Pre-market update (updated 9am eastern):

• European markets are trading 1.8% higher.
• Asian markets traded in a wide range from -1.1% up to +1.0%
• US futures are moderately higher ahead of the bell. 

Economic reports due out (all times are eastern): ICSC-Goldman Store Sales (7:45am), Redbook (8:55am), PMI Manufacturing Index Flash (8:58am), FHFA House Price Index (9am), New Home Sales (10am), Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (10am)

Technical Outlook (SPX):

• Strong move by the markets yesterday adding on to Friday’s bounce.
• Today’s market rallied parabolically 13 points off of its  morning lows. 
• Mini-downtrend off of recent SPX highs was broken yesterday. 
• A push above 1574 would show that price is not simply a dead-cat bounce but looking to establish new highs yet again. 
• Volume fell off some yesterday. 
• Uptrend off of the November lows have been recaptured by the bulls. 
• 10 and 20-day moving average sits right above price action on the SPX. 
• With this mornings gap up, bears need to be very careful that they secure their profits and not allow the bounce to wipe away recent gains.
• 1538 is the KEY level for me today. We break 1538 and there is no support until we get under 1500. 
• VIX settled in at 14.39.
• Markets don’t care about the economy. That is not what is driving them. The markets only care about what the Fed is doing to keep equities propped up. 
• Both channels (July October 2012) and the price channel we are currently in are very similar in nature. 
• We haven’t seen a market pullback in excess of 4% since October/November time-frame. 

My Opinions & Trades:

• Added DFT yesterday at $25.55.
• Sold BWLD at $92.90 for a 5.6% gain. 
• Sold TRLA at $32.07 for a -3.0% loss. 
• Will be looking to add 1-2 new long positions today. 
• Remain Long DISCK at $71.12, TSCO at $105.55, DISH at $38.10
• Join me each day for all my real-time trades and alerts in the SharePlanner Splash Zone

Chart for SPX: