The C news is all the rage this morning. Obviously, Pandit's $1 salary was perceived as paying him too much. Utilities popped strongly at the open. UTIL is now printing 480.80 well above the 478.43. The 478.43 remains important all week long so the story probably has yet to be told. When Friday at 4 PM EST rolls around the utility number for next week will be important which is UTIL 485.67. You can use this as a guide this week. If you see UTIL move up over the next couple days, 482, 484, and move to the 486, that will tell you the bulls have legs. If UTIL lingers around these current 480-481 levels that will show there is not much oomph and by next week the market bulls will be in the pickle again since UTIL will be under 485.67.Watch SOX 386, now printing 377. Bulls need 386 to guarantee an extended rally and lots more upside. Bears need to push UTIL back under 478.43 asap. If SOX remains below 386 and UTIL above 478.43, markets will move sideways with an upward bias. AAPL was down a couple bucks as trading was underway but then turned positive, now negative hugging the flat line. COMPQ is up only 0.46% while SPX is up 0.75% so tech is not leading the upside placing the up move in question. The SPX is above the 20-day MA at 1447.36 so this is a plus for bulls. A back test to the 20-day MA will probably be needed today. The 20-day is also the middle Bolinger Band so price fulfilled its need to return to the middle BB after the lower BB was violated. Thus, the BB and 20-day MA back kiss tasks are now completed. Price continues higher, however, instead of collapsing, after these critical tests, at least so far, so the bulls are winning this little wrestling match currently. The SPX is now printing the highs at 1451.80-ish. Punching thru here leads to 1452.20-ish (Keystone's 80/20 rule). SPX S/R is 1460, 1457, 1453, 1451, 1447.36 (20-day MA), 1446, 1445.62 (10-day MA), 1444 and 1441. The VIX is under 15. Remain cautious on the markets, do not take the long side for granted. For now, however, the bulls are driving the bus again. INTC and IBM earnings are after the bell followed by the Presidential Debate in the evening. Type 'Presidential' in the search box above to bring up the prior post that shows the expected trading results depending on who wins the election. This information can serve as a guide for tomorrow morning should either Obama, or Romney, appear the clear winner tonight.Note Added 10/16/12 at 12:09 PM: AAPL announced the event for the iPad and immediately jumped three bucks. The COMPQ is now up more than the SPX so the bulls are happy with tech now leading the broad indexes higher, which is bullish for today. TRIN is 0.67 verifying the strong bullishness. The Dow Industrials are up triple digits. VIX is at 14.51. The SPX ran thru the 1453 resistance which opens up the path to test 1457 R. The 1460 would be the important test for price since it is very strong resistance. Just as price needed to back kiss the 20-day MA after it failed over the last few days, price will need to back test again now that it ran above the 20-day today. UTIL is 479.87 with some wind coming out of its sails but remains above 478.43 allowing the bulls to kick back today and congratulate each other. For the path forward, bears get back in the game with UTIL moving back under 478.43. Bulls verify the rally and will test the closing highs this year if SOX moves above 386 (now at 380). Otherwise (UTIL above 478.43 and SOX below 386), markets will move sideways with an upward bias.Note Added 10/16/12 at 2:51 PM: UTIL teased 479 a few minutes ago well off the highs earlier in the day. Bulls are above UTIL 478.43 so they have no complaints. SOX is a buck off the highs at 379. VIX is sneaking upwards, now over 15. This occurs with some slight leaking in the SPX. The bulls are floating the SPX sideways thru the 1451-1453 zone having pulled back from the 1453-1457 zone. The NYSE volume today is at a run rate of less than 75% of a days average expected volume, not exactly a ringing endorsement of enthusiasm. See if AAPL performs an island reversal on the daily chart if it leaps thru the gap down from seven days ago, jumping from 648-649 up to 653 and higher in a heartbeat. The 648-649 is sturdy resistance for AAPL. INTC and IBM earnings will create theatrics after the close.Note Added 10/16/12 at 8:30 PM: IBM took the pipe after hours dropping from 211 to 203, almost 4%. That is going to leave a mark. After IBM committed hari-kari, INTC borrowed the pipe to suck in some more gas; INTC drops over 3% in after hours trading. AAPL is down about one percent after hours. Therefore, tech may take it on the chin in the morning and this may dampen the bulls hopes to push the SOX above 386 to continue the rally. The Presidential Debate begins shortly. The crowds are gathering, an electricity is in the air. It is like auto racing, everyone is tuning in to see if a wreck occurs.