Decent overnight moves higher in the futures fell flat on their arse today as the selling pressure ensued. With tomorrow being options expiration it wouldn’t be too surprising to see some squeezing on the puts early in the day. However, in this market environment anything is possible even the Dow closing at 6 year lows!

I’ve included an interesting chart below that shows the DJIA compared to one of its components—Wal-Mart. You’ll notice that $WMT has been performing rather well when compared to the index that it belongs. What you should really pay attention to is that for the time that the chart shows, the two have really been in line. That means that either the DJIA can move higher to catch WMT or WMT could move lower to catch the DJIA. Just for fun, we can also consider that perhaps WMT will move lower and the DJIA will move higher.

The last chart shows the volatility index ($VIX) compared to the broader market ($SPX) and indicates something very interesting. As the markets headed lower this past week on their way to test the November lows, the fear ($VIX) in the market didn’t rise. Is that because it’s expected to test the lows so nobody’s really concerned or is it that the belief is that we are building a base here to move higher? Good questions to know so when you figure them out let me know.

Tomorrow we get the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Pay special attention to the core CPI as it strips out the increase in energy. On the earnings front, $JCP, $PNW, and $LOW are reporting tomorrow.