1175s for free. Some of the trades may have been sold on Friday for an additional .50 (10%) profit but we havent had any confirmations back yet. We also bought back the 1185 call trade for a profit of $1.75 (3%). We also placed an outright short on the 1020 May SPX puts when the big selloff occurred on Monday for $5.00 or (10%). A few people had also decided to wait on the 1065/1060 program trades to be filled and were with the lower move. With the market rallying back from that big fall it has returned to an upward bias once again but the program numbers reveal that none of our trades will be reached by expiration. On the put side, the 1075/1070 SPX, 510/505 OEX put trades only have a 9% penetration risk by expiration. The 1065/1060 SPX put trade only has a 8% chance of being hit and the outright sell on the 1020 put is only 3%. For the upside, the 1170/1175 call area only has a 7% chance of being hit by expiration.
Current Trades
Average Entry price |
Bid |
ask |
last |
|
510 sold OEX Put $3.50 |
Long trade |
1.06 |
1.13 |
1.13 |
500 bought OEX Put $2.75 |
$.75 spread |
.82 |
.88 |
.88 |
1065 sold SPX Put $14.50 |
Long trade |
1.88 |
2.38 |
2.50 |
1060 bought SPX Put $13.50 |
$1.00 spread |
1.65 |
2.13 |
2.50 |
1170 sold SPX Call $4.32 |
Long trade |
.38 |
.50 |
.50 |
1175 bought SPX Call $3.58 |
$.75 spread |
.32 |
.44 |
.50 |
1075 sold SPX Put $9.00 |
Long trade |
2.63 |
3.00 |
2.88 |
1070 bought SPX Put $8.13 |
$.88 spread |
2.06 |
2.82 |
3.25 |
1050 sold SPX 1050 Put $5.88 |
Ultra trade |
1.25 |
1.50 |
1.50 |
1040 sold SPX 1040 Put $4.88 |
$1.00 spread |
.82 |
1.32 |
2.00 |
1020 sold SPX Put $5.00 |
Outright sell $5.00 |
.65 |
.88 |
.75 |
May Expiration May 8th. 1998
Davidsons View
The one-week of the month to ignore technical and fundamental analysis is
expiration week. They have always been different then most weeks and volume is normally
much higher. It used to be that option strategies were always executed on the last day of
expiration creating incredible volatility. Brokerages and traders now use the entire week
to close their positions. I expect this week to be no different. The market is looking
edgy and it could have a stronger correction then were expecting but, it being an
expiration week it will likely be flat or even make an attempt at higher gains into
expiration. Well be watching the Asian markets tonight to see how they are holding
up and if its affecting the Globex S & P 500 in anyway. Anyone that is bold
enough to make daily predictions on the markets movements will have to be pretty good this
week. Were expecting to see all of our short, ultra, long and short sale trades to all be
profitable on expiration giving us an average total of 100% plus profits overall
for this month. Well talk more about that next week but for now well sit back
and let our trades expire worthless! Anyone for golf!!!
Technically
Mclellan Oscillator: -48 -100 oversold +100 overbought
Summation Index: 1363
Five day arms: .91 .80 and below, overbought 1.00 and above, oversold
Ten day arms: .94 .80 and below, overbought 1.00 and above, oversold
Bulls: 47.5 previous week 53.8 50% plus overbought/bearish
Bears: 24.6 previous week 23.5 50% plus oversold /bullish
Correction: 27.9 previous week 22.7
Five day Qvix: 21.93 10-15 bullish, low volatility 15-40 bearish, high volatility
MARKET CLOSES
Index |
Last Week |
This Week |
Change |
Percent |
Dow Jones |
9147.07 |
9055.15 |
-91.92 |
1.0 |
S & P 500 |
1121.01 |
1108.14 |
-12.87 |
1.1 |
S & P 100 |
541.47 |
535.94 |
-5.53 |
1.0 |
Nasdaq |
1873.43 |
1864.33 |
-9.10 |
0.5 |
30 Year bond |
5.93% |
5.97% |
Program Trades
Well were looking great for expiration next Friday. All of the ultra and long calls and puts are registering a less then 7% chance of any of those areas being reached. The short trade we just placed on Thursday is showing that there is only a 17% chance of being reached on expiration. We will wait until Wednesday to change the short trade if needed.
Current Trades
Average Entry price |
Bid |
ask |
last |
|
510 sold OEX Put $3.50 |
Long trade |
.63 |
.68 |
.63 |
500 bought OEX Put $2.75 |
$.75 spread |
.32 |
.38 |
.38 |
1065 sold SPX Put $14.50 |
Long trade |
1.38 |
1.75 |
1.38 |
1060 bought SPX Put $13.50 |
$1.00 spread |
.68 |
1.13 |
1.00 |
1170 sold SPX Call $4.32 |
Long trade |
0 |
.18 |
.06 |
1175 bought SPX Call $3.58 |
$.75 spread |
0 |
.13 |
.06 |
1075 sold SPX Put $9.00 |
Long trade |
1.44 |
1.93 |
2.25 |
1070 bought SPX Put $8.13 |
$.88 spread |
1.25 |
1.63 |
1.63 |
1050 sold SPX 1050 Put $5.88 |
Ultra trade |
.63 |
.93 |
.63 |
1040 sold SPX 1040 Put $4.88 |
$1.00 spread |
.44 |
.68 |
.44 |
1020 sold SPX Put $5.00 |
Outright sell $5.00 |
.06 |
.50 |
.38 |
1100 sold SPX Put $14.25 |
Short trade |
5.50 |
6.25 |
6.00 |
1095 bought SPX Put $11.75 |
$2.25 spread |
4.00 |
4.75 |
4.88 |
May Expiration May 15th. 1998
This past expiration cycle was flatter then average. For the entire period we stayed within 1% of the trading range and ended down .08% for this expiration cycle. 20 days of trading and you dont go anywhere! A credit spreaders dream!! Percentage wise, were now well past the high of 1987 when you look at the rally since 1990. Interestingly, even if we do include the 1994 correction, were now above (in percentage terms) the `87 high. Twice last year the overall market has had a 10% "correction". Since the markets old high in August, the market had mostly gone sideways. It corrected about 10% just after the October expiration period but immediately came off its lows with a sharp 6% rally. As we already said, we believe that a genuine correction in the market lasts longer than a few days or hours. Also, the market needs to consolidate the decline as in 1987 and 1990. We believe that a good correction will endure through an expiration period and be at least 10% lower at expiration. We have not seen such a correction since 1990. It has always been our view that with the multiple of derivative strategies being employed it is not to the benefit of institutions for an expiration period to be too low or too high since institutions are now big sellers of options. They prefer to keep 82% of all options expiring worthless since its a great cash grab for them. The past few years have seen volatility die down around expiration as the institutions now complete their strategies before expiration finishes. This past expiration period was a great example of that. Volume was way down this past week so either there was nothing happening or it was all done last week. For us this was a great month for profits, (see program profits below).
Davidsons View
Technically
We have an interesting pattern about to occur this coming expiration cycle.
The market in general is oversold but appears to want to move lower as the overall market
seems tired. And interestingly, seven out of the past seven times when we have seen more
decliners then advancers for seven straight days we have seen corrections in the S & P
500 from 1.25% to 10%. So far this indicator is 100% accurate so it is hard to ignore it
but June is also the strongest up month of the year. Because of this it would seem that
the S & P 500 will likely test its 50-day average around 1100 in the near term. We
will probably become deeply oversold before we see any decent advance start but not move
down very far in the index because of the expected strong up month.
Mclellan Oscillator: -93 -100 oversold +100 overbought
Summation Index: 707
Five day arms: .96 .80 and below, overbought 1.00 and above, oversold
Ten day arms: .94 .80 and below, overbought 1.00 and above, oversold
Bulls: 45.5 previous week 47.5 50% plus overbought/bearish
Bears: 25.2 previous week 24.6 50% plus oversold /bullish
Correction: 29.3 previous week 27.9
Five day Qvix: 21.36 10-15 bullish, low volatility 15-40 bearish, high volatility
MARKET CLOSES
Index |
Last Week |
This Week |
Change |
Percent |
Dow Jones |
9055.15 |
9096.00 |
+40.85 |
0.4 |
S & P 500 |
1108.14 |
1108.73 |
+.59 |
.05 |
S & P 100 |
535.94 |
538.46 |
+2.52 |
0.4 |
Nasdaq |
1864.33 |
1846.82 |
-17.51 |
0.9 |
30 Year bond |
5.97% |
5.97% |
S & P 100 Expiration 538.46
S & P 500 Expiration 1118.15
Program Trades
Another month for profits! The May expiration cycle was another good month for trades as the market was stuck in a trading range that only saw the S & P 500 & 100 move less then 1% from April's expiration. The short trade we placed just last week turned out with the highest profit of 45% this month. Overall this month we made 45% on Short Trades. 19% on Put Long Trades, 15% on Call Long Trades and 10% on Ultra Trades. This month we could only place an ultra on puts as the market had no calls that met our ultra trade requirements. Finally we even made 11% overall on Short Sells on both calls and puts. We had a huge $5.00 outright sell on the 1020 May Puts. It was an exciting month for us even though the market went no where all month.
Current Trades
Average Entry price |
Bid |
ask |
last |
|
510 sold OEX Put $3.50 |
Long trade |
0 |
0 |
0 |
500 bought OEX Put $2.75 |
$.75 spread |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1065 sold SPX Put $14.50 |
Long trade |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1060 bought SPX Put $13.50 |
$1.00 spread |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1170 sold SPX Call $4.32 |
Long trade |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1175 bought SPX Call $3.58 |
$.75 spread |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1075 sold SPX Put $9.00 |
Long trade |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1070 bought SPX Put $8.13 |
$.88 spread |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1050 sold SPX 1050 Put $5.88 |
Ultra trade |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1040 sold SPX 1040 Put $4.88 |
$1.00 spread |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1020 sold SPX Put $5.00 |
Outright sell $5.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1100 sold SPX Put $14.25 |
Short trade |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1095 bought SPX Put $11.75 |
$2.25 spread |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Copyright © 1998. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AGORA OUTLOOK NEWSLETTER is based upon data that is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed, and subject to change without notice. All projections, forecasts, opinions, and track records cannot be guaranteed to equal our past performance. Persons reading this newsletter are responsible for their actions. Officers and employees of this publication may at times have a position in the securities mentioned, or related services.