A multi-year level is a strong level. SPX is making its third attempt to hold multi-year resistance in the low 1,250s. However, the next few weeks may be volatile, because of the FOMC announcement Tuesday, earnings warning season in late September, end-of-the-quarter “window dressing,” new money at beginning of quarter, and earnings reports in October.

The SPX daily and monthly charts below show major resistance between the mid 1,240s and mid 1,250s, i.e. the two previous four-year highs at 1,246 and 1,243, the 61.8% Fibonacci level (or 38.2% retracement) from the 2000 peak to the 2002 trough at 1,253, and the monthly upper Bollinger Band at 1,251.

There’s more uncertainty about the FOMC meeting Tuesday than other recent meetings, because of hurricane Katrina’s impact on the economy. It’s uncertain if the FOMC will pause, until new economic data reveal the effects of hurricane Katrina, or if it will continue to tighten at a “measured” pace (of small increments).

NYSE volume has been heavy recently, which is typically bullish. Volume was particularly heavy on Friday, because of end-of-the-quarter expiration of futures and options (quadruple-witching). The heavy volume, on the NYSE, suggests SPX may rise into the 1,250s within a few weeks.

Nonetheless, longer-term, there are strong bearish indicators. The SPX to U.S. Dollar ratio is near an all-time high, which suggests SPX will fall and the dollar will rise (since there’s an inverse relationship). Moreover, the Utility and Transport Indices to VIX ratios had parabolic rises over the past two years, and they’re currently back to near their all-time highs. Furthermore, large cap to small cap ratios are near all-time lows indicating large institutions are not convinced that the cyclical bull market will continue.

The U.S. economy is slowing after 2 1/2 years of above trend (and unsustainable) growth. U.S. real growth will slow from 4% in 2004 to about 3 1/2% in 2005. I suspect, the U.S. economic expansion will slow further to below 3% in 2006. However, there’s a negative correlation between employment and earnings. Hurricane Katrina slowed employment growth. So, it seems, the market is betting earnings growth will pick-up, at least short-term.

Oil prices fell from about $71 a barrel three weeks ago to just over $63 Friday. However, OIH (a basket of oil stocks) fell from about $122 a share three weeks ago to only $119.50 Friday. Gasoline prices fell greater than heating oil prices. Energy stocks are about 15% of SPX’s market capitalization, which is one reason why SPX remains high.

It’s uncertain how next week will play-out. However, if SPX rises into the low 1,240s Monday morning, it may pullback to the mid 1,230s, and then rise into the low 1,240s again before the FOMC announcement Tuesday afternoon. If SPX falls Monday morning, to the low 1,230s, it may rise into Tuesday. However, it’s uncertain how much the unwinding of options Friday skewed direction.

If the FOMC pauses, that may initially be bullish, and then bearish, because large institutions will be skeptical. If the FOMC tightens, that may initially be bearish, and then somewhat bullish, although the market will enter earnings warning season (preannouncements) next week. Normally, the true market trend takes place within two or three days after an FOMC announcement.

The market dislikes uncertainty. So, Monday may be particularly volatile. However, I expect most of next week to be volatile. There may be opportunities to make gains with OEX calls and SPX puts early next week. However, later in the week, it may be best to focus on a few top individual stocks, e.g. long-term buys.

Charts available at PeakTrader.com Forum Index Market Overview section.

Arthur Albert Eckart is the founder and owner of PeakTrader. Arthur has worked for commercial banks, e.g. Wells Fargo, Banc One, and First Commerce Technologies, during the 1980s and 1990s. He has also worked for Janus Funds from 1999-00. Arthur Eckart has a BA & MA in Economics from the University of Colorado. He has worked on options portfolio optimization since 1998.

Mr Eckart has developed a comprehensive trading methodology using economics, portfolio optimization, and technical analysis to maximize return and minimize risk at the same time and over time. This methodology has resulted in excellent returns with low risk over the past four years.

When you suffer from a disease like Bipolar it’s extremely important that you become intimately in tune with yourself. Not in sense that your favorite movie is “Steel Magnolias” or “Raging Bull” or that you love pizza and taking long walks on the beach. I mean in the sense that you know how your moods manifest in your day-to-day life.

Being bipolar and trying to remain a contributing member of society is a difficult task. Many wonderful, talented, bright people watch helplessly as their functionality escapes through their fingers like grains of sand. And these are people who are on meds! Some even go to therapy, too! Sometimes, the more we fight to hang on the quicker the ground gives way beneath us.

One tactic I attribute to remaining somewhat functional for the past 7 years is acute awareness of my early warning signs. It works just like the emergency broadcast system except without the annoying beep! It gets tested regularly to make sure it’s still relevant and it’s there in case of an emergency. It even has an emergency number to call…the one that rings my psychiatrist.

Now, when I say early warning signs, I mean EARLY! Not things like “I’ve been crying for days and don’t know why” or “I went out and spent $5000.00 on a new television but didn’t pay the electric bill.” Those are examples of symptoms of an ensuing episode. It may end up being minor, but it’s better to catch the signs long before this stage.

The signs I’m talking about are infinitely subtler. They require a magnifying glass to properly identify. No one can tell you for sure what yours are, but some close friends or relatives may be able to point out some behavior patterns that qualify. I also recognize more than just the early signs. Intermediate signs can play an important roll if the early signs don’t show themselves or get ignored.

Here are some samples of my signs:

Early Warnings

1. I start to see shadows or movement out of the corner of my eye, but when I turn and look there is nothing. I usually think I saw a bug or spider and I HATE bugs and spiders.

2. I am unable to pick out clothes without standing in the closet and staring for 10 minutes at a time. Then, out of frustration, I leave, only to return again 10 minutes later to start the cycle again. Some days it’s okay to do this, but if goes on for more than 3 days it’s a warning sign for me.

3. One occurrence of staying up all night. I am a big sleeper and this is a huge no-no for me!

4. While screening my calls (which I normally do anyway) if I don’t pick up when my friends call, that’s definitely a sign. UNLESS I’m taking a nap and then it doesn’t count!

5. Waking up more than once in the middle of the night or waking up and not being able to get back to sleep so I get on the computer instead. Once is okay, twice is a phone call to my doctor!

6. Not wanting to read bedtime stories to my son. This is a special time and if I’m not in the mood, then my mood is out of whack!

Intermediate Warning Signs

1. When I hear people talking and assume it’s about me and how fat, ugly, mean, stupid, etc. I am; then I’m on the way to the phone!

2. Not wanting to shower at least every other day. Hey, I don’t sweat and I just sit at the computer, so I don’t think it hurts to skip a day here and there!

3. Staring out the window for 10-15 minutes at a time, yet not seeing anything or even realizing that I’m doing it.

4. Taking over the conversation no matter who I’m talking to at that moment or even who they’re talking to at the moment.

5. Wanting to go to the mall. Not actually going, just thinking about going is enough. Sounds silly doesn’t it? For me it means I want to spend money and I don’t have much disposable income. Plus, I’m not real fond of shopping. Even when I need something I still don’t like to go!

Most of these things have to happen a few times over a period of a couple days to count as a true sign. Usually a couple will occur together and then there is no doubt. As soon as I’m leery I call my psychiatrist and he will adjust my dosage of medicines. Sometimes he will quiz me about my diet and fluid intake as well and correct it if necessary. (He’s smart enough not to eliminate my chocolate though!) If I’m getting into multiple intermediate signs then I will even go in for a visit. My sanctity is worth it!

I have a responsibility to myself to remain as healthy as possible. It’s hard to do if you don’t know when you’re becoming unstable. And I can’t wait until I’m into a full-blown episode because a darling angel depends on me. So I do it for him, too. But mostly I do it because I like myself more when I can think rationally.

So, let’s do our best to stay healthy and be kind to ourselves as we struggle through the torment of this debilitating disease together!

Terry J. Coyier is a 37-year-old college student studying for an Associates of Applied Sciences degree. She is also a freelance writer who writes about bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. Terry was diagnosed with bipolar ten years ago. She lives with her son in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. Terry is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers and her personal portfolio can be viewed here.

Employing leaflet distribution services are one of the greatest means to increase upper hand over your rivals. How? Direct Mailing is the answer. By employing a ceaseless leaflet distribution campaign you can attain maximal
exposure via the letterbox. Its a very over looked advertising technique which turns out very good, that is ofcourse is using leaflet distribution services

If your merchandise is fashioned to attract to a general market place and you want to focalize on a really limited country, mailbox advertising is a good, low-cost way of touching your target market.

But aware in the readying of your leaflet distribution campaigns as this is all important if you are to make the most of your investment.

Leaflet distribution permits you to establish particular reaction from directed groups of clients. It’s a especially
useful tool for small business organisations because it permits you to concentrate finite resources where they are most probably to develop result and appraise the success of campaigns accurately by breaking down responses. But remember that the answers of leaflet distributoin aren’t guaranteed. A poorly designed or targeted adverting campaign will be a waste of cash

There are a list of other methods in which leaflet distribution has been applied in a political way. Some of these reasons are as follows. One of the most popular uses of pamphlet drops is to supply people with data to counter data that has been delivered by the opponent. The booklets can also be utilised to endanger individuals with an attack. This is particularly probably in fights in which ground forces can inform opposition scout groups that they will invade if no action is taken. The leaflets in war situations are often used to encourage the opposition to surrender and if how to go about surrendering without facilitating a retaliation.

If you have made up your mind that a leaflet distribution will be a easy form of promoting in order to bring in some much needed potential work, then you need to set about the chore of selecting the best business to conduct the distribution for you.

On That Poin there are alot of factors to be considered when doing this, these are influential in incurring the greatest effects from your promotion.

You need to study where you are going to target your booklets and the coverage and penetration that you want to accomplish. If you are just thinking of a conservative distribution in the localised area, it may be wise to pick out a smaller local business who just handle the small-scale distributions in one region. They are quite in all probability to be cost effective, and have shorter lead times. Accountability may be a problem if things do not go according to plan, so this demands to be weighed against the amount of financial spending.