Overview Wednesday 22 July...

Not exactly the most exciting day in the markets today, and the indices finished pretty much flat. The melt-up in tech continues, as it's now up like a dozen straight days or something crazy like that. We had some mixed earnings in the financial sector today, something for bulls and bears alike. In the aftermarket, we have some mixed tech earnings, too. Tomorrow will be interesting, plus we have some more big reports coming up. On the whole, the bulls are still in charge, but I'm starting to see some cracks in their armour. And my instincts say we're not going to sustain this upside much longer, as earnings season will begin to wind down soon.

Short-term bias: bearish (we've had a very powerful rally the past few days, but I believe resistance will kick in and drag us lower, as the big range between 875 and 950 remains intact on the $SPX for now and we are at the upper end of that range now - we're trying to break higher, but it's not what I would call a 'clean break' higher)

Intermediate-term bias: bearish (I still think we have a correction that will take us lower, perhaps to 800 on the $SPX and I don't think we're ready to power higher quite yet)

Long-term bias: bullish (I believe we put in meaningful, long-term bottoms in March, and would use the aforementioned correction to increase long exposure)

Pick updates:

Let's try something new today. I'll just upload a pic of the watchlist from Stockcharts and comment as needed.

I am deleting BKC from the list, even though it didn't reach my target. It had a weak close today, and volume picked up on the downside. I suspect its oversold bounce is done for now. This was a quickie trade.

With the pullback this morning, PALM has now filled the gap from last month. It's been a gutwrenching pullback the past few days, but this gap fill is a bullish development and will clear the way for higher prices. If you're not in it, it's a very low-risk buy here as long as you have a stop below the 50-day EMA.

DFS continues higher, but volume is declining as it climbs up towards the previous resistance just over $11.50. I think resistance holds and the stock goes lower, but I do not at this time think the stock will break down. I'm looking to escape this busted bearish trade.

NOK appears to have found its footing and now looks ready to move a bit higher on an oversold bounce. This should set up a great short entry.



Postions: long DFS August $12.50 puts, PALM November $12.50 calls, and $SPX index fund in 401k