Pre-market update (updated 9am eastern):

• European markets are trading 0.3% lower.
• Asian markets traded mixed and 0.2% higher.
• US futures are trading slightly higher ahead of the opening bell.

Economic reports due out (all times are eastern): Challenger Job-Cut Report (7:30am), Jobless Claims (8:30am), EIA Natural Gas Report (10:30am)

Technical Outlook (SPX):

• Heavy sell-off yesterday comes close to nullifying the breakout. 
• Now we are back into the consolidated range. 
• A break below 1538 would result in a more extended pullback. 
• 1529 respresents the bottom of the rising channel that started back in November. 
• For the first time in quite some time we see above average volume accompany the heavy sell-off. 
• We broke below the 10 and 20-day moving averages yesterday, creating some additional bearishness for the markets today. 
• 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. 
• VIX popped back into the 14’s. 
• I don’t recommend using market bounces as an opportunity to reload your short positions at this time. 
• Ideally, we are still in need of a more sustained pullback to 1500-1510 level simply for the reason, that it would once again bring stocks back to a place with more ideal setups and opportunities for trading. 
• 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:

• Sold BWLD at 90.14 yesterday for a 4.2% gain. 
• Bought CRI yesterday at $58.30.
• Sold SODA at $48.50 for a -3.5% loss. 
• Sold DISH at $36.71 for a -3.9% loss. 
• Remain Long AAP at $81.66. 
• Here is my real-time swing-trading portfolio and past-performance

Chart for SPX: