Today started out terribly. And, as I type this, there are two and a half hours to go.

But the cold fact of that matter is that all the tremendous gains the indexes enjoyed at the opening bell have evaporated. Where shall we end today? A loss on some of the major indexes would be a welcome sight, to be sure. We'll see where it winds up. And the reason it's so important is that there are few things better for my shipmates than a failed bullish breakout.

As of this writing, the S&P is sporting a tremendous shooting star. Of course, the candle isn't worthy of interpretation until the close.

I've been incessantly warning about the potential breakout of the IWM. Well, the breakout has happened. It is history. But will it generate a bullish movement upward? It sure did in the first moments of the day. But, since then, the bull's car has had nothing but water in it. It wants to move, but it's not budging.

I offer the following charts without commentary (since I haven't the time). But here are my favorites right now.

Beloved Readers………

There's a lot going on, but I will put together something soon.

You have honored me all these months with taking time to be here on Slope, and I want to apologize for being so distracted lately.

There are some very interesting things going on in the market, and I hope to comment on them very soon. I'm not convinced the bear's back is broken. Mine certainly isn't. 

What a morning.

• The market exploded higher at the opening bell
• A particular employer of a particular blogger had their particular stock drop 40% at the opening bell
• We're having technical issues galore at the office

Is it supposed to be darkest before the dawn? Sure better be.