I found it notable that their rhetoric got audibly frantic, presumably based on Vice President Pence actually saying they need to make peace so as to not risk the fate of Libya. If he actually said that, I can see their paranoia coming forth, in which case his choice of words was not exactly diplomatic. If not (or regardless) pressure from South Korea and perhaps China very quickly brought Pyongyang back to cooperation; but boy, are they skittish.  

Recall my assessment about the down phases being like an elevator; and up phases more like climbing stairs. That's what we've got and our view of June S&P 2720-40 as the resistance range continues valid. We would not shift that view unless we got a meaningful thrust above 2740 as I noted at least a few times late this week.  

In sum, there's no overall change in our perspective of this market being an accident waiting to happen. Whether it's high yield, or just a sag from a decline in tech and Oil (both have been warned of as being too pricey in the most recent stages), this remains a market on tenterhooks.  

Basically rotation won't save it here; though it postpones reckoning. Hard to say how it finishes by month's end, especially with North Korea pending, but it's not hard to say that meaningful upside progress is unlikely.           

Daily action  generally adhered to our projections for rebound efforts of the 'Hail Mary' variety; almost always followed by resumed deterioration.  

It occurred with the inclusion of a slight 'outside-down-day' barely noticed by anyone on Tuesday; however our expectation for Wednesday to have a bit of downside follow-through and then rebound before weakening more, particularly on Thursday and Friday ahead of the Holiday weekend, was on the mark.  

That was based on the general idea of a 'key reversal day' being followed by an attempt to move in the opposite direction (rebound), before typically resuming trend in the direction of the break, which of course meant lower.  

None of it was very dramatic; although technically fulfilled the expectations throughout, which is sort of interesting given the choppy flow of news, that didn't really impact anything in the markets, which evolved as they should ideally (deteriorating under cover of techs and oils until those two softened a bit), with more of that weakness being evidenced in a defensive Friday.  

In the new abbreviated post-holiday week, we've got Q1 GDP, the Beige (or as I like to say 'tan') Book report, and the May Jobs Report. Perhaps it will be more notable if we discover that not only did everybody verify what we had late Thursday, as relates to North Korea groveling to get back to a negotiating stance with the USA, but indeed we have actually dispatched a team from Washington to again meet them in Singapore.  

Kim's lackeys better show up if they want even the possibility of a Summit taking place in June. And the stock market may firm a bit if that's back on.

Regardless, market overall vulnerability remains. With just a 4-day trading week they'll probably try to mount an intraweek rally sooner rather than on a later day, even if we open lower Tuesday. However be suspicious of that and probably anticipate rallies to again be faded, such as we've seen.

Weekend (final) MarketCast

Noon (intraday) MarketCast