Pre-market News and Views

What a turnaround the market is making this morning! The S&P 500 e-mini futures are trading higher by 9.50 points to 1317.75 per contract. This move higher in the futures before the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange is almost recapturing all of yesterday's sharp decline. Could this market be getting played like a yo-yo by the institutions since options expiration is Friday? Just think about how many amateur retail options traders were long call options on leading energy stocks last week such Chevron Corp.CVX, or ConocoPhillipsCOP. Those options are worth a lot less and some worthless at this point. As I always say in my chat room, options expiration week is a feast for the sharks(institutions). The Asian markets all finished the trading session higher last night. The Nikkei 225 Index(Japan) ended higher by 0.90 percent. The highly followed Shanghai Index closed higher by nearly 1.00 percent. When the Shanghai Index finishes the session strong it will usually favor the leading commodity stocks in the United States. Therefore, traders should watch for early activity in stocks such as United States Steel Corp.X, and Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.CLF. These stocks could be strong at the open. The Sensex Index(India) soared the most last night closing higher by 2.25 percent. This should help stocks such as Tata Motors Ltd.TTM, and the India FundIFN. WTI oil is trading higher this morning by 0.53 cents to $106.80 a barrel. Oil sold off by $6.00 in the past two trading sessions on the back of an extended move on the charts and a Goldman Sachs GroupGS downgrade. Personally, I think the decline was due to options expiration games being played by the large institutions. Learn to read the charts and you can usually be protected. Gold and silver are both trading slightly higher this morning as the inflation rally looks alive and well. The SPDR Gold Shares are trading higher by nearly 1.00 point to $142.55 a share. The iShares Silver TrustSLV is trading higher by 0.44 cents to $39.55 a share. As long as central banks continue to flood the markets with liquidity(money) gold, and silver can trade higher. J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.JPM was the first financial giant to report earnings this morning. The stock is trading higher 0.86 cents to $47.50 a share. Who really cares what the company said? Who even believes it? All that matters is the reaction from the stock market and right now the stock is higher before the opening bell. Nicholas Santiago InTheMoneyStocks.com