Binary Options Weekly Report (August 27 – August 31)

MARKETS

US equities finished the week lower by 0.3% at 1406.5 but Fridays trading action did see the market’s rally on news from Jackson Hole Symposium where Fed Chairman Bernanke spoke and has paved the way for more QE. NASDAQ fell 0.2% to 2772. In the option space total Put/Call ratio of 0.807 suggests options plays still favor bullish moves but did bounce around on the week oscillating between bullish (0.722) and bearish (1.307) but finished on the bullish tone. Volatility on the CBOE VIX picked up again at 17.47 up 15% on the week and this is the second week where markets have not moved so much but volatility has – news flow is critical and markets maybe setting up for some big moves in the coming weeks. The DJIA fell 0.5% at 13,091.

 

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S&P500 Weekly Chart

 

 

FOREX

Dollar Index fell again for the third week down 0.5% to 81.216 as markets pre-empt the Fed’s next move on QE. Eyes on this week’s economic data which is jam packed and may be the decider for the Fed at its September 13 meeting. EUR/USD rallied 0.5% to 1.2577 as the markets were buoyed by Fed comments at Jackson Hole. Elsewhere, AUD was down 0.7% for the week to 1.0321. JPY was down 0.4% to 78.3710, and the GBP was stronger by 0.4% to 1.5863. Treasuries yields continue to push lower finishing the week on their lows at 1.562% on the US 10yrs. The lows seen back in July of 1.392% on US 10 yr yields maybe the target in light of the possibility of further Fed purchases.

 

 

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US Dollar Index Weekly Chart

 

COMMODITIES

Crude Inventories this week reversed some of the previous weeks draws with a build of 3.8m  barrels versus analyst forecast of 1.1m drawdown despite this news Brent rallied 1.2% on the possibility of QE where it finished the week at  USD114.92. WTI was up 0.5% to 96.56. RBOB unleaded gasoline futures closed down 3.2% at 2.9715. Natural Gas bounced 3.7% at 2.802. Heating Oil finished up 2% to 3.1815 on the week. Gold continues to push higher up 1.2% at USD$1692.60 /oz in New York as markets rallied on possible QE.

 

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RBOB Unlead Gasoline Weekly Chart

 

EQUITIES

 

HPQ -4.0% Hewlett Packard trades down to 8 year lows- market selling on weak outlook and results.

 

LLY +2.4% decided to stop developing a potential schizophrenia drug

 

BAC -2.1% gave up gains after Bernanke spoke. This was a similar theme across the financial sector

 

Facebook Inc -7% concerns over business expenditures on social networking may drop in the face of a slowing global economy

 

NOK -8.4% as Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled its new Windows Phone8 smartphones. Samsung is in direct competition with Nokia’s Lumia smartphones.