My technical work in the iShares Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) is very constructive, and points still higher on an intermediate-term basis. My near term work has pivoted to the upside after a pullback from the 102.60 high on January 9 into yesterday's low at 97.32. Why? Mr. Market perceives that there is "value" and relative safety in the corporate bond sector compared with the excess-supply, debt-beleaguered sovereign (US) Treasury sector.

Looking at the daily chart, the LQD spent the past two weeks correcting and digesting the prior powerful upmove off of its October low at 76.05 (to the January high at 102.60). This morning the price action indicates either that the correction is complete or that the first part of a more complex correction is complete, which means that a rally period should have started that will propel an already bullish price structure towards a retest of the prior high. The bottom line for me is that the current technical set-up presents a trading opportunity from the long side in the direction of the dominant trend.

Mike Paulenoff is a 26-year veteran of the financial markets and author of MPTrader.com, a real-time diary of his technical chart analysis and trading alerts on all major markets. For more of Mike Paulenoff, sign up for a free 15-Day trial to his MPTrader Diary by clicking here.