Let me make sure I have this straight. The Fed does nothing but maintain the status quo of its tapering plan, admits the labor market is still tepid, acknowledges the bulk of Q2's impressive GDP growth was prompted by temporary factors - all of which we already knew, by the way - and stocks rocket higher immediately after the news was released anyway? I've got a feeling the bulls were waiting to ambush the market at 2:15 pm EST no matter what Janet Yellen and her friends at the Fed had to say about the economy's current condition. I also think it's very telling how the surge didn't last more than 15 minutes. In fact, the failed breakout attempt is more troubling than not seeing any bullish knee-jerk response to the Fed's minutes would have been. Had we seen no bump either way, there may still be some doubt about how serious the bears are here. To see the bulls run out of gas 15 minutes into a rebound effort though? It just confirms the undertow is a bearish one. Now with more folks convinced things are ugly, it'll be much easier for the sellers to justify dumping their stocks. In any case, we're still more concerned with what the daily chart is telling is, and we're still mostly interested in the S&P 500's daily chart. There was another stock index chart that piqued our interest on Wednesday, however. Closer to the Edge of the Cliff Alright, let's just start at the beginning. While the market was noisy today, when all was said and done, stocks didn't budge. Between the S&P 500's lower low and lower high in addition to the VIX's higher high and higher low, we'd have to say the bears are still in charge. Take a look. The good/bad news is, some other key support levels have come into play. See the S&P 500's lower Bollinger band at 1959.60? We haven't talked much about Bollinger bands lately, mainly because there's been no need to. They're coming back into focus now, though, and if history is any indication, this weakness could find its end just a few points below today's low. Also coming into play is the 50-day moving average line (purple), currently at 1951.7. It will likely be closer to the 1960 area by the time it could be tested as a floor, bolstering the natural support typically provided by Bollinger bands. You only have to go back to May to see how the 50-day moving average line can act as a floor. In fact, May's support at the 50-day moving average line was almost perfect. So what's the other chart that became so important today? It's the Russell 2000. We have the SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity's John Monroe to thank for the perspective. In today's EO newsletter he wrote: "The second and also very compelling technical event we'll be looking at tomorrow is a close on the Russell 2000 below its [description removed by editor] (blue line) on this monthly chart shown here, which currently sits at 1,160. We've covered this leading analysis event enough times over the last few weeks for everyone to understand the potential impact of this move. Should the Russell close below that number tomorrow, it will have confirmed a long-term reversal signal, one which isn't always guaranteed but one that's about as powerful as they come. It doesn't mean the markets are headed down in a straight line, however, it does dramatically increase the probability of the markets entering a deep pullback, one that could last a good while. Again, this has not been confirmed yet but it's definitely worth considering should it take place tomorrow. Conversely, the beauty of this type of signal is if it confirms and then fails by the Russell somehow climbing its way back to its highs, it would likely suggest another major bull run. What I'm trying to say here is we won't be sitting on the fence any longer with a cautious outlook should the Russell 2000 somehow confirm the signal and then reverse itself higher. These type of events make for excellent short-term trading and potential entries for long-term investing." In other words, just by the sheer passage of time we're soon going to get some clarity on the market as a whole here, and we're going to be able to make a pretty firm call, one way or another. We also doubt it's a coincidence the Russell 2000 is already testing the key 200-day moving average line (green) as a floor at this point in time. This is the last of the key moving average lines that could serve as a floor for the Russell 2000 small cap index. If the daily chart breaks down here in the shadow of the context John Monroe laid out, it's big trouble... bigger trouble than we saw in May when the Russell 2000 broke under its 200-day moving average line. So what's our bottom line? Stocks ultimately remain caught in the middle, but our expectation is still a bearish one from here simply because the undertow is bearish even if obscured. You're already familiar with the chart you're about to see, so no need to preach the sermon again. We'll just show you the updated version, which makes it clear that - even if the S&P 500 index looks reasonably healthy - the advancer/decliner trend has flipped to bearish, as has the up/down volume trend. The key will be the S&P 500 breaking under the 1960 level before it breaks back above the 1985 level. Tomorrow may well be D-Day. We'll see. By the way, the snippet from today's Elite Opportunity newsletter was just a small taste of everything else Monroe had to say on Wednesday. If you want the rest of his story complete with the "good stuff", you'll have to check it out for yourself. You can even get a free two-week trial the SCN EO service. You at least owe it to your portfolio to see what it's all about. Here's how to get the free two-week trial , or cut and paste this link: https://www.smallcapnetwork.com/?vmpd_ckstr[click_track]=Newsletter&vmpd_ckstr_redirect=/pages/SCNEO/v1/ From the Site There's been a bunch of great commentary posted at the site this week, but two of them really stuck out today - one from James Brumley, and one from Peter Graham. I thought Brumley made a great point about American Tower (AMT). Although this telecom infrastructure stock has been running higher for months now, the stock's runup has outpaced the company's underlying results. Today's post-earnings pop looks like the right time to lock in a gain on AMT and move on to other things. Graham has been on top of all the key earnings news of late, giving previews for the major announcements. He posted one today for a stock I'm sure we're all going to be watching closely.... Tesla (TSLA). The electric car maker will be announcing its results after the market closes on Thursday, but you'll want to check out Peter's thoughts before that news hits the wire. Finally, don't forget we'll be publishing a newsletter on Friday morning rather than Friday afternoon of this week so we can get our newest trading idea out to you guys before the opening bell rings. If we let you know what this new pick is after the bell on Friday and you can't act on it until Monday, it may well be too late then.