The troops are making an effort to generate some upside action, and they even had a pretty good sentiment report to help out, but we just don't have much energy in front of the long weekend. Some folks are looking to bet on positive news out of Europe over the weekend, but many others are just as nervous about further negative developments.
Quite often, this sort of thin, choppy, pre-holiday trading will produce some pockets of action, but we aren't seeing much of that at all today. A few small-cap biotechs, such as Complete Genomics (GNOM), Rosetta Genomics (ROSG), Neptune Technologies and Bioresources (NEPT) and Repros Therapeutics (RPRX) are active, and a good earnings report from Frontline (FRO) has created slight interest in bulk shipping, but there really is no leadership or hot action to be found.
In fact, the weakness in big-caps such as Apple (AAPL), Priceline.com (PCLN), Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG) is helping to undercut the efforts to bounce. Google in particular is worrisome, as it is trading below its 200-day simple moving average for the first time since last summer. Facebook isn't helping either, as its two-day bounce fails to gain further traction.
I expect to see some folks place bets on European action as we near the close, but in the interim it should just be a random dance on light volume. If you like playing slot machines, you may enjoy trading this sort of action.
