Does the Fed really know what they’re doing, or have they simply come to the conclusion that there’s no other choice but to let interest rates continue to soar?Futures liked David Tepper’s assessment that higher rates are a good thing, as they will convince foreign buyers such as the BoJ to load up on US Treasuries.  Maybe. All I know is that past accelerations in the 2s10s have never been positive for stocks.

continued for members…The current state of affairs…

For all the times SPX’s SMA60 200 has acted as support, this time it looks more likely to act as resistance. As we’ve seen many times lately, VIX’s ability to nudge below its SMA200 has been very effective.  But, can it remain there? Seems like 40 is the new no-go-zone. USDJPY keeps ramping for all it’s worth.But, EURUSD has a very important decision to make, probably later today.  Bounce or break down? Meanwhile, DXY is nearing our first backtest target. GC is essentially at our downside target, reaching 1681.3 earlier.While SI is still backtesting its SMA100 and white channel top while SMA200 makes its way to the channel top. The price action of both continues to suggest that we could see a big pop in DXY very soon, likely the result of general market malaise.

The problem continues to be oil and gas. They simply can’t continue to rise without pushing rates higher. UPDATE:  6:00 PM

Another day so much like the others – the ramp up and out of the channel and a drop to backtest it at the close as VIX rose back above the SMA200 for a few minutes.

GC reached our downside target earlier today. I’ll post an update on GC and SI in the morning. But, it’s not exaggerating things to say that this is incredibly important support for gold. Remember, we’ll get Feb CPI Wednesday morning.