TRADING WEEK FEB12-16

Like a moth to the flame the S&P couldn't resist the 5K level. The intraday trading ranges were a weak 4.15, 2.27, 3.17 1.45 and 3.16. The hi-lo was a little better at 11.42. The previous week SPY was up 1.4% and the VIX was up 4.5%. This past week SPY was also up 1.4% but the VIX was down a traditional 7.2%. That might signal that the upward moves will be more of a grind. Last week you weren't going to make or lose a lot whether you had a positive or negative gamma position. There are a couple of inflation numbers this week that could possibly shake up the market. The SPY 16Feb24 502 straddle can be purchased for 5.62. CPI comes out on the 13th at 8:30am ET. Instead of twenty-four hours later, the PPI comes out seventy-two hours later. Don't know why it's not back to back every month. U.S. Retail Sales comes out at 8:30am ET on the 15th, followed forty-five minutes later by Industrial Production. Housing Starts, along with PPI, come out at 8:30am ET on the 16th. KO and SHOP release earnings on the 13th before the opening, with HOOD and LYFT releasing after the close. GOLD releases before the opening on the 14th with CSCO and OXY releasing after the close. AMAT and DASH release after the close on the 15th. WMT and HD release before the opening on the 20th.