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Author Message   Entrepreneur Kurra Bewarse Username: Entrepreneur Post Number: 3868 Registered: 05-2011 Rating: N/A Votes: 0 Posted on Tuesday, January 04, 2022 - 9:37 am:    Some early thoughts- 4800 sets up as the early battleground state A relatively quiet overnight session that saw the S&P press to a record high 4807.50 at 6:15am. Futures witnessed steady buying from the close of the U.S. markets until hitting that level. Volume was light but we did see markets in China, Australia, and the U.K. reopen, leading to a higher participation than what we saw on Monday. Some sellers emerged leading S&P futures back to test the 4800 area for support. This sets up as the early battleground for bulls and bears. The Nasdaq saw a brief dip at the open of European trade but, other than that 10-minute sell off, saw similar price action. The NQs rallied to 16560 at 6:15am before seeing sellers come back into play. The index is coming in to test the overnight lows (16484, 3:45am) which sets up as an early level to monitor. European markets posted solid gains with the STOXX Europe 600 +0.9%. Cyclical groups including autos, industrials, travel/leisure, banks and energy led the way. Defensive plays, key leaders during the Santa Claus rally, continued to see light selling. Treasury Yields are pressing higher with the 30-year pushing to 2.06%, testing its 200-sma for the first time since late October. The 10-year bolts to 1.67% and is eyeing up a test of the 52-week high of 1.67% set back in early April. The 5-year rallied to 1.39% and is at its highest level since the start of the pandemic. The debate behind the moves (inflation vs growth) will continue but it should bode well for the banking sector. Our FAS long is pushing above the 50-sma ($135) in early trade. Crude is finding an early bid as it pushes above its 50-sma and is up 1.1% in early trade. Today, OPEC+ is widely expected to increase its production by 400K bpd for February. This should lead to a test of the 50-sma for support but black gold remains in a firm upward trend. A relatively slow calendar once again. Some items we will watch today include the ISM Manufacturing release, vehicle sales, OPEC+, and President Biden's remarks on omicron. The latter should be interesting as I expect the president to try and downplay the severity of the illness for those who have been vaccinated. We will watch JETS and PEJ for any reaction. Smart Global (SGH) reports earnings after the close. The Brazilian chipmaker will provide us early insight into the supply chain issues for semis. SGH shares have been on a tear since mid-December when it broke above the $62 level. Stifel was out saying it expected a strong set of results from the company which would provide further evidence of positive changes to the overall business and operating models. Still, we may see some profit taking ahead of tonight's results.