Below is the current daily chart for the March 2012 ES contract.

The target was derived as shown by the red trendlines; October's high to November's low multiplied by 1.272 and projected upwards. There are additional targets above, but reaching the 1.272 extension of such a large swing tells us that this swing is potentially overbought. It would take quite a breakdown to shift the pattern to short side on this timeframe, but starting here we certainly have a reason to be prepared for pullbacks and consolidation.

The big news recently has been Apple's report during the closed market, it has opened high and seems to be climbing higher. Google has dropped back from its earlier gain. We also look at gold, silver, and oil today.

One of the most important aspects of trading is correct money management and unfortunately it is a topic that many new traders overlook. It can be the difference between a trader who is consistently profitable and one who erodes their account.

We've found that very often the intraday targets provide a strong indication of daily direction too. Once again our 60 minute EURO chart shows a target derived from the swing into the low.

The indices started the day looking positive and really saw a slow down as we finished the day. Despite the "green" finish, it doesn't look very good from our perspective...

So far, the last week and a half has not been very active for the U.S. indices. We need to pay attention to the next two days of trading though because we are now right at a key level in the S&P which could determine whether we continue moving upwards or turn over. Let's also take a short term look at the gold market.

We're looking for the target at 1677.2 on the NYSE-Liffe mini gold, the YG contract. This target is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, it's derived from the last swing into the low, 12/21 - 12/29 multiplied by a target factor of 1.272 and projected upwards. Targets calculated from reversal points, the 12/29 low, often terminate a move if the move was a correction of a larger trend. This makes the target an important spot since it may also serve to terminate the rally and present another leg down.

While we use the 45 minute to determine intraday trend, one of the interesting things here is that the 45 minute target at 1285.00 would also represent a new daily swing high, exceeding last October's high. If that target is met, we may very well see an upside acceleration as more major daily pivots would be broken.

As the S&P continues to hover in the Fibonacci 50% - 61.8% level, the markets have yet to decide which way to go. The end of the year is getting closer and closer and it's not looking good for the bulls. Here's why...

As the S&P continues to hover in the Fibonacci 50% - 61.8% level, the markets have yet to decide which way to go. The end of the year is getting closer and closer and it's not looking good for the bulls. Here's why...