In terms of timing, this holiday shortened week is probably a blessing for the bulls as it's seasonal positive, the market is stretched and positive news on the budget talks has some short covering in motion now. I wouldn't read that as a green light to do long term buying but certainly a trade to the long side here is what many are interested in. Even though the market has had two of the worst back-to-back weeks in recent memory, that doesn't mean the bull is dead. Battered a bit but dead cannot be assumed. We have seen countless examples of the bull bouncing right back into form and heading higher before and other than it being a bit older and more mature now, there's little to suggest this time will be any different.

Referring back to seasonal tendencies, this also is the time for a seasonal drift higher as well.

The next few weeks should see a lot of volatility as the recent sell off has created anxiety and damage technically and that takes a while to heal. So bounces are to be expected and Friday was the start of the first bounce attempt. I'm sure this "feel good" news won't feel so good as we get farther along and before much longer the pessimism will return. That's just where we are right now in terms of the market fundamentals and technicals.