Good morning! Strong economic data in the form of better-than-expected service sector growth and weaker-than-anticipated inflation helped sustain the week's gains on Tuesday, but the upside extension from Monday's session made it difficult for the market to establish a strong intraday trend. After an indecisive open, the market pushed through Monday's highs by a hair on the 10:00 ET data, but the remainder of the day ended up stuck in a range. By the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DJI) gained 47.75 points (+0.4%), the S&P 500 ($SPX) rose 5.64 points (+0.4%) and the Nasdaq Composite ($COMPX) climbed 3.99 points (+0.2%).

After the 10:00 buying, the market tested the highs a second time within about 15 minutes, but at a slightly slower pace than they did initially. The indices were able to establish very slightly higher highs on this move and it created a trap pattern called a "2T" that helped turn thing around a bit into noon. The market pulled back to 5 minute 20 simple moving averages support and then broke that support level heading into noon. This took the indices back into support from earlier in the session and that support zone wound end up holding the remainder of the day. The market took the morning highs and the mid-day lows and held that range into the close.

Although most of the session was rather uninspiring, there were a few pockets of strength intraday. Coca Cola Co. (KO) broke higher out of a great daily range at highs after Merrill Lynch raised its price target to $51. AXR (buy-out), TOL, ICE, PRU, UNP, TIN, SAFM (earnings), RATE (upgraded), HANS, URBN and CRDN also all showed a great deal of tenacity. The top performing sectors included semiconductors, multimedia networking and consumer-related stock, with weakness centered in metal mining and oil-services. Some of the top losers on the day were CASY (downgrade), CNC (downgraded), HSCI (warned), NURO (downgrade), and SIRI (slow sales).

I will be watching CME and BOT for buy setups on Wednesday. The market overall is looking higher into the day, but it will be easier for the market to hold early morning highs and then turn over into the afternoon. The market usually only holds the 15 minute 20 sma support for about 2 1/2 to 3 days before the support breaks. Since the current intraday trend began on Friday afternoon, that does not leave a lot of time left before it is likely to see that larger intraday correction.

Upcoming Economic Reports and Events
Wednesday: Crude Inventories 12/01 (10:30 am)
Thursday: Initial Claims 12/02 (8:30 am), Consumer Credit for Oct. (3:00 pm)
Friday: Average Workweek, Hourly Earnings, Nonfarm Payrolls, and Unemployment Rate for Nov. (8:30 am), Mich. Sentiment-Prel. for Dec. (10:00 am)

Earnings Announcements of Interest
Only stocks with an average daily volume of 500K+ are listed. List may not be complete so be sure to always check your stock's earnings date before holding a position overnight. (A) = Earnings after the close, (B) = Earnings before the open, (?) = Earnings time not specified at the time of this writing
Wednesday: KFY, TWTR, NX, CWST, DDMX, GEF, LQDT, NCS, SEAC, UTI, and VTS
Thursday: CRMT, CBUK, FLE, GIL, HITK, JJZ, JOSB, METH, MOV, PTMK, TOPT, TTC, ATW, CENT, SMOS, DMND, ESL, NSM, SHFL, and PAY
Friday: BKRS

Toni Hansen is President and Co-founder of the Bastiat Group, Inc., and runs the popular Trading From Main Street. She can be reached at Toni@tradingfrommainstreet.com.