The day is winding down and the market is holding up well, but the big question is whether the bulls can manage a decent close for a change. There have been very few strong closes lately, and the pattern typically becomes reinforcing.
Even if the market manages to squeeze a bit, this is sort of buying does not cause fear of being left out. As long as the fiscal cliff is up in the air and there's uncertainty about Europe, there is no reason to believe a bounce can be prolonged. At some point, we'll have resolution to key issues and we'll see a very energetic move, but the likelihood is that solutions won't come until near the deadline.
My game plan remains unchanged: respect the fact that the market is in a downtrend and focus on very short-term trades to produce small profits. I have no interest in carrying much inventory when the technical picture looks like this.
