USDJPY and VIX have driven futures 13 points higher this morning, even as gasoline prices continue to plunge.continued for members…

Knocking VIX back below the yellow channel bottom and SMA200 works wonders…pretty much every time.

This leaves ES and SPX on the verge of another breakout.  The channel top around 2475 looks to be the first stop, with the purple .886 at 2482.49 a possibility once folks start getting stopped out.  Late last week, I removed this target from our charts as it appeared unlikely to be in play for the immediate future.  Nice going, VIX.Note that USDJPY is bouncing.  I believe this is a corrective wave with new lows still ahead of us.Gold is still threatening a breakout.  But, as we discussed last week, the implications of a move above 1380 would be huge.  I believe TPTB will work to prevent it.ES is again on the verge of a breakout.

UPDATE:  10:03 AM

Here’s the .886.  Decision time for SPX.  The way this usually plays out is SPX will squat here for hours, if need be, until the short-term SMAs catch up — then either ride them higher to new highs or break down.  Stay tuned.I’m going to sign off for now and focus on some bigger picture charts.  I’ll check back in in a few hours.

UPDATE:  2:07 PM

SPX seems determined to make new highs, again primarily on VIX and USDJPY.  The question came up about new upside targets.  The best remains the purple 1.618 at 2536.31.  Note that it overlaps with the white 2.24 at 2537.25 and the red channel top (which SPX has magically rejoined…again) within the next day or two.