S&P 500 extended gains, and the risk appetite in bonds carried over into value rising faster than tech. Given the TLT downswing though, it‘s all but rainbows and unicorns ahead today. Not only that quad witching would bring high volume and chop, but VIX itself also doesn‘t look to slide smoothly below 25 today. Friday‘s ride would be thus rocky and affected by momentum stalling in both tech and value.

Real assets though can and will enjoy the deserved return into the spotlight. With much of the preceding downswing being based on de-escalation hopes (that aren‘t materializing, still), the unfolding upswing in copper, oil, and precious metals (no, they aren‘t to be spooked by the tough Fed tightening talk) would happen at a more measured pace than had been the case recently. Pay attention to the biting inflation, surrounding blame games hinting at no genuine respite – read through the rich captions of today‘s chart analyses, and think about reliable stores of real value.

And of course, enjoy the open profits.

Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).

S&P 500 and Nasdaq Outlook

S&P 500 looks likely to consolidate as the 4,400 – 4,450 zone would be tough to overcome, and such a position relative to both the moving averages shown has historically stopped quite a few steep recoveries off very negative sentiment readings.

Credit Markets

HYG is likely to slow down here, as in really stall and face headwinds. The run had been respectable, and much of the easy gains happened already yesterday.

Gold, Silver, and Miners

Precious metals upswing did indeed return – and the miners' performance doesn‘t hint at a swift return of the bears, to put it mildly. The path to $ 1950s is open.

Crude Oil

Crude oil bottom was indeed in, and the price can keep recovering towards $110s and beyond. No, the economy isn‘t crashing yet, monetary policy isn‘t forcing that outcome, and the drawing of petroleum reserves is a telltale sign of upside price pressures mounting. It‘ll be an interesting April, mark my words.

Copper

Copper is duly rebounding, and not at all overheated. The move is also in line with other base metals. My yesterday‘s target of $4.70 has already been reached – I‘m looking for a measured pace of gains to continue.

Bitcoin and Ethereum

Cryptos are taking a small break, highlighting the perils of today. The boat won‘t be rocked too much.

Summary

S&P 500 bulls made the easy gains already yesterday, and today‘s session is going to be volatile, even treacherous in establishing a clear and lasting direction (i.e. choppy), and the headwinds would be out there in the plain open. These would come from bonds not continuing in the risk-on turn convincingly rather than commodities and metals surging head over heels. Both tech and value would feel the heat as VIX would show signs of waking up (to some degree). Today‘s session won‘t change the big picture dynamics of late, and I invite you to read more in-depth commentary within the individual market sections of today‘s full analysis.