4:38 PM, Mar 18, 2010 --

• NYSE down 30.6 (0.4%) to 7,443.57.
• DJIA up 45.5 (0.4%) to 10,779.
• S&P 500 down 0.4 (0.03%) to 1,166.
• Nasdaq up 2 (0.1%) to 2,391.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Too many shots, too many pints, too much corn beef and cabbage? Markets did a whole lot of nothing today.

$83-83.50 is still acting as stiff resistance on the May Crude futures; use that as resistance, and $79.50 followed by $77.50 as support. Though there is far more profit potential being short or long futures in oil, at the moment we prefer sleeping at night and have advised clients to trade options until we get a clearer direction, if they intend holding overnight. We are still thinking a setback of $4-6 is likely in the coming days/weeks and have not ruled out a trade back to $70/barrel.

Sentiment

The major averages have traded in another narrow range and are not much changed following a mixed round of economic news Thursday. Weekly jobless claims and Consumer Price Index data was in focus early. While the CPI rose 0.1 percent in February, as economists had predicted, weekly jobless claims fell by a less-than-expected 5,000. Nevertheless, after a tame reading from the PPI yesterday, the two days of benign inflation data set a positive tone for morning action.

Attention turned to the Philadelphia Fed Survey at 10:00 eastern time. The gauge of regional manufacturing activity improved to 18.9 this month, up from 17.6 in February and better than the 18.0 reading economists had expected. Yet, after an 8-day winning streak, the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed little reaction to the better data.

By Chris McKhann

The VIX really doesn't work as any sort of signal for stocks. At least that is what the latest research by Birinyi Associates says according to a recent Bloomberg article.

By David Russell

Ross Stores (ROST) has been climbing into record territory for the last two weeks, and now bears are looking for a pullback.

Yesterday morning we noted that 85% of S&P 500 stocks were trading above their 50-day moving averages. By the close, however, that number had jumped to 89%.

Below we highlight the S&P 500 stocks that are trading the farthest above their 50-days. Typically the most overbought names on the list will be about 10-15% above their 50-days, but at the moment their are 33 stocks in the index with readings of more than 15%.

By David Russell

Options action is turning bullish on Calpine (CPN), which has been consolidating at higher levels amid takeover rumors.

By Chris McKhann

Shares of Nabors Industries (NBR) are falling fast this morning, and traders are looking to take advantage of the slide with options that expire tomorrow.

Today’s jobless claims report showed a slight decline to initial claims while also indicating a small increase to the continued claims series while continued claims including extended benefits appear to be continuing to mount.

Seasonally adjusted “initial” unemployment claims declined by 5,000 to 457,000 claims from last week’s revised 462,000 claims while “continued” claims increased by 12,000 resulting in an “insured” unemployment rate of 3.5%.

By Bryan McCormick

Ahead of FedEx's (FDX) earnings release this morning (see transcript here upon availability), a bullish pattern is active on its daily chart.

By Chris McKhann

Option volume in the Gap (GPS) is unusually bullish as its shares trade just below five-year highs.

By Bryan McCormick

US stock index futures are essentially flat this morning after a moderately weak session in most of Asia's markets. The eurozone and United Kingdom were also flat at the time of this writing, after having been moderately lower at the outset of trading.