Pre-market update (updated 9am eastern):

• European markets are trading 0.3% higher.
• Asian markets traded in a wide range from -1.0% lower to +0.9% higher. 
• US futures are trading slightly higher ahead of the bell. 

Economic reports due out (all times are eastern): MBA Purchase Applications (7am), Retail Sales (8:30am), Import and Export Prices (8:30am), Business Inventories (10am), EIA Petroleum Status Report (10:30am)

Technical Outlook (SPX):

• The market tried to push higher and into new highs, and barely did so yesterday. 
• SPX continues to follow the 10-day moving average nearly perfectly. 
• Unlike previous breakouts of prior consolidation, this one lacks a lot of enthusiasm and momentum, which should concern the bulls. 
• But based on the price action at the present, the only direction we can confidently trade in is to the upside. 
• A pullback to 1475 would likely satisfy as a pullback to the lower rising channel, and be considered healthy for this market. 
• More than 60 days have passed since we’ve seen a 5% pullback in the markets.
• Only one day in the new trading year that has resulted in us closing down more than 1%. 
• Volume appeared to have made a slight comeback yesterday. 
• Nothing major out of President Obama’s State of the Union address that would move the market on its own. today. 
• 30-miniute chart shows a breakout to new highs followed by a quick pullback to support. 
• 1495 remains as the necessary price level bears need to drive price below in order to get momentum on their side. 
• Market has creeped back into short-term overbought. On mid-to-long-term indicators, we have remained overbought for months now.
• There’s not much in the way overhead of the market not hitting all-time highs from a technical analysis standpoint. 
• The gappiness in both directions at the top of a major trend is not a healthy sign for the market. 
• VIX dropped further into the 12’s yesterday. 
• Worries about European economies starting to re-emerge. 
• The channel that we are currently trading in looks very similar to the channel that we traded in last year from June through September. 

My Opinions & Trades:

• Closed out WOOF yesterday at $22.40 from $22.12 for a 1.3% gain. 
• Added FCX at $35.50 yesterday. 
• Won’t be able to hold DVA beyond today due to earnings coming out this week. 
• Remain Long DVA at $116.72, POL at $23.16..
• Will likely add 1-2  new positions to the portfolio today. 
• Here is my real-time swing-trading portfolio and past-performance

Chart for SPX: