On Friday, the Federal Reserve postponed the release of the findings of its stress tests on the 19 largest U.S. banks as bank executives debated the initial findings with government examiners. The results, originally scheduled for release yesterday morning will now be out some time Thursday afternoon (likely after market hours, Iâd presume). The âgoodâ here is that no matter what one thinks of these exams much less the credibility of the tests, it appears as if a good faith effort to get things right particularly by bank executives is being focused upon. Bankers obviously have a right to understand what is happening to their own banks so time has been granted to make sure everything is as understood as positive. However, the negative view is just as fascinating and reasonable. One of the major issues in this very mechanism is how exactly the results will be viewed. The fact that the findings are being delayed shows that there may well be worries about the reactions in stock prices by the banks which may need a lot of help. In fact, there have been great pains taken by government officials to note that this is a stress test rather than a solvency test. Thus, there are major worries that the weaker banks could suffer a near complete collapse in their stock prices â entities like Regions Financial (RF) and Fifth Third Bank (FITB) in particular are being focused upon. For day traders, there are two issues at stake here. First, it is a complete guessing game as what will be said about which bank. It is widely assumed that most banks will be OK; indeed, entities like GS went to the private market for funding several days ago rather than the government- something they would not have been able to do if hey needed governmental support (in all likelihood). But one cannot day trade based on what he/she thinks will happen; for instance, if one thinks WFC will need money, it does not mean on any given day that WFC will decline as the perception at the moment is that everything is going to be fine overall ergo you have huge rallies in these stocks. Second, things will likely remain somewhat quiet volume-wise until these stress test results are released. The relatively illiquid markets mean day traders must focus upon the opportunities which present themselves- particularly those in the early morning when things are more volatile. Thus, monitor the situation closely and do not take any undue risk. Markets in Asia were slightly higher overnight with Tokyo up just under 1%, but prices in Europe are actually slightly lower right now. Oil is down a bit with bonds, currencies, and the metals quiet. Just as I missed the subtle cue yesterday from what the overseas markets were telling us in totally guessing incorrectly that itâd be quiet yesterday, I donât want to miss that cue this morning in (re-)learning my mistake. With banks having run-up sharply into the close, it is likely that there will be a bit of a pullback just after the open; JPM and WFC both rallied almost a dollar in the last few minutes of the day. Thus, look for a slight decline yet the markets are well bid right now as the S&P 500 going into the black for the year yesterday has brought some of that âtrain is leaving the stationâ feeling into the situation. Thus, use financials (particularly JPM and WFC) as your benchmarks to guide the rest of the day. Remember, the purpose of day trading is to quickly enter and exit situationsâ¦if things change (as they did yesterday rapidly), change with them. Reiterating- Please understand that if the ideas do not get to the hoped for set-ups cited below, more often than not, one should not blindly trade the symbol next to said idea. If the whole story is not there - If something is good, assume either a short thru unchanged or an A-B-A2 (preferably to the downside in a downside market and the upside in an upside market) based on direction of the market unless specifiedIf something is bad, assume either a buy thru unchanged or an A-B-A2 (preferably to the downside in a downside market and the upside in an upside market) based on direction of the market unless specified- Good- The following stocks have good news and/or a strong technical pattern MGM- posted earnings after the close; indicated it is in the process of selling assets and modifying debtâ¦LVS and WYNN will likely move with it GERN- mentioned on âFast Moneyâ last night EOG- decent earnings HLF- great earnings CRK- good earnings AFG- good earnings FOE- closed on a high EL- closed near a high after posting great earnings yesterday morning JPM, WFC, GS, MS, PNC, USB, BK, STT- among the big financials which closed near their highs PFG- decent earnings SYKE- decent earnings WAC- closed on a high CPSL- closed on a high NIHD- closed near high of the day PLCE- continued its massive recent rally in closing near yesterdayâs high CROX- closed near a high XTEX, XTXI- among the tiny energy entities which had massive short covering yesterday XTO- closed near a high VNO- closed near a high FST- closed near a high FR- closed near a high SLG, WL- among the smaller REITâs which closed near their highs ALY- closed near its high CLW- closed near its high in a huge move after great earnings posted on Thursday TKLC- mentioned on âMad Moneyâ last night HLS- decent earnings TEVA- decent earnings CTSH- good earnings KFT- good earnings MVL- good earnings LLY, AMLN, ALKS- announced a new drug application for once weekly Exenatide has (finally) been submitted to the FDA RAIL- good earnings VRX- good earnings Bad-The following stocks have bad news and/or a weak technical pattern MYGN- terrible earnings FMC- bad earnings CHK- bad earnings MCK- bad earnings HOLX- terrible earnings HLIT- terrible earnings SNHY- bad earnings FCN- closed near a low ZBRA- bad earnings DBD- bad earnings Earnings: TUES MAY 5 BEFORE ADM ADP AVP AYE BAM CEG CHD CTSH CVS DBD DEI DNR DRH DUK EMR FCL FE GET HEW HLS HNT HW ICE JOE KFT LM MAC MLM MVL NAT PAG PCP PER PGN PNW PQ RAIL RBA SE SRE TEVA UNT VNO VRX VTR WEC WTI WY WYNN XEC ZBRA TUES MAY 5 AFTER ACAS ALTH AMMD ARG BBG BRE CDR CEPH CIM COGT CRL CTX CUZ DIS DVR ERTS HCC HLTH HLX HRS JCOM JKHY LNC LVS MWA PBI SGY UDR UPL VCLK XCO Good luck today. Erik R. Kolodny