Swing Trading Strategies & Stock Picks Since 2003

Some semi-random thoughts inspired by today’s market action:

• The VIX:VXV ratio spiked up to 1.12 at 1:12 p.m. EDT (I’m not superstitious, but that’s an interesting bullish signal)
  
• The underappreciated VXN (volatility index for the NDX or NASDAQ-100) spiked over 34 on Friday and made it as high as 33.76 earlier today. That’s not enough to satisfy the “VIX must spike over 30!” purists, but it is an interesting data point, particularly because the VXN and NDX excludes financials
  
• My VIX algebra says that two medium to large VIX spikes on Friday and today do not equal one large capitulation-friendly VIX spike
  
• The CBOE equity put to call ratio – an excellent market timing indicator – is looking bullish

When all is said and done, I don’t think we can have a serious market rally until the tone of the news flow changes, regardless of market technicals and sentiment data. There must be several bullish macroeconomic and/or fundamental data points which collectively give the bulls a reason not to be so skittish. At a minimum, the markets need to navigate the PPI, CPI, industrial production and capacity utilization data due out tomorrow and Wednesday, then weather the flood of earnings reports (with strong representation from some key financial institutions) on Thursday. Even then, there is the Citigroup (C) earnings story on Friday morning.

Whatever happens to the rest of today’s session, the balance of the week will tell the story.