Before the Open (Jul 27)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific market closed mixed – there were no standout winners or losers. Europe is currently up across the board – half the indexes are up at least 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market which will put the indexes at their highest levels since the June top.
The market has been on a great run the last week – even with the 60 minutes of selling caused by Bernanke. My bias turned bullish last Tuesday, and it remains to the upside. But with the run we’re on, I’d expect a little give back soon. Today’s gap up might be a good opp to take some profits on longs. The trend feels strong enough to maintain long exposure because getting out and back in at exactly the right time is very hard. But taking a few bucks off the table isn’t a bad idea.
Here’s the 30-min SPX chart. The index has cleared 1100 but isn’t above it by enough to consider the breakout “confirmed” (whatever that means). Plus we have the June high not far above.

Long bias remains…look to take some profits soon.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings Reports
this week’s Economic Numbers