Before the Open (Sep 14)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up – gains were small. Europe is currently down across the board. Futures here in the States point towards a flat-to-down open for the cash market. This of course could change when retail sales numbers are released.
Two weeks ago I said I wasn’t jumping feet first into shorts because there was way too much negativity out there, way too many people stacked on the bear’s side. Since than the market has moved up 8 of 9 days, and the SPX has gained 80 points to put itself within 10 points of the top of its range. Volume has been light, and given the near vertical move, odds favor at least a pause here at resistance.
Here my SPX daily. Upside targets are 1130, 1150 and the high 1170’s.

The banks have improved a bunch the last couple weeks. This needs to continue. The semis have perked up; they’ve been lagging and need to continue to strengthen. The small caps invalidated the negative divergence that had formed at the end of last week – this is a good thing.
My bias remains to the upside, but let’s not get lazy here. The market is still range bound. More after the open.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings Reports
this week’s Economic Numbers