Crises in Ukraine and the US economy

 Iam hoping the US stock market will get back on track and continue to grow, that is if investors released anxiety over the crisis in Ukraine and any signs that the US economy is weakening.

As with all economic news coming up, investors will be watching for us signs that poor weather played a role in recent weak economic data. This should strengthen the economy because it would confirm that the economic setbacks are nothing more than temporary.

This week we have the American consumer confidence and sentiment coming out along with data on new home sales and durable good orders.  We need to keep our eyes on any escalation that can happen in the Ukraine.  Our markets are still bullish, but they are easily upset by world events and with weakening data here and abroad. Economic news tending to look a bit better as winter spring, but Ukraine is a hotbed. Two weeks ago the markets lost 2% because of the fears over the Ukraine and slowdown in the Chinese economy. Last week we are up 1.4% which is our best weekly gain since February.  Even though Russia is annexing the Crimea, Moscow said there will be no other Ukrainian regions subject intervention. This may dampen the sphere in the markets for period of time.

It is going to be a busy economic week both on the US and European front for economic news. Investors will be getting information on whether consumers emptied their wallets last month or not. The Commerce Department will release February data on US personal income and consumption Friday and economists are expecting very slim gains.  A readjusted GDP comes out on Thursday.

What's really important about all this data is beginning to see some clearing on the impact of weather over the winter. Hopefully this will give us better readings on things to come.  1Q 2014 earnings are going to be impacted by the weather and that's for to carry through with all the information coming out in spring.  Companies have been announcing negative profit outlooks for the first quarter because of the harsh weather. Don't be surprised on pessimistic earnings because of this. We have 108 negative outlooks so far and only 16 positive for 1Q of 2014. 

My results for the year are posted so you can see what and when I traded weekly. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aj-gjBJLwH3rdERid3A0RE1GRFlyaHB0S0VxbHc0Vnc&usp=drive_web#gid=0 (SLOW MONEY OPTIONS)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aj-gjBJLwH3rcjJqRndVSlBzY2hNenM4YXZQT1FBZEE&usp=drive_web#gid=0  (FAST MONEY TRADING)

You know I had some good days and some bad, good weeks and bad weeks.  But I have a trading plan, goal and consistency in my trading and that is what I'm trying to teach you.  I believe each of you can do the same thing it takes discipline.   Remember me talking about trading/investing is like running a business? 

So how did we do this past week with SLOW MONEY OPTIONS?  If you remember I gave a live video chat about how to set up and what th lookfor on your AAPL charts in the trading room and at that time said AAPLs bollenger bands were favoring the puts at that time.  YOu certantely could have do the AAPL put spreads for more money that day.  But like usually I want to take a more concertative position and consistency is what Im after  I traded the AAPL 717/520 puts for .07credit and just let them expire was unable to get the Call spreads (Bullish) side on due to the Bollengerr bands did not coporate.  The same could be said for the SPY the put earned me a tity .05credit and was unable to get the bullish s to coporate.  The bollenger bands were getting wider indicating much more room to the upside and volume picking up and finally the price. Remember you will live to trade another day if you don't get greedy and learn to take a small loss to be right.  I'm in this for the long hall and will not take undue risk. Remember always take the more conservative spread is the reason that I give you choices. What I do is take all my recommendations just split the money between choices. You can trade just enough to give you an extra days results of trading or trade enough to give you a weeks worth of trading. The choice is yours take responsibility. I am trading weekly options to help you grow your portfolios a little each week. We are either making money or not losing money. Thank you for letting me serve you, I consider it a privilege to work with each of you. I strive to make a successful trade one week at a time.Are you making money? If not why not trade with me. Remember the goal is to make money NOT lose money . . . Duh . . . . . . . Take a look and see how Slow Money Option Trading went

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc key=0AjgjBJLwH3rdERid3A0RE1GRFlyaHB0S0VxbHc0Vnc&authkey=COb7xdMJ

Remember if your not a paid up member of the Fast MoneyTradingTeam you will not get the weekly Slow Money Option recommendations. Yes, I expect to publish Wednesday,Thursday or Friday my weekly option trade to the paid up members.