"Nothing new", Bernanke

If people are puzzled by the drop today after Mr. Bernanke's testimony to the congress, they have every reason to be.   Frankly, we are somewhat confused too as to the reaction.    It was in-line to recent FOMC and every other FED member comments lately!.   Only difference is the media has been harping on that they are considering options for a bigger downturn and there was some speculation he would announce something today.   You know what?…Thank god…he didn’t!.  We don’t want to be surprised by such an announcement for market's sake at a testimony that things are getting worse and steps might be needed soon.    Something’s are just left for FOMC meetings and for hints to the market proceeding one to be prepared!.   This doesn't happen at hearings just after FOMC and their minutes. This would signal something drastic happened the last few weeks to change the tone and market would sink to new recent lows!

Well, uncertainty, fear mongering has been the theme for this market during the last couple of months.   The recent "soft" eco. data, mixed results from various Corporations so far, the still uncertain situation from Europe, and coupled with the "always fluctuating message" from China,  just make this market a big ball of uncertainty.     We don't blame Ben for testifying what we traders feel everyday.    However, this is why we still really like this market because no one has the upper hand and nobody can see things any further than the next guy.    The drop today is a bit silly since most of the earning reports came out earlier have been pretty good.   You can clearly see this was an ETF / Futures driven sell off.   Individual equities lost gains, but they were nowhere no close to showing a <20 pts SPX drop by being deep in red.   Good sign.   As we all know from previous experience here, these ETF sell offs are easily reversed the next day.   Also, we held 20MA!

Both MS  and WFC  delivered some good reports that are offsetting the less encouraging results from BAC and GS.    AAPL...KO, ETN  and other industrials... all came out with very good results. QCOM  tonight.  This is exactly what we have been saying the whole time.   The current Economic environment is an ideal playground for companies to show their execution.    It's a tougher environment now compare to the 1990s or the mid 2000s where everyone is printing money one way or the other.    Right now, only those well ran companies with a great global strategy, and coupled with a great cost control measurement, are able to stand out from the pack.    When the Economy is running great in full mode, every company delivers.    When the Economy is running on a cautious mode like we have now, only the better companies deliver.

Bottom line, there are enough companies out there that are coming out with better than expected results which will keep this market in check.