Markets were setting up for a push lower, but Friday's upside break from consolidations triggered a wave of buying (and short covering). The buying was accompanied with higher volume accumulation. Shorts were left squealing by Friday's action, and new shorts will need to wait until Nov-Dec consolidations are tested before new positions are entered. Until then, short covering and long buyers rule the day. The S&P has taken the first step of a rally to take it back to the supply zone of 2,000. Friday's action was accompanied by a MACD trigger 'buy' and On-Balance-Volume 'buy' trigger.

The consolidations developing in the market remained in play by the close of today's business. Volume climbed in confirmed accumulation, which is a potential sign for an upside breakout from these consolidations. But with bearish lead-in trends, any upside breakouts will quickly run into supply issues from Christmas consolidations. The S&P is shaping a pennant just above support from September/October swing lows. There is a weak 'buy' in the MACD and On-Balance-Volume.

The back and forth in the markets continued as yesterday's gains were undone by today's higher volume selling. The concern with today's action is that the consolidation in the S&P has the look of a bearish continuation wedge. And given the potential for a measured move, it opens up the possibility for a push down to 1,650s. A weak 'buy' signal in the MACD could trap more bulls.

Monday's close had all the look of a retest of last week's spike low. And the Asian session only looked to confirm further weakness as the Chinese market continued its slump. However, bulls kicked off from the open and clawed back most of yesterday's losses. In the end, markets are nicely placed for tomorrow, having undone the damage of yesterday. The S&P still has a 100 point buffer before it gets to supply issues.