Let’s not forget that we are not even halfway through the Chinese Year of the Fire Rooster.

To refresh our memories, “Regarding the economy, the fire element is often the driving force behind the stock market.As such, fire years often generate optimism and drive up the stock market.” Raymond Lo.

Back on January 24th I wrote, “It seems that the most challenging part of trading in 2017 will be knowing when to focus on the details and when to look at the big picture.”

“In rooster terms that translates to knowing when to give serious attention to the market cuckolding and when to determine that the cuckolding is more talk than action.”

I took a photograph of our Fire Rooster incarcerated behind barbed wire. Why barbed wire?

Because the flamboyant rooster, when he opens his beak too much, gets himself and others nervous.

If he were within earshot of say, a crevice spiny lizard, that lizard would run for cover into the nearest crevice.

That’s how today began. The rooster cuckolded and the market fled into a hole.

Yet once the cuckolding stopped, some sectors of the market cautiously returned to bask in the sun.

Was the late day rally in the Russell 2000 enough to calm the market’s recent jitters and evoke an air of optimism?

Seems that “an air of optimism” is too, well optimistic.

Indeed, the Russell 2000 and his spouse Granny Retail closed green. XRT stopped short of its respective 50 day moving average.

IWM managed to finish above the fray and back into an unconfirmed bullish phase.

Regional Banks (KRE) also closed green. Although not enough to take it out of its warning phase.

Semiconductors began the session hiding in a hole. As her parents rallied, so did she. Instead of closing the session in an unconfirmed warning phase and under the 50 DMA, SMH managed to hang on to the bullish phase.

The Dow and the S&P 500, two indices that have enjoyed basking this year, both flitted all day between a rock and a hard place.