I am late with yesterday's blog due to travel and other commitments.

In earlier blogs, I noted the declines in the Russell 2000 Index (RUT) as SPX traded sideways or higher, and said that could be the early warning signal of market weakness, or the “canary in the coal mine”.  Apparently, it was. 

SPX tried to rebound Friday morning after Thursday's big drop, but couldn’t manage to get back above $1850, closing down $5 at $1841. Friday’s intraday high on SPX was encouraging, but the fact that bulls could not hold those highs is a negative. Evidence for the bottom having been reached comes from RUT, closing higher by $5 at $1181. But traders have to be concerned about what may happen over the weekend in the Ukraine.

The volatility index, VIX, has spiked higher over the past two days, hitting its high for the week Friday afternoon at 18.2%. Perhaps more ominously, VIX closed at 17.8%, near its high for the day, another sign of traders’ concerns going into the weekend.

Global markets were all down this week, so it isn't surprising for our markets to also reflect that weakness. One technical indicator stands out on the SPX chart: the MACD crossed zero moving downward on Thursday. This signal last triggered on January 7th, and that turned out to be a leading indicator for the correction that culminated with an intraday low on February 5th.

Forget about the Ukraine until Monday morning. Enjoy the weekend.