STOCK MARKET BULLISH -- LONG -- CAUTION -- TURN MAY BE IMMINENT

Keybot the Quant remains long as the end of year drama and light holiday trading continues. The market bulls have pushed UTIL to 724 back above the critical 719.62 level which creates the buoyancy in stocks today.

Only one trading day remains in the year. Tomorrow, Friday, is EOM, EOQ4, EOH2 and EOY2017. The algo will be zeroed out on the weekend and then restarted for the 2018 data. Keybot is disappointing this year finishing flat but considering the environment it is not a bad showing. The low volatility, low volume, choppy sideways trading this year is the worst possible price action behavior for algorithms.

For Friday, the market bears need to push UTIL under 719.62 and/or VIX above 10.43. If either one of these two parameters turn bearish, and the SPX drops under 2683, Keybot will likely flip short, hence, the imminent tun notation remains in the title line. Markets remain unstable and erratic.

The bulls are in control with the algo number 4 points above the signal line. Watch the utilities very closely. For all of next week, the UTIL 726.63 level, as well as the 719.62 level, are key. UTIL price is at 723.89. At the closing bell at 4 PM EST tomorrow, the UTIL 726.63 number is important since it sets up next week.

If UTIL ends the Friday session above 726.63, the market bulls are planning a big joyous party to begin the year with the stock market catapulting higher. If UTIL ends tomorrow below 726.63, the bears are in the game to begin the year and they may growl. If UTIL ends below 719.62 tomorrow, the stock market may fall apart to begin the year. Utilities and volatility are the two key parameters most impacting stock market direction currently.

If you recall from the year before last 2015 going into 2016, on the very last day of trading, Keybot flipped to the short side with only 1 minute remaining before the closing bell. Maybe there will be excitement tomorrow.

12/31/17; 7:00 PM EST EOM EOQ4 EOY2017 =

12/28/17; 9:36 AM EST = +84; signal line is +80

12/27/17; 3:54 PM EST = +70; signal line is +80 but algorithm remains long

12/27/17; 2:23 PM EST = +54; signal line is +80 but algorithm remains long

12/27/17; 10:07 AM EST = +84; signal line is +81

12/27/17; 10:00 AM EST = +68; signal line is +81 but algorithm remains long

12/26/17; 2:14 PM EST = +68; signal line is +81 but algorithm remains long