Purely from a pattern perspective, all the action in the S&P 500 (emini contract) off of the October 18 low at 1185.90 into today's high at 1275.75 (so far) has the right look of a completed up-leg, with the current vertical advance off of yesterday's low at 1216.50 representing the final thrust.

That said, in the absence of some sort of two-way market, the bulls will retain absolute directional control.

At this juncture, if a two-way trade returns during this afternoon's session, a decline that sustains beneath 1270 is needed to trigger the most preliminary of intraday sell signals, while a close inside of or beneath the 1262.50-1257.50 area will add a measure of confirmation that a significant peak has been established.

 

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