STOCK MARKET BEARISH -- SHORT -- CAUTION -- TURN MAY BE IMMINENT

The bull-bear battle continues. With Friday's robust upside action you would think the algo would have flipped long but it did not. Keybot is a hair away from flipping long and probably will if the SPX runs above 1909, however, the bulls will likely be slapped in the face due to the utilities. UTIL 577.24 and 596.98 are two key bull-bear levels for the week ahead. UTIL begins at 589.14 creating stock market bullishness above the 577 level but will create bearishness under 597 and likely dampen the bulls hope to receive the go signal for the upside (last week the key upper level was UTIL 583 but this number no longer has any meaning and is replaced with 597 for all of this week).

The opening minutes of trading will be very critical on Monday morning. Since the utes may be out of touch for the bulls, volatility or copper may lock in the move to the bull camp if either VIX drops under 19.33 and/or JJC moves above 23.95. Keybot is currently flagging utilities, volatility and copper as the three key parameters most greatly impacting broad market direction.

For the SPX starting at 1907, the bulls need to touch 1909 and bingo, the upside will accelerate to 1910-1912 in a heartbeat and then likely to 1920 and the uber strong 1924 resistance level. The bears need to push under 1877 to regain their downside mojo, a formidable task, so instead bears will focus on pushing utilities lower, volatility higher and copper lower. A move through 1878-1908 is sideways action to begin the new week.

Keybot prints two pre-scheduled numbers this week one on Tuesday and one on Friday. The January month of trading ends on Friday. Note that the algo number is overtaking the signal line more and more each day but the bulls still need a tiny bit more energy to confirm a relief rally and flip Keybot to the long side.

1/31/16; 7:00 PM EST EOM =

1/29/16; 10:00 AM EST =

1/26/16; 10:00 AM EST =

1/24/16; 7:00 PM EST = -24; signal line is -39 but algorithm remains short

1/22/16; 11:57 AM EST = -24; signal line is -39 but algorithm remains short

1/21/16; 3:03 PM EST = -40; signal line is -39

1/21/16; 1:29 PM EST = -56; signal line is -39

1/21/16; 10:26 AM EST = -40; signal line is -38

1/21/16; 9:51 AM EST = -56; signal line is -38

1/20/16; 3:15 PM EST = -40; signal line is -37

1/20/16; 11:54 AM EST = -56; signal line is -37

1/20/16; 10:25 AM EST = -40; signal line is -36

1/20/16; 9:00 AM EST = -24; signal line is -36 but algorithm remains short

1/17/16; 7:00 PM EST = -24; signal line is -36 but algorithm remains short