EB Watch List Update Report

MARKET NOTE: Dear Members: The VIX has caught my attention today. It's up 6% and importantly it's back above its 50 day moving average which has only happened a handful of times since last November. Something else I've noticed is the 20 day moving average is curving upward toward the 20 day on the VIX which at the moment is not necessarily a big problem but should the 20 day cross the 50 day then it could become a problem for the bulls. The current pattern looks very similar to what we saw September of last year when the VIX spiked up dramatically. This is coming with all of the major indexes extremely overbought. Earlier in the session when the NASDAQ was green it marked the eighth session in a row, quite a rarity. So I'm not surprised that we're now seeing some selling. Of course the market has been beyond resilient of late so it wouldn't be a major surprise to see some bargain hunting. But to me the real bargain hunting should come at lower levels. In looking at the charts I could see the S&P easily test the 2320-2330 level. But the new bar to the upside, now at 2351, could end up being the high in the near term. In fact it pretty much is the level I had referred to a few days back as a level the bulls might try to get to, which they did. As of this email the VIX is at 12.65. Should the selling pick up later we could see a test of the 200 day, now at 13.88. This is a level the bulls do not want to see cleared as it could spell more trouble. For now we just sit back and let this play out. We haven't seen significant selling in a long time but it doesn't mean it can't happen. To me the selling is healthy; there's nothing worth chasing here at the moment. KEY EARNINGS REPORTS Companies reporting earnings today (February 16) include: ALXN, AMBC, AEE, AVP, CHTR, DE, DUK, H, NUS, PCG, SWC, TIME, WRE, WM, WEN and YRI.TO Companies reporting earnings tomorrow (February 17) include: AC.TO, B, CPB, CQH, CTB, DE, FNMA, FLR, SJM and MCO ADDITIONS TO WATCH LISTS: First, please note that we have updated the Candidate Tracker, including some new additions that could become high reward to risk trading candidates at some point. No alerts will be coming out today with the market so stretched. BRIEF COMMENTS ON SELECT WATCH LIST STOCKS: SHORTS: None at this time LONGS: Large Cap Watch List None at this time Mid Cap Watch List None at this time Small Cap Watch List TRUE - Was removed from Watch List yesterday as was reporting after the bell and we do not like to hold stocks into their earnings reports. DELETIONS FROM OUR WATCH LISTS: True has been removed from the Watch List At your service, John Hopkins EarningsBeats