The talking heads on the financial networks have been talking about about breaking $20,000 on the Dow Jones Industrial Average for several weeks now. The Dow touched $20,000 this past Friday, but could not hold it, closing at $19,964. SPX broke out to a new all-time high on Friday, closing at $2277. But trading yesterday and today confirmed that the markets remain in the sideways trading channel in effect since early December.

The market’s meteoric rise since the election couldn’t continue, so taking a breather is to be expected. The economic proposals being promoted by the new administration are very encouraging to both small and large businesses. And this carries over to broad consumer confidence as well. All of the consumer confidence surveys are either near or above several year highs.

The S&P 500 volatility index (VIX) has been steadily declining since the first of the year, closing today at 11.5%, levels we haven’t seen since July and August. The common interpretation would be bullish, based on a consensus among large institutional traders for higher markets and minimal need for hedging their portfolios. The contrarian viewpoint would be that this is simply the calm before the storm. I am inclined to the former viewpoint.

In summary, all three market indices, SPX, RUT, and NASDAQ, have been trading sideways for some time and the possible breakouts from last Friday have now been nullified. The inauguration is still about ten days away and we are just starting to see the legislative battle lines begin to be drawn. It isn’t too surprising to see the market take a breather as this action unfolds.

Even as the overall market indices have slowed, the financial stocks remain strong. Some, like GS and MS, have flattened and are trading sideways; SCHW and others continue to climb, but at a slower rate. Buying diagonal call spreads is working well on these stocks, but be sure you know when the earnings announcements are scheduled. Carrying those positions through an announcement is risky.