PROFIT TAKING OR PANIC?

I did say that tops aren't usually formed by "volcano" tops, but that doesn't mean that we can't get a profit taking pull back before going higher. I didn't see any panic in the selling today. The VIX didn't move up much and there was some buying at the end of the day. Oil has dropped over the last two day which explains the drop in energy related stocks. I got stopped out of most of those energy picks from last week. I'll look to get back in if they move back above their 50 day MA. I think there could be a bit more selling in these stocks, but most of them should then move to new highs. I took some profits on my GLD and SLV trades. Looks like I'm in the "profit taking" mode as well. JPM is the big earnings report tomorrow. This should give us an insight on how the banks are doing. I like the chart on JPM. If this earnings report can get the stock back above its 10 day MA, I might buy some calls. We'll see if financials can rally the market tomorrow. GOOG is the big one on Thursday. I think this one is going higher on its report. There is strong support around $550 and the stock has been down most of this quarter. This is a good recipe for a spike upward on a nice report. I'll repeat...earnings plays are a gamble. They can go either way.