Market Conditions 7/17/12 $SPX $SPY $VIX $VXX

After a couple ugly candles dropped the S&P 500 down to ~1345 early in today's trading session, the market shrugged off the losses to close 10 pts up.  The rising wedge continues to hold, and this is generally viewed as a bearish pattern.  It may not resolve itself until we reach 1370-1380, however.  This is especially true given how the mixed to poor macro economics data that has been coming out hasn't

The VIX continues its march downward off the June high, though 16.00 continues to be a line of resistance.  This could be a good place to get long via outright calls or bullish call spreads.

The McClellan Oscillator is back into positive territory after dipping negative for a day.  While this indicator is reading neutral at the moment, the bias is slightly overbought.  Still not significant enough to point to a trade in either direction though.

The number of stocks above their 50-day moving averages is almost back to 70%.  A little bit of digestion last week but still a bit more needed in my opinion.

Tech finally broke down hard last week after a few months of churning.
Financials continue to lead us higher and may continue to be the hot sector.
Energy names are finally finding buyers as investors seek more conservative plays.
Materials continue to get pounded.  You don't need to look any further than this ticker to see how world growth is slowing.