Last week the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved lower, as did the S&P 100 and the NASDAQ 100.

The daily Squeezeometer signals for the S&P 100 and the NASDAQ 100 remain at hold/speculative sell. The weekly Squeezeometer signals for the NASDAQ 100 and the NASDAQ 100 remain at hold short/speculative cover. Our monthly Squeezeometer signals remain in downtrend for both the S&P 100 and NASDAQ 100.

Our 14-day choppiness index for the NASDAQ 100 moved from 62 to 54 while the S&P 100 moved from 57 to 49. This index ranges from 0 to 100, and the lower it goes the more a trend is evolving. The higher the choppiness index moves, the more a new trend may be starting. Usually, above 65 is where new trends begin and below 40 is where they end.

The NASDAQ 100 remains above its weekly DMA Channel as does the S&P 100. We note our Erlanger Big Barf Indicator (EBB) moved from 0.70 to 1.90.

The top five areas facing the market in this trading week are:

1. Geopolitical Events. On Tuesday Kansas City Federal Reserve President Hoenig will speak in New York City.

2. Economic Releases. Releases of note this week other than the weekly oil/gas numbers include consumer confidence, construction spending, ISM and unemployment numbers among others.

3. Earnings Releases. First Quarter Earnings season continues this week. Notables releases (in order of day’s reporting with Monday first- CMED, APOL, HRB, SCHN, ZZ, GIS, STZ, AYI, and MEI. See the earnings section.

4. Conferences. No conferences of note this week.

5. Company, Analyst and Regulatory Meetings. To view our Type 1 Short Squeezes and Type 4 Long Squeezes that present at meetings this week, simply review each day.

The seasonality for the market is now problematic. Should investors truly “go away in May?” Commodity prices are soaring – is that good for stocks?