The Reality of the Situation

As it turns, viewing both leaders like AMZN GOOGL NFLX and exhilarating M&A like the IBM for RHT deal today as potential knights in shining armour to help rescue bulls from a correcting market is a much tougher proposition than many had anticipated.

Currently, all major indices are well off their morning highs, with the QQQ now down a stunning 1.25% as even the sturdy small caps are down nearly three full points intraday. 

In reality, the correction is still very much in force as there seem to be far more market players and pundits discussing the idea of a relief rally either underway or soon-to-commence even if we do eventually go lower. The truth is that relief rallies often do not materialize when it seems easy or convenient for them to do so. Instead, they occur when legitimate fear and panic has already hit the tape and washed out a plethora of longs, which I am not yet convinced has even happened yet. 

As a result, I did not buy into this bounce and have no immediate plans to do so, pending the close today. I am still long part of my VXX position as a bet on a spike in volatility. 

That said, we want to note outperforming issues as always for Members. One idea is discount retail like Dollar General. As you can see, the market clearly is getting defensive, too, with names like DG MCD WMT holding up impressively this correction, so far.