Here's another of Chris Kimble's technical four-packs, one that provides at least a short-term indicator of the recent direction of the market. Can we extrapolate a further move in the same direction? As we saw yesterday, consumer confidence has improved and the most recent ECRI Weekly Leading Index continues to edge upward. On the other hand, gasoline prices have moved steadily higher since last September. And the serial crises in the Middle East could send gasoline prices further into the discomfort zone.

See the Chris's comments below from the email to which the quartet was attached.

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Chris comments: I shared my sense that a potential peak in grains was at hand, and boy have they been smashed.

Lower grains, lower copper, lower coal and higher long bond prices smells of deflation from this end, which could pound portfolios.

Two new acronyms I have come up with are LID = (lean into discomfort) and HIC = (Harvest into Comfort). Mr. Market does not reward comfort. These two acronyms create an odd idea of "BUY low and SELL high, yet as you know most buy high and sell low.