True, StJ – it's broken somehow, doesn't tell you anything but what the marked did that day.   Of course, the crazy thing is our options are priced in it so, when it races up like this, it can cost us 5% (on paper) of the LTP, which is $25,000 until thing calm down, since we sell so much premium there.  

Damn, I forgot to specify short-term bounce lines but 0.5% is the rule of thumb for a weak bounce and 1% strong, so simple enough to watch.  

See what a nice bounce we're having off the -2.5% line.  NYSE held -1.25% and that's actually a bullish sign for the rest except the NYSE never popped like the other did (never made Must Hold at 11,000), so it didn't have as far to fall.  

If I had to put numbers on the bounces, they'd be:

• S&P 2,075 to 2,025 is 50 points so weak bounce is 10 to 2,035 and strong is 20 to 2,045.  Keep in mind that we've dropped since Mon (3 days) so we want to see strong bounce by no later than tomorrow to call it bullish but making weak today is a good sign (if it holds) but let's set our goal at strong bounces since we have the Global Feds trying to save us already.   Now 2,044.   
• Dow 18,000 to 17,500 is 500 points (good Bot sign as Dow is 10% of the S&P, so coordinated moves mean it's all Bot Trading and Bot Trading is what our 5% Rule measures) so 100-point bounces to 17,600 and 17,700 are what we'll watch.  Now 17,659.
• Nasdaq 4,800 to 4,680 is 120 points so 24-point bounces (call it 25, since indexes like 5s) to 4,705 and 4,730.  Now 4,730.  
• NYSE 11,000 to 10,650 is 350 points so 75-point bounces to 10,725 and 10,800.  Now 10,735.
• Russell 1,190 to 1,160 is 30 points so 6-point bounces to 1,166 and 1,172 and, the way the Russell moves, anything less than a strong bounce is BS.  Now 1,174.  

So, as usual, the RUT is in the lead with the Nas right behind and those are our manipulated indexes so we want to see volume to confirm the move.  Yesterday, we had strong down volume (152M on SPY) with decliners outpacing advancers by about 5:1.  Today, so far, just 12M on this "rally" – which is just nonsense that can be erased in minutes by a single fund hitting the sell button (average share is $50 so $600M selling would wipe this gain out).  

Meanwhile, let's make a bullish pick while we still can on HOV, which had fantastic earnings and is up another dime today at $4.20 but you can still collect $1.05 for selling the 2017 $4 puts for a net $2.95 entry (30% off) and that's fine for a solo trade but you can also pick up the 2017 $3.50/5.50 bull call spread for 0.90 and that gives you a net 0.15 credit on the $2 spread that's 0.70 in the money to start with a potential $2.15 win at $5.50 (1,433% on cash!) and the worst case is you own HOV for net $3.85.