Pre-market update (updated 9am eastern):

• European markets are trading mixed/flat.
• Asian markets traded -0.4% lower.
• US futures are trading slightly higher ahead of the opening bell.

Economic reports due out (all times are eastern): ICSC-Goldman Store Sales (7:45am), Durable Goods Orders (8:30am), Redbook (8:55am), S&P Case-Shiller HPI (9am), New Home Sales (10am), Consumer Confidence (10am), Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (10am), State Street Investor Confidence Index (10am), 

Technical Outlook (SPX):

• SPX offered a failed breakout attempt yesterday, after briefly trading outside of 1563 and the recent consolidation we have been stuck in. 
• Surprisingly  enough, the SPX has traded lower 5 out of the last 7 days. Despite that, the index has not drifted lower one bit. 
• With that said, there is a lot of underlying strength in this market, as it has attempted to push lower day after day with no real progress being made on behalf of the bears. 
• We’ve pulled back off of overbought conditions quite nicely. 
• Consolidation continues to be the theme on the daily. We need to see either a break to the upside of 1563, or a break to the downside of 1538 to determine the market’s next move. 
• Volume continues to remain steady over the past week and a half of trading. 
• Dead-cat bounces, like some may determine Friday to be, have really been non-existent of late. Once they bounce, they just keep going higher, no true reversals that takes us lower than the previous lows reached. 
• We have seen the volume flow in much stronger on the sell-offs then on the days when the market rallies.
• VIX is hovering in the 13’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. 
• Also the amount of margin being used to buy stocks are at levels that historically have led to notable reversals in the market. 
• 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 HOS yesterday at $44.92.
• Stopped out of HOV for a -2.3% loss. 
• Remain Long SLV at $27.97, SRPT at $33.07, GG at $33.55
• Remaining patient at these elevated price levels – not going to force position that aren’t there. 
• Here is my real-time swing-trading portfolio and past-performance

Chart for SPX: