By Lawrence G. McMillan
The stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 Index ($SPX), moved higher over the past week, overcoming resistance at 1420 and then also at 1430. However, since Fed Chairman Bernanke spoke on Wednesday, the market has pulled back. So far this pullback has caused only minimal damage to the technical indicators, and it would be a relatively simple matter for the bulls to regain control.
Put-call ratios have been strongly bullish and remain so today.
However, market breadth indicators are turning bearish.
Volatility indices ($VIX and $VXO) have remained rather subdued for some time now, and that is generally bullish for stocks. $VIX has remained near the 16 level on most days. It is most bullish for stocks if $VIX is below 16.
In summary, the signals are somewhat mixed. Still, the strong positives from the put-call ratios can't be ignored, and with both $SPX and $VIX charts generally bullish, it seems like the recent pullback of the last two days is just a short-term correction.
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