After pretty much the worst February for the stock market since the 1930s, we enter March having broken key long-term technical levels on the DJIA and S&P 500 Index. The NASDAQ Indices remain above long-term support levels for the time being. Political news continues to sway the markets, as traders react to new proposals and government attempts to stem the economic slide.

Some of the events to look for this week are the Fed Beige Book on Wednesday, the February Employment Report on Friday, Automobile Sales Report on Tuesday, and February Retail Sales on Thursday.

On the short-term S&P 500 (SPX) Daily Chart below, you can see that Friday's selloff took us below the Bottom Acceleration Band. The downmove also broke the recent 5-day volatile range, and broke November 2008 lows on a Daily Closing Basis.

S&P 500 Index Daily Chart


As you can see the folowing chart, the NASDAQ 100 Index (NDX) has not yet violated its key support level of 1000. Below that lies potential support around 800, which was the area of the 2002 lows. The relative lack of the Financial (and to some degree Energy) sector in the NASDAQ indices is the likely cause of its recent outperformance.

NASDAQ 100 Monthly Chart


Turning to the volatility front, we have not seen an implied volatility spike, as measured by the CBOE Volatlity Index (VIX), despite the market hitting new lows. This is a bit concerning, as it almost appears that traders are resigned to lower lows and are not showing panic in their Put buying.

VIX Daily Chart


Bottom Line: The technicals are pointing to likely new lows ahead in the short-term, but external events related to politics continue to whip the market in unpredictable directions. It certainly does not seem like we have hit a "climactic bottom" that would mark the point of a sharp upside reversal.

Price Headley is the founder and chief analyst of BigTrends.com.