The 250K Portfolio was up $4,000 on the day and the 50K Portfolio was up $850 on the day to end the week strong as we finish the first week of Q2 on a holiday shortened week. The market was "slow" and "quiet" this week with a 4 day trading week while also waiting for the Jobs Report at 7:30 am CST on Friday.
The Nasdaq futures strategies only took 5 trades on 4 different strategies today while the S&P futures strategies took 12 trades today on 8 different strategies. The chopper, mean reversion and counter trend strategies were very active today with Cobra CT III leading the way.
The stock index futures close tomorrow at 8:15 am CST tomorrow, 45 minutes after the Jobs Report. The Bonds and Currency futures on the CME close at 10:15 am CST.
I had anticipated more strength this week in the market after a strong finish to Q1. There wasn't much follow through, and the market pulled back ahead of the jobs report. Unless there is some drastic news on the Jobs Report, CPI, or from the Fed, I believe there will be another move higher with a target of 14,000 in the Nasdaq towards the middle of the month.
I'm not bullish on the fundamentals but the liquidity is driving prices higher once again.
The Fed balance sheet release is now "an event" that is in the media. We have been watching the balance sheet for awhile as it is one of the biggest fundamentals in the stock market since it add to the liquidity and gives the bulls an advantage in the market. It is typically released at 4:30 pm EST on Thursdays from the previous week (Wednesday to Wednesday).
I'm not sure why the Fed's balance sheet can't become more of a real time quote for the sake of accountability and transparency. It used to be more of a static number and a weekly update was sufficient. Now it can be a big $300 - $500 billion surprise.
If $FEDBAL greater than $FEDBAL(1) then DontShort;
For the week (seven day period) ending April 5th, the Fed's balance sheet went down $73 billion.
Have a good Easter Holiday.
