Pre-market update (updated 8:30am eastern):

• European markets are trading flat and mixed.
• Asian markets traded 0.5% higher. . 
• US futures are trading slightly lower overall, with the Nasdaq trading heavily in the red after Apple earnings.

Economic reports due out (all times are eastern): Jobless Claims (8:30am), PMI Manufacturing Index Flash (8:58am), Leading Indicators (10am), EIA Natural Gas Report (10:30am), EIA Petroleum Status Report (10:30am), Kansas City Fed Manufacturing (11am)

Technical Outlook (SPX):

• SPX continues to climb for the 6th straight day, with price action up against the rising channel. 
• Most times when the SPX rallies six straight days, it is accompanied with a sell-off.
• With Apple’s earnings disappointment, it should weigh on the SPX today. 
• The market is so over extended that the last time we saw a pullback, the market only gave back 1.5 points. 
• We saw a notable drop off in volume yesterday. 
• The short-term stochastics hasn’t traded above 80.00 for this long in years. 
• It is extremely difficult to break higher out of a rising channel – hardly ever happens, much less after rising six straight days higher prior to. 
• T2108 posted in the Market Group shows a market that has only been this ‘overbought’ a few times in the past three years. 
• Continued support sits at the 10-day moving average, as we have managed to trade above it now for 15 straight days. 
• At 1451, you have a significant inflection point for the markets. If the market pulls back and price dips below this price level, there is a significant gap to fill (on the SPY) and will likely see a push below 1430. 
• The channel that we are currently trading in looks very similar to the channel that we traded in last year from June through September. 
• I’m becoming somewhat concerned by this market because now we have one very large gap and one smaller gap (formed yesterday) that has yet to be filled on the SPY, not to mention the large unfilled gap from November ’12.
• VIX still remains at the historical lows achieved on Friday by closing at 12.43.
• Of late, there have been quite a few market rallies/sell-offs in the last hour of trading, much like what we saw yesterday and Friday.
• There’s really no significant level of resistance for the market until you get to 1501. 
• It will take a significant move, but below 1398, the trend will be very bearish. 
• Be aware of upcoming news events and discussions that will permeate the markets: Debt Ceiling Debate, Fiscal Cliff Part II, Employment Recovery. 

My Opinions & Trades:

• Shorted TGT at $61.03.  
• Remain Short TEVA at $38.10 and ALV at $65.29 
• Remain Long BG at $75.11, LO at $39.16, RDS.B at $70.25.
• Stop-Losses have been updated for a number of positions.  
• Here is my real-time swing-trading portfolio and past-performance

Chart for SPX: