Monday’s Action

As the indices and crude oil teeter at critical pivot points, today's trading is a very important indicator of sentiment on the street. Crude has just broken out and gapped up to new highs. On the other hand, the indices are on the verge of breaking down from their uptrending supports. The uptrends are still technically intact, but there has been a lot of weakness in the last few days. Strong earnings reports this week will surely create a bounce off the current support levels. The opposite is also true. Also keep in mind that this is options expiration week, so many stocks with large institutional holdings will probably be moving toward their "max pain" prices.

I anticipate that geopolitical problems in Iran will only get worse, causing volatility premiums in oil to increase. On the other hand, alternative and solar energy stocks may start to get more money flowing into them, so that may be worth a look.