Any true or viable sector trend is still a bit obscured, thanks in part to last week's triple-witching option expiration, and thanks in part to the end-of-year pressures that have more to do with figuring out how to position yourself for the new year than anything else. So, we'll continue drilling down into the industry charts that seem to offer the most predictable charts.

Have You Been Naughty, or Nice?

If you've been listed as 'naughty' on Santa's list this year, he mey be bring you nothing but a lump of coal. But, that still may be better than him leaving you some shares of a coal company.

The coal stocks got trashed in the middle part of the year, when the Dow Jones Coal Index (DJUSCL) fell from a high of 433.33 to a low 205.23. In late September, after hitting that bottom, it looked like a recovery move might be in the works as the index climbed back up to a high of 288.19. But, over the last six days, we've seen nothing but struggles - the index is currently at 263.04, and still pointed lower.

With that in mind, we're not entirely ready to count this sector out just yet. The deal-breaker might be 251, where we've seen minor short-term support take shape a couple of times in the last few weeks. If and when than line breaks, we won't be surprised to see a trip all the way back to September's lowest closes around 215.

Dow Jones Coal Index (DJUSCL) - Weekly

Life Insurance

Although we had serious doubts about them just a few months ago, we have to say the insurance stocks have turned out to be a pleasantly bullish surprise. More importantly, we see a lot more upside potential in the near and not-so-near future.

To fully appreciate the scope of the opportunity though, you have to zoom out to a long-term weekly chart. It's here you can see the long-term uptrend of the Dow Jones Life Insurance Index (DJUSIL). In August we saw it toy with the 200 day line around 600, but the current price of 657 tells us all we need to know about its resiliency. In retrospect, we can see the lull around the 200 day average (green) was just the break - and springboard - needed for the next leg higher. It's a pattern we saw play out several times.

As for just how far above the 200 day average this chart can go before the next pause, we see a handful of possibilities. The last two were ultimately about 120 point moves, with a brief pause for each. Only being about 60 points above the 200 day average now, we tend to think there may be some significant upside potential left for these stocks.

Let's set a target of 720, and a stop of 632.

Dow Jones Life Insurance Index (DJUSIL - Weekly

Autos

Last week we pin-pointed the 182 level as a critical support line for the Dow Jones Auto Index (DJUSAU). And, with the index headed lower to that area in a hurry, we felt pretty sure it was going to be tested soon. Well, apparently somebody was listening. On Wednesday we sank as low as 181.18, and by Thursday, we saw a sharp reversal lead to a close of 184.63. Thursday's strength is now being tested again, but the point is, the support line held. We think this bodes well for the auto industry stocks, which had already been in a longer-term uptrend.

While we expect bigger things than this for this group in the long run, for now, let's just set an upside target of 214. That was the mid-November high, but would still represent a 15.6% rally from current levels.

Dow Jones Auto Index (DJUSAU) - Daily