Well, there it is. It took a while to get the ball rolling this morning, but once stocks made their way above their pivotal hurdles, the buyers didn't look back. The gain didn't even require a catalyst to get moving. A hint of the shape of things to come? Maybe. Or, as we've expressed already, one good surge may well be a much-needed "last hurrah." It's simply too soon to tell. We will tell you, however, the VIX didn't follow suit with a similarly sharp move lower. Maybe there's just not enough room for the VIX to do so. Or, maybe traders still don't actually have enough faith in this rally so far to send the VIX lower. That's a HUGE concern right now. Take a look. Volume was decent today, though not the kind one would expect to see given the scope of the gain. This is a tricky situation. It is a technical breakout, and as such is technically bullish. There's no denying this is a speculative bet though, rooted more in hope about the future than reality about the present. That's not to say it can't persist. It is to say, however, this rally will be vulnerable for as long as it lasts. It's also only a matter of time before it breaks. Until that actually happens though.... I thought John Monroe's take on the whole matter was completely on-target, and helpful. He told Elite Opportunity Pro members today: "Basically, we'll need one more good day today if these markets are going to stage another sharp leg up. However, if what the Russell 2000 is technically telling us right now rings true, the markets are already in the process of staging the next big leg up. Why? Because history suggests when the Russell 2000 leads, the technical context usually suggests there's plenty more upside ahead for stocks. Provided below is a daily chart of the Russell 2000 showing you just yesterday the index broke out to another new all-time high. And, based on how things are looking right now, the markets could be in for another big move to the upside. Of course all of the above can be completely negated by a single day breakdown of the Russell as soon as today, but the breakdown would have to completely negate yesterday's move higher. Never say never, but I just don't think that's going to happen." Here's the chart John was talking about. It's an interesting view. I'm more of a pessimist here, while John's more of an optimist. The rectification is found in defining your timeframe. Now that the market's got some momentum, John thinks it could last a bit. I can see it. Sooner than later though, investors are going to insist on seeing measurable earnings growth to justify the frothy prices they just paid. If they don't see or sense numbers they like, you already know what they're going to do. For what it's worth, you'd do well to take in what John says. And for those of you who are also Elite Opportunity Pro subscribers, you'd do well to act on John's recommendations. Case in point? John told EO members to buy the Direxion Daily Real Estate Bull 3X ETF (DRN) back on November 4th, getting them in at a price of $17.45. It took a while to get going, but that was the bottom. Thanks to today's 6.0% pop, their DRN trade is now up 17%. Not bad for one month's work, with an ETF no less. Thing is, that's nothing unusual for John and his team. If you're looking for these kinds of stock picks and the kind of market perspective you saw above (we only scratched the surface of what John's giving Elite Opportunity Pro subscribers every single today with our look here), you need to become a member today. That will give you access to the juicy ideas and commentary that are too valuable to divulge here in our free newsletter. Here's how to take your stock trading to the next level. Moving on to other matters, since it's been a focus point of ours for a while now, we wanted to let you know the U.S. Dollar Index resumed its downtrend today after a brief reprieve on Tuesday. It looks like what used to be a support level around 100.65 has now become a resistance line. There's more downside to go, of course, and it now seems like it's going to use that room. Don't misunderstand. For us, right here and right now, a weaker dollar would be a good thing. Not only would it boost the price of gold and oil, it would allow U.S. companies that sell goods overseas to be more competitive in foreign markets, price-wise. Interestingly, while gold was up today, crude oil was off by about 2%. Why? Because the market's starting to doubt that OPEC's planned production cut is going to make a meaningful dent in the glut. If I recall correctly, a guy that looks a whole lot like me said that would exactly be the case just a few days ago.... back on December 2nd, to be exact. Nevertheless, we still contend a contracting dollar will do oil some good, in the long run. It didn't help today, but one day doesn't make a trend. Last but not least, though there was no news from featured stock Namaste Technologies (NXTTF, CNSX:N) today, I thought James Brumley had a great point regarding Namaste in light of the fact that tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PM) has seen enough opportunity in the vaporizer market that it's submitted one to the FDA for its approval. Philip Morris will botch it, of course, as it's just got no feel for anything other than its aging traditional tobacco business; it largely missed the boat with the advent of e-cigs. Philip Morris is right about the next evolution of the vaporizer market though, which Namaste Technologies is poised to dominate. That's all for now. Talk to you tomorrow.