Despite some of the market heavyweights taking big hits from earnings/outlooks (Microsoft MSFT, -7.72%, Alphabet GOOG, -7.86%, Texas Instruments TXN, -6.41%) futures are off less than 1%.

Don’t look for a fundamental justification. This rally, like most this year, was built on VIX and currency manipulation.

continued for members…The equity picture shows a completed IH&S for ES/SPX in addition to the bullish 10/20 cross and breakout above the channel midline.

The only potential bright spot for bears is COMP, which is backtesting its broken purple channel. However, it’s also experiencing a bullish 10/20 cross, which combined with VIX, might be enough to convince the bears to capitulate. The key, of course, is VIX’s very visible breakdown. It can be seen in the index as well as the futures. It’s especially impactful as it comes on the heels of the bullish (bearish for stocks) 50/200 cross.On the currency front, USDJPY is still holding its 1998 highs… …while EURUSD has inexplicably shot up through its SMA50.This has enabled a further breakdown in DXY……and encouraged a drop in the 10Y, which looks likely to backtest its SMA20 and potentially 4%.