Last night and this morning's pre-market offered up opportunities for the bears to do some real technical damage due to a one-two punch from earnings last night, and a terrible Goodrich Petroleum Corp. (GDP) report this morning before trading began. Express Scripts Holding Company (ESRX), Panera Bread Company (PNRA), eBay Inc. (EBAY) and Twitter, Inc., the most important earnings for the evening, all bombed out on their reports. All fell very hard after those numbers were reported. Four for four on the downside, and not just down a little bit but down between four and thirteen percent.

Add in a GDP that was barely above recession and the one-two punch was there for sure. The result was a small move lower, especially on the Nasdaq, which continues to lag, followed by a slow but steady move higher throughout the day. More on that later on. When the market had closed for trading, all of the indexes had turned green across the board. Nice action for those bulls. Another blown opportunity for the bears. I gather they'll keep on trying, but there can be no arguing that they had their fundamental opportunities, but couldn't seize on them. Another strong day for the bulls. The grind back and forth as things try to unwind continues.

The important event for the day was Ms Yellen, and what she would say regarding tapering and interest rates. They tapered by ten billion as expected with a statement that talked about continued economic growth, but also the need for interest rates to remain at or near zero for a very long time to come. Music to the ears of the bulls and shrills to the ears of the bears. The market started to advance slowly but surely from there. Lots of chop along the way but a staircase climb higher throughout the last two hours after the statement.

The market is totally focused on improving economic conditions accompanied by those low rates. A forced bull. As long as rates are extremely low it appears the bull wants to move higher overall. We can spend endless hours talking about how inappropriate this all is but it's nothing but a complete waste of time. We deal with what is and not what we think is right. The low rates are leading the way. No argument folks. That's the trick. That's the bull market. Yellen keeps driving that point home because her job is to keep the bull alive as long as possible. That's her real job description.

The next two pre-market mornings have two huge reports that will affect the market. The ISM Manufacturing Report tomorrow and the Jobs Report on Friday. We will see just how strong things really are. However, if they're weak, the market knows Yellen will be there to help if need be and that rates will stay low. The bull market ends when the economy TRULY recovers and rates start to explode higher.

For now, we watch to see if the S&P 500 can get over the old highs at 1897. Day to day.

Peace,

Jack

Jack Steiman is author of SwingTradeOnline.com ( www.swingtradeonline.com ). Former columnist for TheStreet.com, Jack is renowned for calling major shifts in the market, including the market bottom in mid-2002 and the market top in October 2007.

Mr. Steiman's commentaries and index analysis represent his own opinions and should not be relied upon for purposes of effecting securities transactions or other investing strategies, nor should they be construed as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy any security. You should not interpret Mr. Steiman's opinions as constituting investment advice. Trades mentioned on the site are hypothetical, not actual, positions.

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