U.S. Stocks End Lower as Geopolitical Tensions in Asia Increase

Wall Street began the trading week on a subdued note following tensions in Hong Kong which brought with it worries about Chinese growth. U.S. stocks ended lower with the S&P consumer discretionary sector .SPLRCD shedding 0.6 percent after Ford shares dropped sharply by 7.5 percent. The automobile giant lowered its outlook saying its North American forecast will be lower than previously expected. The S&P .500 lost or 0.25 percent, to 1,977.8 while the Dow .DJI shed 41.93 points to 17,071.22. The Nasdaq .IXIC fell 0.14 percent, to 4,505.85.The indexes were primarily driven for most of the trading session by weakness in the telecom and basic materials.
Major Gainers

Anticipation of M&A’s had shares of some companies move upwards sharply. Athlon Energy (NYSE: ATHL) was one of the major gainers on the day as Encana (NYSE: ECA) announced its plans to buy the company for $5.93 billion. Athlon’s shares rose sharply by 24.8 percent to $58.32. Rumors of Softbank’s (OTC: SFTBY) intention to bid for DreamWorks Animation SKG (NASDAQ: DWA) at $32 per share sent shares of the latter up by 26 percent to $28.18. Following Vista Equity Partners agreement to acquire of TIBCO Software (NASDAQ: TIBX) for $4.3 billion, shares of the software company shot up 21.2 percent to $23.65. Shares of global workforce accommodation specialist Civeo (NYSE: CVEO) dropped 49.6 percent to $12.84 as the company released a weak revenue forecast. The company also plans to move its headquarters to Canada and continue as a C Corp.
Euro Steady Following ECB Meeting

In Asian trading on Tuesday, the dollar traded lower against the yen as investors await news of U.S. economic data and from the European Central Bank’s policy meeting this week. The dollar was last trading at 109.32 yen after hitting 109.51. The EUR/USD was up 0.10% at $1.2692 from $1.2685. Despite weakness in the global markets and Japanese stocks, the dollar is still showing resilience. The EUR/JPY was down 0.13% at 138.77 yen. Following the European Central Bank’s meeting the euro which jumped to a seven-month high on Thursday settled below $1.27 in early trading on Friday. The single currency was last trading at $1.2646 after the ECB did not reveal that plans for a quantitative easing program in the near future.
Forex Trading

Binary Options Tip

There are many Forex pairs that can be traded Iron Condors using Nadex Spreads and Iron Butterflies using Nadex Binaries as the US nonfarm payroll data and unemployment rate data are released. A higher than expected US Unemployment Rate should be taken as bearish for the USD while a bullish trend should be taken for lower than expected results. In the case of nonfarm payroll data, the opposite holds true. It is prudent to look for early trades with a 3pm expiration. An Iron Condor can be used to capture the movement if the market is expected to move in one direction and then back to its pre-news position. A straddle is recommended if lots of movement is expected.