We kick off the morning with S&P futures trading about two points below fair value. Precious metals are flat while oil continues to strengthen and bounce around above 52.

As we saw last night, the rally yesterday was really a late day push. If you caught Bernie on CNBC this morning you heard him make a great point that there are now a huge number of hedge funds looking for short-term gains. The irony of the proliferation of hedge funds (which seek to capitalize on either uptrends or downtrends) amid one of the tightest ranges is typical of the way the market likes to frustrate the crowd. Of course it may be less of an irony and more a function of it, but that is a discussion best saved for a more in-depth forum.

Turning to today, we have jobless-claims data at 8:30 a.m. and consumer credit data at 3 p.m. Alcoa is scheduled to report earnings tonight and which of course is the much ballyhooed kick-off of earnings season. While these are things to watch, tomorrow's jobs report will be the event that I suspect most are really waiting for...

The data below shows how the major indices finished the day. All-in-all, I have to give the bulls credit. The late day showing was enough to push the SPX, COMP and RUT to new highs for the move that began in August. The DJIA on the other hand is still struggling to overtake Monday's high and remains well below its early September high. While I would call this a constructive move I am still keeping in mind my my point to ponder as that seems to be playing out...

The answer to my question below is a strong yes. As you can see in the intraday chart below, there was a steady stream of buying pressure for the last hour of trading...

Chart courtesy of ILX Systems

My mocking of the market was enough to spur some action. Okay, that probably isn't the reason but my NYSE net ticks alert just hit as did an alert I set on SPX should it trade above yesterday's high. Are the bulls making a run into the close?

Want an illustration to my point below about how little is going on this afternoon? Turn on the financial news and note the "major" stories of the day. When they aren't talking about oil the next biggest story is that Playboy Enterprises will open a nightclub in Las Vegas. Not really a broad market mover but the stock is up six percent which is interesting given that short interest is relatively high. Plus the vintage video clips they keep showing of old PLA clubs are better than looking at this year's downward sloping range...