S&P Futures & Big 10 Analysis - Week of February 13

It's all Greek to me. That is whether or not a resolution has been found to the fiscal crisis in Greece. And if one has been found, has it garnered enough support to be approved and implemented. With that being said, who cares? One advantage to being a technician is that the markets response to the fundamentals is reflected in technical analysis. If bad news hit the tape, sellers will drive the market to levels where shorts want to cover, or new longs want to enter the market, and vice- versa when good news hits the tape. On Thursday, the March S&P contract reached 1352.75 before taking a small breather on Friday to settle at 1340.50. Interestingly, Friday's selloff was stymied well above the weekly low of 1330.25. This simply says the bulls have not yet lost control of this market. Until 1330.25 is taken out at least a few times on a closing basis, expect the slow grind north to continue. On the upside, above the weekly high are levels that have not been approached since May of 2008 (1387.00) Exxon Mobil

still refuses to fully participate in the rallies. After reaching $86.44 on Tuesday, the remainder of the week was greeted with lower highs and lower lows. This is certainly not the recipe to reverse the direction this stock has taken since failing at just shy of the 52 week high of 88.13. Major support stands at the weekly low of 83.35 (which coincides with the post earnings low of 83.19). If taken out there is a lot of air under this stock until the 80.00 level and perhaps a test of the mid-December low at 79.38. Until the streak of lower highs and lower lows is over, look for continued pressure on the sell side at all the whole numbers. Apple

is quite the beast. Ripping all the shorts a new one again and coming dangerously close to the magical 500 level on Thursday and Friday. To try and call the top of this issue is futile. Although there is no identifiable size at the Tractor Beam like 500 level (for more detailed explanation of this term please visit

, Educational Videos tab) , there is certainly going to be some when it finally gets there. For those who are gluttons for punishment take a look at the NFLX move above 300 (304.79) to shake out the shorts and the corresponding action afterwards. If you short AAPL at 500, no doubt you are going to take some heat and if it does not get under 500 the same day, head for the hills. Longer term traders move your sell stops up to 485.00. Please use this example strictly on a technical level, I am no way trying to compare the NFLX bubble to AAPL's parabolic move. International Business Machines

seems to be still riding the coattails of Warren Buffett, who announced a large stake in this issue during his last disclosure. What troubles me about this issue, is it's reluctance to take out the all time high at 194.90. High Frequency Traders are stepping to the plate whenever Big Blue gets above 194 and they beat it back down to the 191.00-192.00 in order to cover. With the downside post earnings gap looming down to 182.36, any breach of the 190.00 level on a closing basis would confirm a short term top. Above 194.90, look for a massacre of the shorts up to 200.00. Chevron Corporation's

activity is the mirror image of XOM. After topping out at the 107.50 area on Wednesday and Thursday, sellers flooded this issue. Making a low for the week on Friday at 104.28 and rebounding to settle at 105.28. Under the weekly low, CVX really opens up down to the January 30th low of 102.18 and then to monster support at 99.50. Minor resistance can be found at Wednesday and Thursday's lows of 106.07-106.09. Above that level is major resistance at 107.50. A string of closes above that level would signal a rally to test the all time high of 110.99. Microsoft

did not even spend enough time under 30.00 to get me short. Instead, rebounded from Monday's low (29.97) to reach 30.80 on Thursday and Friday. For those banking on the double top, hang in there, but it is difficult to rule out a test of the May 2010 high (31.06) at this juncture. A string of closes under 30.00 may lend this issue to profit taking. On the other hand, a raising of the dividend (they have to something with all that cash) would attract a whole new wave of buyers (value investors). General Electric

is dead money. Unless you are holding the stock for the dividend, then you have no reason to own it. There is simply no way this issue is ever going to 2007 levels (42.17) let alone the all time high back in 2000 (60.75) when they tried to acquire Honeywell. The arbitrageurs that held on to their positions (short GE, long Honeywell

) have been rewarded with HON currently at 59.33. With decimals in place, High Frequency Traders sniff out any significant size and trade around it. The amount of new money needed to satisfy their insatiable thirst in this issue is beyond comprehension. Cannot look for a major breakdown until 18.50 is breached, or a major breakout until 19.53 is taken out. Procter & Gamble

is attempting to regain some upward momentum after selling off from 67.00 to 62.56. Rejecting the weekly low (62.56) on Monday, PG bounced and topped out on Thursday at 64.10. After Friday's lower open PG made another run at the 64.00 level, closing at 63.88. Perhaps a few closes over 64.00 would be enough of a boost to test the next major levels of resistance at 65.38. Do not ignore the major support from 63.37-63.55 (four consecutive lows) when attempting to cover shorts or initiate new long positions. Speaking of dead money, AT&T

trading activity has been muted. After making a double top on Tuesday and Wednesday at 30.15, this issue succumbed to selling pressure. Friday's decline was halted just above Monday's low (29.69) at 29.70 and rebounded to close at 29.84. Expect major sell orders all the way from the 30.00-30.15 area, and do not look for a break down to the low 29.00's until 29.69 is taken out three times on a closing basis. Johnson & Johnson

tested and expanded (barely) the trading range it has held since the December 27 high of 66.32 and the January 24 low of 64.34. After reaching 64.25 on Friday, JNJ rallied to close at 64.60. As long as the weekly low holds, most likely this issue will drift back up to the upper end of this trading range. Expect some minor resistance from 65.35-65.39 (three consecutive highs), and major resistance beginning at 66.00 up to the recent high. Perhaps Pfizer

would fall into to the dead money camp, if it was not for the favorable piece in Barron's Up and Down Wall Street column. Citing a promising pipeline of drugs to replace recently expiring patents as the catalyst for the issue to make a move higher. Of course, as with any pharmaceutical or bio-tech stock, the proof always lies with the FDA. Certainly, buyers would be protected somewhat by the dividend and entry right near major, major support at 20.80. A move above 22.00 would be impressive and may attract some momentum buyers (of the geriatric set). Below 20.80, more support can be found at 20.50. In closing, the market ended the week in the same area as it started. Not enough good news to push the S&P futures to close above 1350, nor enough bad news to close under 1330.00. With the earnings season nearly complete the market will be in a holding pattern until some profit taking comes into play or short sellers throw in the towel similar to the AAPL move from last week.