Pre-market update:

• Asian markets traded 0.2% higher. 
• European markets are trading 1.4% higher. 
• US futures are trading 0.9% higher ahead of the market open. 
  

Economic reports due out (all times are eastern): Jobless Claims (8:30), Import and Export Prices (8:30), EIA Natural Gas Report (10:30)

Technical Outlook (SPX):

• Huge gap up in play for today’s trading session marked by rumors of a possible short-term deal for negotiations. 
• We’ll need to see a +20 point rally for us to see any real challenges of technicals barriers broken in recent days including the 50-day moving average. 
• A move above 1678 would be the most ideal scenario for the bulls. 
• For the bears, they are going to need to see the market’s gap up faded. 
• SPX is oversold which is going welcome a market bounce today. 
• A move below 1627 would mark a new lower-low in the market and confirm a downtrend for the first time since the November 2012 lows were established. 
• Any bounce should be considered a ‘dead-cat’ until proven otherwise. 
• Volume remains on par. 
• VIX hovering just below 20. 
• Large Bearish wedge has confirmed as shown below. 
• Markets don’t care about the economy nor earnings. That is not what is driving them. The markets only care about what the Fed is doing to keep equities propped up. 

My Opinions & Trades:

• Added one new short position yesterday.
• Did not close out of any positions yesterday.  
• Will likely cover some short positions and perhaps an additional long to balance out the exposure. 
• Currently 10% long / 40% short / 50% cash.  
• Current Longs: CSE at 11.86
• Current Shorts: STT at 65.83, TIF at 76.07, CX 11.02.
• Join me each day for all my real-time trades and alerts in the SharePlanner Splash Zone

Chart for SPX: