Let's start with the world of earnings. There have been so many pre-warnings, meaning warnings that were announced before the actual earnings date, that we know the season got off to a bad start. Some giants warned ahead of time, but now we'll focus on those who are waiting for their actual day to announce. This morning we got Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB), an economically-sensitive stock, to report, and it wasn't pretty. It was down huge for the day. What's so amazing to me so far this particular-earnings season is how low the bar has been set for just about everyone, since we are dealing with eight straight quarters of lowered earnings expectations. It would be easy, one would think, for most to beat with no problem. The actual numbers may be weak, but they are better than expected. Right!? Not happening so far overall. Always good beats, but the number of bad reports is adding up, once again, more than anyone would like.

This week is enormous and will tell us all we need to know about the season. Visa Inc. (V) is this evening, and then it goes wild. Too many to mention, but over the next few days we will hear from giants, such as 3M Company (MMM), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG), General Motors Company (GM), Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK), Panera Bread Company (PNRA), Under Armour, Inc. (UA), United Technologies Corporation (UTX), Alphabet Inc. (GOOG), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), LinkedIn Corporation (LNKD), Amgen Inc. (AMGN), Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) Celgene Corporation (CELG), Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC), F5 Networks, Inc. (FFIV), Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (BWLD), and many, many more. What will the message be from the majority of big boys and girls, is what we're all waiting to hear. The market needs a lot of good news here, if it wants to try to break out. The market clearly needs something special to get rocking to the upside. This recent lateral move is driving the masses to walk away from the game.

No one wants to do much since there is just no consistent action to play off of for now. What's even more interesting is that good nights of earnings haven't necessarily meant anything positive, such as we saw when Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) had a great report. The market tried and the market died. Maybe we need a lot of consecutive nights of good reports. Hard to know, but one thing is, for sure, once this week is over so will the earnings season for all intents and purposes. Let's see what it brings. Or doesn't.

Now to today's market. You talk about the same old thing. There was a drop of good news last night out of the Euro Zone. There was a slight improvement in their services and manufacturing sectors. Weak numbers overall, but a slight up-tick. In addition, AT&T, Inc. (T) announced they're buying Time Warner Inc. (TWX). Market gapped up. Of course, it did. It didn't gap up and run. It gapped up and churned, and fell, and this, and that. It never seems to gap and run in either direction. This is the fed market and it's not the same as the old stock market. It's now two years of this garbage, and we can thank massive manipulation for this garbage. No end anywhere to be seen. The bulls were rocking out of the gate, and it did feel as if the market would just keep on going, and stay slightly overbought on the short-term charts. Not to be, of course.

The market fell nearly a ten handle off the highs on the S&P 500, before bouncing off the lows. Just another day to nowhere. Now, I have to admit that things still look fine on the daily charts. Not on the monthly charts, but the daily charts look fine. We can still break out, and until we lose 2013 on the S&P 500, we can't think bearishly. You can, of course, but the market is bullish above 2103, like it or not. So, here we are, and maybe in the end it's all about getting through the election, and not who wins, but how the senate and house come out. The market wants a split there. It does not like one sided dominance. That's only two weeks away. Some hope for all of us that maybe by November we can make a consistent move over time, whichever side it plays.

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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