The initial upside breaks from the coils are faltering a little. The index showing the most vulnerability is the Nasdaq. There was some recovery before the close of business, but the damage has already been done. Technicals are still holding on the bullish side, with the exception of relative performance (against the S&P). Volume climbed to register distribution, but in holiday volume terms.

Action into today had looked to offer bears the advantage, but it was a morning gap higher from buyers which gave bulls the initiative. Beyond the opening gap there wasn't too much more buyers were able to achieve, with the exception of the Russell 2000, but today's gains would be enough to put bears/shorts on the defensive.  The lack of upside follow through may offer more aggressive shorts an opportunity. The Dow made a clean upside break of the consolidation.

The indices had another inside day (in a series of inside days) to set up a good swing trade play. With the emergence of spike highs it would suggest a break lower is the favoured move (along with indices performing relatively weak against their peers), but if shorts jump the gun and markers emerge from the coil higher then those shorts will be forced to cover - fueling fresh buying. The S&P is showing this coiling action best:

This was the first day bears have been able to apply pressure since the election. It is now four days since markets pressured highs, and for the S&P, it was the third distribution day since the last accumulation day. While the S&P is drifting a little off course, it's still able to make relative performance gains against the Russell 2000. Money may start cycling from Small Caps to more defensive Large Cap stocks.

The Fed's announcement for faster rate hikes killed off my EURUSD trade and threw markets into a state of confusion. Traders had looked to regain their edge today, but late selling was enough to take some of the wind out of their sails. Having said that, it looked easier for profit takers to follow through on yesterday's Fed action than to scramble back in as buyers. The Russell 2000 had the best of the action, managing to retain the most of today' gains. There was a 'sell' trigger in the MACD, but given its relative position to the bullish zero line this looks to be a typical pullback action (which may not be done yet).

Well, that selling didn't last long. The Nasdaq powered higher as leading tech companies like Apple and Microsoft added over 1%. While the index does well remains a long way from tagging the upper band marking a profit taking opportunity, as had occurred in the Russell 2000 this month.

It was a slow start for some indices, but not surprisingly, the Russell 2000 saw the biggest of profit taking. The index lost just over 1% in a 'bearish evening star' candestick confirmation.   However, supporting technicals are little changed.