Welcome to the weekend everybody! You know, it's been a couple of days since we've had a chance to take a step back and just look at the broad market - we wanted to focus on RepliCel Life Sciences (REPCF, CVE:RP) in Wednesday's edition, and on Thursday morning we needed to tell you the complete story for Taranis Resources Inc. (TNREF, CVE:TRO). We'll make up for little lost time today by taking an extra-diligent look at where stocks are as a whole, and where they're likely to go next. It's also in today's edition we want to go ahead and take a look at the S&P 500's earnings trajectory.... past and projected. We gave you (and even showed you) a detailed breakdown of the market's earnings through last week in Tuesday's edition of the newsletter. But, what we didn't give you then was the overarching view. We'll do that below. First, however, we want to take a quick look at a curious move dished out today by Featured Stock Staffing 360 Solutions (STAF). The market is dropping a hint it may be wise to take. Take a look at the nearby chart of STAF. Yes, today's move is impressive, but that's not the interesting part about the whole thing. What's so noteworthy is the huge volume surge we saw behind the move despite a distinct lack of news today. We've said it before, but it merits repeating now - nothing ever happens on accident. There's always a reason. You may not always know the reason, but there's always a reason. Generally speaking, when we see a high-volume move like this for a stock seemingly out of nowhere. It often means a major institutional-level investor is starting to get in, and/or traders collectively feel the stock has reached bottom and the pendulum is ready to swing the other way. We don't know which, if either, of those two scenarios applies to Staffing 360 Solutions here and now. We do know, however, something significant has changed. This name may finally be working its way toward a valuation that better reflects the company's plausible potential. Anyway, like yesterday, what could have been the beginning of a major pullback for stocks was sidestepped - the S&P 500 clearly managed to push up and off the intraday lows. Somebody's buying, even when they arguably shouldn't be. And yet, the red flags continue to wave. One of them is the fact that as of today, the S&P 500 is valued at a trailing P/E ratio of 21.2 and a forward-looking P/E ratio of 17.9. Both are well above historical norms... for any kind of economic environment. Investors are putting a ton of faith in President Trump's policies, which may not be a bad bet. But, it's a little too soon to be driving these kinds of valuations given the amount of uncertainty in the market's ether, and the lack of clear timeframes required for his policies to take hold. The nearby table of past and projected S&P 500 earnings plus the corresponding y-o-y growth rates shows how oddly optimistic 2018's outlook is (and the latter part of 2017's growth outlook); 2017 and 2018 are obviously estimates. Still, given time, we have to respect the recent and projected progress even if we're not quite as confident in the expected pace of progress. It's the 'in the meantime' that could be trouble, and that's not just our viewpoint either. [By the way, next week we're going to serve up the same earnings history chart for the S&P 600 and the S&P 400, which oddly enough don't look all that similar.] That's not the only red flag though. Giving full credit where it's due, it was the Under the Radar Movers newsletter today that pointed this out - breadth and depth are leaning pretty bearishly even if the market itself isn't doing the same. When we say breadth and depth, that's the easy way of describing the market's advancers vs. decliners (breadth) and the market's bullish volume (as opposed to bearish volume). Both are indications of just how healthy or unhealthy a rally may be. And folks, while the rally may still be underway, it sure ain't healthy. Below is an updated version of the breadth and depth chart James Brumley made for Under the Radar Movers subscribers today. As you can see, over the course of the past week and half or so, the NYSE's advancers have been falling -- meaning fewer and fewer stocks are actually making forward progress -- while decliners have been growing. Similarly, the NYSE's 'up' volume has been waning while it's 'down' volume has been inching higher. In fact, though the market made gains today, there were more decliners than advancers, and there was more bearish volume than bullish volume. If traders truly believed in this rally, we'd see the opposite unfurling. Breadth and depth data aren't necessarily the panacea of trading tools. Like everything else, there's more to the story, and looks can be deceiving. In the context of an overextended rally and an overvalued market though, the simple little chart understandably creates a relatively significant amount of worry. Now take a look at the daily chart of the S&P 500 with the VIX. It's not yet in break-down mode, but the vulnerability is clear. What's especially concerning to me (and also to the URM's James Brumley) is how the VIX is finally starting to act like it wants to turn a slow downtrend into an uptrend. Here's our basic trading plan... more or less. On Thursday and Friday the S&P 500's low was right around 2339. It's going to take a close below that level to signal that the weight of the recent gains has finally become more than valuations can support. If that floor breaks AND the VIX simultaneously manages to finally push its way above 13.2 and starts a new uptrend, that's a pullback apt to go somewhere (and likely would go somewhere). Anything less, and traders may well find enough reason to keep this crazy rally going. That's the way Brumley sees it anyway, after talking to him this afternoon. And you'd be wise to listen to his insight, by the way. Not only does he continue to light it up in terms of stock-picking, he's pretty much had his finger on the pulse of this market since the bulls began to run wild in early November. That said, as much insight as he's had regarding the market, it's his stock-picking that's been pretty darn amazing of late. Case in point? Last Thursday, he picked Galectin Therapeutics (GALT), and that trade is now up 20%. More than that, he thinks - and I agree - the wave of profit-taking that sent it lower this week has essentially run its course. The buyers seem to be testing the waters again, which sets the stage for a follow-up rally. See, the bulls have already tipped their hand. Though the stock is pulling back, the selling volume is drying up. There's just a little freebie for you headed into the long weekend. I don't think he'll mind me divulging his trade too much, as URM subscribers are already pretty well ahead on the position.... more than any newcomers would be. Still, you gotta like the additional upside from here. If you would have rather hears about the GALT before Tuesday's giant rally, well, you can't go back in time, but you can change your future by becoming a subscriber to the Under the Radar Movers newsletter. Trades like the Galectin Therapeutics are actually a pretty common occurrence for URM members. Here's how to sign up, so you don't miss the next one. You can even take a look at the URM's track record at the sign-up page.