Pre-market update:

  • Asian markets traded -0.3% higher.
  • European markets are trading 1.1% higher.
  • US futures are trading 0.4% higher ahead of the market open. 


Economic reports due out (all times are eastern): MBA Purchase Applications (7), Durable Goods Orders (8:30), PMI Services Flash (9:45), EIA Petroleum Status Report (10:30)

Technical Outlook (SPX):

  • 6th day in a row where SPX failed to break through 1873 after testing the key resistance level. However, the bears have yet to truly take advantage of this failure. 
  • SPX is looking to gap up to 1873 this morning which should result in an immediate test again of 1873. 
  • Until 1873 is broken and held into the close, there is little reason to get long on this market. 
  • Volume was well below average yesterday. I’ve seen this to be the case in the last 5 sessions in which the market finished higher on the day, showing that the market lacks conviction and buyers here. 
  • Bears need to target 1850 – break and close below it. After that it becomes 1839. 
  • The rising trend-line off of the February lows was breached with Monday’s sell-off. 
  • The 10-day moving average cross below the 20-day moving average – something that hasn’t been seen since the pullback that started on 1/23. 
  • 30- minute chart on SPX is still very choppy but still sports a double top pattern. 
  • March has been stuck in a relatively tight trading range of about 49 points. At this juncture, with all the back and forth that I’ve seen, it needs to do what it can to separate from the pack. 
  • Consolidation of the market of late is best seen through the weekly chart of SPX
  • The biggest technical support level is the strength SPX found from the trend line that started off of the August ’13 lows. 
  • The Market doesn’t care about the economy nor earnings. That is not what is driving them. The markets only care about what the Fed is doing to keep equities propped up. 

My Opinions & Trades:

  • Did not close any positions yesterday. 
  • Added one short position to the portfolio yesterfday. 
  • Will look to add 1-2 new additional position today. 
  • Remain short short MU from 23.78, ACAS at 14.64
  • Short 30% / Cash 70% 
  • Join me each day for all my real-time trades and alerts in the SharePlanner Splash Zone

Chart for SPX:

SP 500 Market Analysis 3-26-14