Pre-market update (updated 9am eastern):

• Europe is trading 0.3% lower.
• Asian markets traded in a wide range from negative -0.4% up to +0.9%. 
• US futures are slightly higher.  

Economic reports due out (all times are eastern): Empire State Manufacturing Survey (8:30am), Treasury International Capital (9am)

Technical Outlook (SPX):

• We’ve seen the market pullback for the third consecutive day as well as below the 50-day moving average. 
• SPX is also putting in a more conservative higher-low, where it didn’t really exist before, and thereby creating a trend-line that will be more sustainable. 
• Volume has been flat and in line with the rest of the market from over the past 2 weeks. 
• Of concern is the break of the 8-day exponential moving average, which we haven’t traded below throughout the entire rally off of the November lows, and we haven’t broken below since 11/17. 
• Weekly chart on the SPX looks extremely concerning, and paints a much bearish picture than the daily chart, with a major bearish shooting star. 
• We are looking at a minor gap-up which has, of late, been an opportunity for the bears to sell-off and fill. 
• Reversal over the last two days occurred at the neckline of the previous triple top in the market. 
• If the bears want to accelerate the selling, then price needs to get below 1406 and close below that level. 
• There’s a negative divergence on the RSI and other similar indicators where it failed to make a higher high against the previous highs of this month. 
• There’s an inverse head and shoulders pattern formed on SPX daily chart that is confirmed at 1422. 
• Ideally for the bulls, if price action can close at or above 1429, the downtrend off of the September highs would be officially done and over with, as a new higher high would be established for the first time. 
• Fiscal Cliff discussions continues to dominate the news. 
• VIX closed at 17.

My Opinions & Trades:

• Bought PHG at $26.84. 
• Sold SIG for a 1.4% gain. 
• Remain long EW at $91.01, LULU at $73.01, BSBR at $7.03, CMG at $278.00.
• If the market begins to stabilize, I’ll get consideration to adding a new long position to the portfolio. 
• Here is my real-time swing-trading portfolio and past-performance

Chart for SPX: