JP Morgan (JPM) has been treading water for the past few sessions, and just may continue to do so into Thursday's year-end close. That notwithstanding, the pattern suggests strongly that another upleg is approaching in the upcoming hours/days.

For the past week all of the action in JPM appears to have taken the form of a bullish consolidation period in the aftermath of the recent upleg from 40.03 to 42.24. Let’s notice that the consolidation has found resistance just above 42.00 while support resides around 41.50. The pattern carved out within the week-long consolidation exhibits corrective form, which indicates to me that another upleg is approaching that should propel JPM above 42.24 on the way to 43.00/40 thereafter. An upside penetration of 42.15 should trigger the initiation of the next upleg.

Mike Paulenoff is a 26-year veteran of the financial markets and author of MPTrader.com.