Yesterday was a hectic day in the office - so busy that I was unable to get a post up here on Trade Chatter about the conditions and my thoughts for the day. That rarely happens but sometimes there is simply too much on the plate and if the routine gets messed up - as it did, then things get out of whack and forgotten. Yet the market marches on whether I speak up or not - right? And march on it did to further losses and a more worrisome situation where it isn't responding to the technical setups as it should. That's always concerning because what you expect to happen based on what you believe the market is telling you versus what actually happens is a way to measure the markets progress and to build future expectations. Since the market is always "right" you have to end up resolving your expectations with what is happening and seek alternative explanations if need be.

Right now this market has failed to "perform" as expected of late and is entering into a crucial area once more. If you visualize the charts from a six to nine month perspective, there are two distinct trading ranges that have developed. The S&P is in the lower floor of that trading range again. That's true of every index with the exception of the Russell 2000 and its on the border.

If the markets are going to find a way to crawl higher, they are at a critical point where they should begin to do so. Technically there were under/over setups yesterday. We'll see if they can find a way to lift as a result. If not, we need to begin to reset our expectations to match what the market is saying and doing.