Futures Point to a Higher Open in Front of FOMC Announcement...

BMO – ES +3.00 and NQ +5.00 futures are slightly higher in pre-market trading pointing to a slightly higher open. AAPL -0.04, AMZN -0.13, GOOG -3.07 and BIDU +5.32 are mixed in pre-market trading.

The SP futures are higher this morning in front of the FOMC announcement at 2:15 pm EDT. Generally the market trades in a tight range in leading into an announcement and then volatility picks up close to the announcement. Looking at Monday afternoon’s rally and pre-market trading it appears that traders will hold the 1,150 resistance area before the announcement.

Patience is the operative for Tuesday. Prices rallied from Monday’s break of the low of the high day, indicating that sellers were not yet willing to fully commit to the downside and from these price levels and buyers have not given up on a breakout of resistance. Friday is still the high day. Watch to see if Tuesday trading is able to move higher than Friday’s high of 1,153.41.

Pre-market trading is light and mixed across the board.

The Euro is up 50 pips in overnight trading. Oil is quoting up 50 cents in electronic trading. XLE is up 20 cents in pre-market trading.

SPY is up 29 cents in pre-market trading. XLF is up 6 cents in pre-market trading. Watch XLF as a key to any sustained move in the SPX. Remember XLF is at horizontal resistance after trading in a sideways range since October…a breakout here will likely lead to a breakout of SPX.

Follow your rules in any trading actions today. Be logical.

Look at these Charts

(click image to enlarge)

SPX
Support = 1,139, 1,125 -1,133
Resistance = 1,150 – 1,153

Trading Down: V, FAZ
Trading Up: POT, FAS, FCX, GS, MOS, USO, X, MON, IPI, AGU, WMT, GES, CAT, STT, HANS, BAC, WFC, UAUA, UYG

At the Open on Tuesday
SPY –
QQQQ –
FAS –
X –
POT –
CREE –
UAUA –
SNDK –
AAPL –
ALGT –
ALTR –
NFLX –
RIMM –
STX –
SHLD –
BUCY –
BA –
DOW –
DE –
FCX –
WHR –
ZION –
STT –
GMCR –
AGU –
IPI –
DHR –
V –
NVDA –
AMD –
PCLN –
DECK –
CAT –
PCP –
UNP –
CF –
ACN –