Earnings season has begun with the leading financial stocks reporting earnings this week. Today, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) and Well Fargo Co (NYSE: WFC) reported earnings before the opening bell. These stocks were holding up well at the start of the session, but have now faded and are now trading negative on the day. It should be noted that these stocks have rallied higher before the earnings announcement, so the market may have had the recent rally baked into the cake already. Traders and investors will now have to watch the chart pattern that unfolds in these stocks throughout the remainder of the week.

Tomorrow, more leading financial stocks will report earnings. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE: SCHW) will report earnings before the open. After today’s earning reports nobody is expecting the numbers from these banks to be good. So again, it will be all about the chart pattern that is formed. Traders and investors should note that this is still a very technical market. Trading levels and patterns will dominate the moves in stocks as the fundamentals are out the window for now. This rule will apply for all stocks going forward. Believe it or not, support and resistance levels are now important again.

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