If you would have told me two weeks ago that we would be +8 on the S&P oscillator (+5 is considered overbought) and the Chinese were about to increase benchmark rates, I would told you that the market was going down 100 points and CAT, DE, and CMI would lead the way. Today, we had those conditions and the market shrugged it off and closed higher.

Copper continues to expand out of a volatility squeeze and the Chinese tightening couldn’t even make the JJC breach yesterday’s intraday low. Dr. Copper, Phd. says China is engineering a soft landing and their tightening is almost done. The FXI is holding its long term uptrend which provides support for the soft landing thesis.

The lumber names, LUK, WY, and PCL say Japan is coming back on line, even though last week’s BOJ Tankan survey showed the miserable outlook of both big and small manufacturers. The Tankan survey is just a sentiment or confidence survey of business people’s outlook on the future and not an actual data point like bookings or order shipments. I’m looking at the EWJ to see what Japan is doing, not what it’s saying. It’s holding $10 and moving higher. Stocks move higher when things are getting better, not worse.

We’ve got a bull market on our hands. The same one since March 2009. The same one that doesn’t need the big banks or good employment numbers to go higher. This market, as all are, is driven by earnings. The stocks say their company’s earnings are going higher. Look out above- higher prices await.