As we suspected on Wednesday, there aren't as many willing buyers out there as that day's bounce would have led you to believe. We are surprised, however, that it took until the last 15 minutes of trading on Thursday to find some proof of that weakness. The nearby hourly chart of the SPYders (SPY) says all that needs to be said. Things were fine - even decidedly bullish - for the bulk of the day. When push came to shove later in the session though, those buyers just didn't want to be left holding stocks come tomorrow morning. The market ended the day in the red. And, that selling late in the session was on a lot more volume than any of the buying earlier in the session was. That's still not to say we're at the beginning of a bear market. That's not even to say we're going to make good on that potential short-term breakdown. It is to say, however, that if traders come back tomorrow morning in the same mood they left in today, then there's some more downside pressure that needs to be burned off. All that said, we're still mostly interested in the daily chart and the support/resistance levels we've been talking about for the past few days. For the S&P 500, that's (still) the support line at 1495, and the resistance line at 1530. In the meantime, Bollinger band lines have had a chance to move in an bolster those existing lines in the sand, making them even tougher for the S&P 500 to move past. Until one line or the other fails to contain the index, there's really not a lot of action or movement to worry about. So, we're not going to try and make something out of nothing. Do stay tuned though, 'cause this sideways movement isn't going to last forever. Once we snap out of this funk, we expect fireworks... one way or another. Feeling a little whiplash from the market's insanity? You're not alone. And, you don't have to go through it alone. If you want help - or outright guidance - navigating the minefield we call a stock market, then you can rely on the folks at the SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity to help you get through it with your portfolio intact, and even growing. It may well be the best investment you could ever make in your financial future. Click Here to Learn More and Sign-Up Or, copy and paste the following link in your browser: http://www.smallcapnetwork.com/?vmpd_ckstr[click_track]=SCN+Newsletter&vmpd_ckstr_redirect=/pages/SCNEO/v1/ Consumers Aren't On Their Deathbed OK, today's the last day of our quest to find out just how big the impact of slightly higher payroll taxes may be on consumer spending. Though we've been using Q4 earnings news from major retailers as the platform for that study, remember, the ultimate goal here was to see if we could glean any subtle hints (like guidance) suggesting that 2013 was going to be tougher than first expected. As of yesterday our conclusion was that, no, consumers aren't actually going to reel in spending this year - they only said they were going to do so when asked. Today's batch of earnings data and outlooks, however, weren't particularly good, telling us that the payroll tax hike might be a problem after all. First and foremost, we heard Q4's numbers from Limited Brands (LTD) and JC Penney (JCP) last night. Limited did pretty well, earning $1.76 per share versus $1.50 in the same quarter a year earlier, and topping estimates of $1.74. Revenue grew 10%. Yet, its outlook was... shall we say, less than compelling? The retailer is now looking for per-share income between $0.40 and $0.45 for the current quarter, which is well below prior forecasts of $0.51 per share. Full-year guidance was also dialed down. The stock rallied anyway though, so maybe traders think the worst is priced in. (And, maybe they're right.) As for JC Penney, the train wreck continues. Last quarter's sales were the lowest they've been in two decades..... DECADES! Full-year revenue came in at $13 billion, versus 2011's $17.2 billion. Fourth quarter sales plunged 32%. The company posted a loss of $427 million (-$1.95 per share) for the quarter. Oh, it also poured salt in the wound by reducing its outlook for the current quarter by 5% to 10%. Ron Johnson has been steering the ship since 2011, and we get what he's doing - he's giving the stores a much needed overhaul, touching on everything from merchandise to store fixtures to promotion. The overhaul he's giving the company isn't the one it needs though. Until he and Bill Ackman understand that, the bleeding isn't going to stop. Now the company says they need to raise $750 million to fund $1 billion worth of capital expenditures aimed at continuing the reinvention of the stores... the same reinvention that just whacked Q4 sales by more than 30%. It's time to for Johnson to go. It's time for Ackman to admit his mistake. There's still time to salvage what's left of the company, but there won't be a year from now if something doesn't change. As for today, we got last quarter's results from Kohl's (KSS), Barnes & Noble (BKS), and Sears Holdings (SHLD) - a name we had forgotten to include in the list earlier in the week. Those numbers are all on the nearby grid. There's nothing overly remarkable or surprising about them, but a couple of those companies added details that might alarm you. Kohl's, for instance, pulled back on its Q1 as well as its full-year profit outlook. Best Buy (BBY) will report after the close, as will Gap (GPS). We don't expect anything impressive from Best Buy. Indeed, Q4's results aren't even the big story right now for Best Buy. The big question here is whether or not company founder Richard Shulze will acquire the part of the company he doesn't already own (which is the majority of it); he's got until midnight tonight to decide. Perhaps Best Buy's earnings numbers will be the catalyst for a yes/no decision, though that's not likely to be what's on his mind. The bigger issue here is whether or not Best Buy's turnaround effort has a prayer. To give credit where it's due, the current CEO Hubert Joly is a turnaround guru. He's not a miracle worker though, and right now, Best Buy needs a miracle. We think the whole premise of the company is just a relic, and the best way to fix it is to kill the whole thing and start over. Translation: We doubt Shulze is interested enough to take it private. Our bottom line on the impact of rising payroll tax rates? It's more of a non-issue than an issue, and though taking $110 billion out of consumers' pockets is never a good thing, it doesn't look like it's going to kill the economy the way some pundits are talking like it will. Yes, Kohl's and Limited lowered their outlooks. Macy's upped its outlook though. As is usually the case in any environment, some retailers are struggling while others are thriving. For reference, when the payroll tax break went into effect a couple of years ago, it was supposed to spur more consumerism, since paychecks would be 2% bigger. Wal-Mart (WMT) and other retailers ended up deciding they didn't see any noticeable positive impact from the measure. The reversal of the measure is likely to have a similar non-impact. OK, that's it for the retail earnings wrap-up because, frankly, we're tired of writing about it. You may be tired of reading about it. Besides, there's not much left to talk about. We're going to end the week tomorrow with a macro-view of Q4's earnings at the sector and market cap level. The goal is to figure out which sectors and market caps offer the most upside through and beyond 2013. We'll also be dissecting the broad market's current trend too, of course.