U.S. indexes are seeing tepid movement, and the DJIA has been dragged down by a slide in shares of General Electric (GE). A new CEO transition and expected uncertainty with change drove the share price down almost 3% in Monday trading. Due to the Columbus Day holiday, some markets are closed- such as the bonds market- which is dampening trading action. Friday saw a release of monthly jobs data which was impacted by the effects of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which caused pullbacks in equities.

At the time of publication, the DJIA is up 0.01%, or 3.20 points, at 22,777. The S&P 500 is trading at 2,548- down 0.05% from the open. The Nasdaq-100 is up 0.05% at 6,594.

Using the ^GSPC symbol to analyze the S&P 500, our 10-day prediction window shows  slight positive signals. Today’s positive vector figure of +0.11% moves to +0.34% in three trading sessions.  Today’s predicted support and resistance is 2,542.62 (± 2.33) and 2,565.65 (± 2.35), respectively. The predicted close today is 2,557.38. Prediction data is uploaded after market close at 6 p.m., CST. Today’s data is based on market signals from the previous trading session.  

Highlight of a Recent Winning Trade

On October 6, our ActiveTrader service- included in all of our membership plans- generated a Bullish recommendation for KeyCorp (KEY).

Trade Breakdown

Within the first two hours of trading, KEY dropped consistently and hit the Entry 1 price range of $18.60 (± 0.10). Within the next hour of trading, the stock reached its Target of $18.79 before dropping again. The Stop Loss was set at $18.41.

Must-buy Stock for Tuesday

Our must-buy stock for Tuesday is D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI), a major U.S. homebuilder. The stock is showing strong bullish momentum in our Stock Forecast Toolbox’s 10-day forecast. Our 10-day prediction model shows positive vector signals building from +1.01% to above +2.50% within three trading sessions.

DHI is trading at $41.21 at the time of publication, up 0.32% from the open with a +1.01% vector figure.

Tuesday’s prediction shows an open price of $41.39, a low of $41.08 and a high of $41.76.

The predicted close for Tuesday is $41.74. Vector figures show +1.69% for Tuesday, which continue to rise from there.  

Prediction data is uploaded after market close at 6 p.m., CST. Today’s data is based on market signals from the previous trading session.

Note: The Vector column calculates the change of the Forecasted Average Price for next trading session relatively to average of actual prices for last trading session. The column shows expected average price movement “Up or Down”, in percent. Trend traders should trade along predicted direction of the Vector. The higher the value of the Vector the higher its momentum.

Crude oil prices are recuperating today after seeing drops on Friday, due to crude production infrastructure being taken offline in the Gulf of Mexico in preparation for Hurricane Nate. This Wednesday and Thursday will be in focus for market participants with two key reports being released. OPEC will be releasing market data on Wednesday and the International Energy Agency will be showing their data on Thursday.   West Texas Intermediate for November delivery is priced at $49.42 per barrel at the time of publication, up 0.37% from the open.  

Looking at USO, a crude oil tracker, our 10-day prediction model shows overall negative signals. The fund is trading at $10.03 at the time of publication, which is up 0.60% from the open. Today’s prediction sees support at $9.82 (± 0.04) and resistance at $9.97 (± 0.04). The predicted close for today is $9.82. Vector figures show -0.86% today, moving to -1.12% within the next trading session.  Prediction data is uploaded after market close at 6 p.m., CST. Today’s data is based on market signals from the previous trading session.   

Gold

The price for December gold is up 0.70% at $1,283.40 a troy ounce at the time of publication. A series of cryptic tweets and statements from U.S. President Donald Trump has all but threatened military action with North Korea. Tensions had previously seemed to draw down in recent weeks, but investors are increasingly anxious about the rhetorical brinksmanship on display. In the event that this escalation does not lead anywhere, market participants expect the gains in gold to be temporary as a near-future Fed rate hike would strengthen the U.S. dollar.  Gold prices tend to move inversely with the U.S. dollar- the currency in which the metal is denominated.

Using SPDR GOLD TRUST (GLD) as a tracker in our Stock Forecast Tool, the 10-day prediction window shows consistent negative signals. The gold proxy is trading at $121.75, up 0.54% at the time of publication. Today’s predicted low is $119.62 (± 0.23) and the predicted high is $121.09 (± 0.23). The predicted close today is $120.76. Prediction data is uploaded after market close at 6 p.m., CST. Today’s data is based on market signals from the previous trading session.   

Treasuries

Due to the Columbus Day holiday, bond markets are closed. Looking forward into the week, investors will likely start reacting to economic news as early as tomorrow. There will also be a focus on Fed commentary and clues as to the possibility of a December interest rate hike. As of last Friday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note is up 0.009% at 2.36% at the time of publication. Bond prices tend to move inversely to yields.

Using the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) as a proxy for bond prices in our Stock Forecast Tool, we see initial positive movement followed by a negative reversal which holds for the remainder of the 10-day prediction window. Today’s vector of +0.08% moves to -0.10% within four trading sessions. The ETF is priced at $123.91 at the time of publication- up 0.26% from the open. The predicted close today is $123.82 with a low and high of $122.99 (± 0.19) and $124.03 (± 0.19), respectively.  Prediction data is uploaded after market close at 6 p.m., CST. Today’s data is based on market signals from the previous trading session.

Volatility

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 3.52% to 9.99 at the time of publication, and our 10-day prediction window shows initial negative signals followed by a stronger uptick in the latter half of the forecast. Historically, October tends to be the most volatile month of the year, although we have seen relatively little to no spikes in recent weeks. If there were to be a volatility spike, one would expect it in the coming weeks. Volatility tends to skew up in October and draw back down toward the end of November. Keep in mind we are also entering another round of earnings reports.  The predicted close today is 9.95 with a negative vector of -0.60%. Today’s predicted lows and highs are 9.68 (± 0.18) and 10.11 (± 0.18), respectively. Prediction data is uploaded after market close at 6 p.m., CST. Today’s data is based on market signals from the previous trading session.