Resistance Is Palpable For Dow, S&P; Trades Dying Slow Death

Taking a look at the weekly chart of the Dow and the S&P, it becomes evident why the averages haven't been able to break through this current range to new, higher highs.

The congestion and resistance at 17,900-18,000 on the Dow, and 2090-2120 on the S&P are as plain as a bright summer day, and thus, what had been considered a Fed-driven market has now become a chartist's nightmare.

Unless there's some good reason for the averages to go higher - and currently there isn't - there's only one way for stocks to go, and that direction would not be in the best interest of most investors, fund managers or pension hopefuls.

Naturally, the market continues to look to the Fed for comfort and trading rationale, but it is becoming more and more difficult for the monetary magicians in the Eccles Building to conjure up increasingly complicated arguments to support an economy (US and global) that, for all intents and purposes, looks to be standing on a foundation built of sand.

In other words, the market is about to go somewhere shortly, and bets are good that it will not be much higher. Earnings have begun to trickle in for the first quarter, and expectations are for another sequential decline in overall top-and-bottom line growth.

Then again, Janet Yellen is god, right?

With the Dollar/Yen carry trade nearing extinction (109.7450), perhaps one should consider a world in which there are no winning trades, such as is the fate of many so-called "home-gamers."

With volatility being wrung out of markets on a regular basis through HFT, that is a consideration that must be taken seriously.

Fraud is on sale, but it cannot be had cheaply.


S&P 500 Futures: 2,059.25, +20.50 (1.01%)
Dow Futures: 17,623.00, +96.00 (0.55%)
NASDAQ Futures: 4,532.00, +62.50 (1.40%)

Crude Oil 37.76 +5.21% Gold 1,224.00 -0.46% EUR/USD 1.1399 +0.04% 10-Yr Bond 1.75 +1.62% Corn 358.00 +0.35% Copper 2.14 +0.21% Silver 15.06 -0.34% Natural Gas 1.90 -2.66% Russell 2000 1,108.81 +1.18% VIX 14.09 -8.63% BATS 1000 20,682.61 0.00% GBP/USD 1.4131 +0.08% USD/JPY 109.7450 -0.01%