It's more of the same ol', same ol' jumping, dumping and volatile pin action courtesy of the US Dollar's every tick and a less "confident" bull in Tuesday's session. As of 11:10 ET the SP-500 (SPY) is currently back near the unchanged mark and up 0.10% in conditions that provide a little something for both bulls and bears alike.

"They" absolutely hated it! With its quick percentage price swoon the intraday chart abruptly after 10:00 ET is a testament to a weaker-than-expected 47.7 [53.5 est. / prior 53.1] reading in consumer confidence data as being the final straw for bulls noshing on green shoots. Well almost, there's also that intertwined and very closely-watched (and played) currency called the Greenback.

Slight but additional unwinding action in trader's favorite funding or carry trade involving the US Redback (UUP) is helping keep the broader market under wraps despite bullish cries of "Oversold!" However, things could be worse than the few pennies to $22.63 being added to UUP this morning.

Much to the relief of those bovine-inclined folk, heavily-favored beneficiaries of a weak dollar and tied-at-the hip risk tolerant green shoots forays like material-based (GLD, GDX, XLB, USO) stocks and multinationals are taking a mixed fractional pause after the mostly pressured action of the past two sessions.

For the bulls looking at the current "Monbacky!" as opportunity knocking, interestingly enough one pocket of market strength beneath the surface is the oil and gas sector (OIH). Heavyweights and Dow components ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) are both up a bit more than 2% on the session.

Fellow sector goliath and stateside ADR-listed BP PLC (BP) appears to be the catalyst. The British-based company announced a 34% drop in profits due to lower product prices but did manage an apparent jolly good beat of Street views near Picadilly Circus on stronger cost control measures. Intraday, BP is up about 5.50% at 58.50.

Intraday, fresh leadership has been found in (IBM) with a bit of influential "big green" in its shares. IBM surged on the five minute chart out of its lower right quadrant by more than 2% following delightful word of the company's board approving an additional $5.0B dedicated to repurchasing shares.

For the bears still just clawing their way out of hibernation, US Steel (X) is also acting as a drag on a few market bulls this morning. Shares of the steel (SLX) producer are off more than 6.25% near 38 after breaking cleanly below a bearish neckline within a H&S topping pattern constructed over the past three months.

This morning US Steel announced beat of $0.76 per share on better-than-expected revenues. Bulls however haven't managed to get past a still large per share loss of -$2.11, a drop of nearly 62% in sales from the year-ago period and the now all-too-common message of "we believe that the US and global economies are in the early stages of gradual recovery" per Briefing.com.

Finally, NASDAQ 100 and China-based search giant Baidu.com (BIDU) is making a tsunami sized disaster in more than a few stateside portfolios. The company posted a profit beat of $0.35 with earnings of $2.16 per share. Unfortunately, with shares of BIDU a crowd(ED) momentum vehicle of recent months the report has inspired more than a bit of disappointment with its mere in-line sales increase of 39% and reduced revenue range of $174M - $180M which falls below "Hunglikebull Street" views of $203M. Intraday, BIDU is off 11.50% in ultra-volatile conditions now near its 50-day not-too-simple moving average.

Chris Tyler
Senior Staff Writer & Options Strategist
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