Banks Breaking Rank...But is it Enough?

The Nasdaq is off to a particularly rough start this morning, off by roughly 1.4% as I write this and plenty of widespread selling below the surface in tech-related names. Naturally, bulls are giving the rotation game another attempt, seeing as it has been their calling card for a good while now. 

However, I am a bit skeptical as to whether the financials can cover much ground to the upside if Nasdaq bulls are not going to step in and stabilize things a bit today. 

That said, RF is a regional bank sporting a sound chart closing in on multi-year highs (which are just above $20), seen on its zoomed-out daily timeframe, below. 

Beyond the regionals, large cap XLF bank like JPM WFC are hanging tough, throwing some cold water on the thesis that emerging market economics are on the cusp of another crisis--If they were, I suspect we would see banks leading to the downside. 

Instead, we are left with a market off to a sluggish start in what has seasonally been a tough month for stocks. My plan is to keep a close eye on my Nasdaq-related longs today and am considering a short or two to test the waters.