Moving back to the upside as the Dow gained 80 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were almost 3 to1 positive.  We've worked off the overbought condition in the stock indices.  Higher prices are the next logical conclusion.  Todays action should send the summation index back to the upside.  We should hit new yearly highs for the S&P 500 in the next couple of days.  I'll go out on a limb and say that tomorrows employment report won't make a difference.  We'll probably move higher regardless.  That's my guess at the moment.  GE was little changed on average volume.  No trades there for now.  Gold moved higher on a weaker US dollar.  The gold futures rose $16.  The XAU gained 5 1/2.  ABX and GG tacked on over a buck, while NEM added 3/4.  Volume was light.  It looks as though I've missed the chance for the October gold share calls.  The XAU closed on its high and should continue to the upside tomorrow.  I still may try the November ABX calls.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The OEX calls a couple of days ago looks like another missed opportunity.  Of course that's always easy to say after the fact.  Like I've said before, no uptrend lines have been violated in the stock indexes so the trend is up.  Gold continues to attract capital.  That trend remains in place.  The same things that have been working continue to work.  We'll look to the unemployment report tomorrow for direction but it may be to the upside now matter what.  We'll see.    

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third Week of October

  Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful, and may need to avoid the technique during those times.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the yield, and the market capitalization.

Saul Centers Inc (BFS) 10/15/2012 3.1% $898.9M

Western Asset Managed Municipals Fnd Inc (MMU) 10/17/2012 5.1% $648.8M

Vale SA ADR (VALE) 10/17/2012 6.2% $59.3B

Reaves Utility Income Fund (UTG) 10/17/2012 6.3% $584.4M

Main Street Capital Corporation (MAIN) 10/17/2012 6.1% $921.5M

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Buying Dividends (Dividend Capture) book 25% Off
Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Building a 30 Story Hotel in 15 Days in China

Amazing video about how a 30 story hotel was built in only 15 days in Hunan Provance, China. The building is five times more earthquake resistant than other buildings and five times more energy efficient, four-pane windows, external solar shading, internal window insullation, three stage air filtration, with the air twenty times cleaner than outdoor air, and more. By the way, the 15 days include interiors of the rooms.

Muddling through the days here as the Dow rose 12 points on what now passes for average volume.  The advance/declines were even.  The overall market was stronger than the Dow again.  We also rose in the final hour and that is short term bullish.  Not much for me to say here as it appears that we are simply in a holding pattern awaiting the Friday employment report.  I'm sticking with my bullish resolution.  I may try the OEX calls tomorrow on weakness.  GE was up 1/8 on light volume.  Nothing doing here but we remain overbought.  Gold was up a bit today as was the US dollar.  The XAU fell 2 3/4 as the gold shares diverged from the precious metal.  ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional losses on very light volume.  I have yet to put in an open order for some calls here as we haven't reached an oversold condition.  However I will be getting some calls eventually because the trend here is up and I don't think that it's over.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  So we wait for Friday and that is the next market moving event.  A little over 2 weeks left in the October option cycle.  My thinking remains that higher prices are in the offing but I could be wrong.  The summation index continues lower but prices haven't followed.  The uptrend lines on the indices have not been violated yet either.  The presidential re-election rally remains in place.  Gold has been moving sideways for 3 weeks.  A rally in the stock market may not mean a rally in gold though.  We are almost back to the uptrend line in gold that now is at the 1760 level.  We'll see if it holds.  

How Do I Qualify?

If you type How Do I Qualify into the Google (GOOG) search engine, this is what you would get:

Another mixed bag today as the Dow fell on light volume.  The advance/declines were positive.  The overall market was stronger than the Dow today.  I really feel that we are about to take off to the upside soon.  We've had plenty of time to fall here but it just isn't happening.  I think that I will look at the October OEX calls tomorrow to try and find a trade.  We've been moving sideways for a week and it is time to get going.  I could be wrong but I don't think so.  GE was off a touch on average volume.  No trades here for now.  Gold fell $7 on the futures and the US dollar was lower a bit as well.  The XAU fell 1 1/4.  ABX, GG and NEM had fractional losses on light volume.  The gold shares have been moving nowhere for a couple of weeks since the huge move that began in August.  I'm still a believer in higher prices here.  I'm not sure if I'll try the October or November gold share calls though.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  It could be that we are just waiting for Fridays employment report at the moment.  The summation index continues lower but I am guessing that it will turn around soon.  When markets drop, they usually go straight down and we have been hanging around now for a while.  A short squeeze rally could be in order.  Gold is hesitating but the underlying fundamentals for higher prices haven't changed.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.

A mixed market today despite the 78 point rise in the Dow.  The NASDAQ showed a slight loss.  The advance/declines were positive.  Volume was light.  We should be seeing a rise here in my opinion, ahead of the employment report on Friday.  But the action lately has been sloppy.  The summation index continues heading lower.  I'm sticking with a bullish stance unless we break the uptrend line in the S&P 500 at 1420.  GE was up 1/8 on average volume.  As long as GE continues higher it should bode well for the stock indices.  Gold was up almost $10 on the futures today as the US dollar was lower.  The XAU rose 1 1/8.  ABX and GG showed slight gains, while NEM had a fractional loss.  Volume was light.  I'm still considering the October gold share calls but have not put in another order just yet.  I may go out to November here.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  It's never a good sign when the Dow is the strongest index and the over the counter market lags.  That's what we got today.  It's a short term negative in my opinion.  The technicals here are getting mixed, which makes for a tough directional call.  But like I said before as long as 1420 holds on the S$P 500, I'll still look for higher prices.  It's still a presidential re-election rally for now.  Gold is still above the uptrend line from mid-August.  The short term technicals for gold remain overbought.  We'll check the overseas markets overnight and go from there.