The first trading day of May is typically a bullish day for the market. The S&P closes higher something like 70% of the time, and the average gain is around 0.5%. Most of the technical indicators are now back in neutral territory. So there’s room for them to move higher before getting overbought.

Friday was a “consolidation day” for the broad stock market. The S&P 500 stayed within a relatively tight trading range. The index DID NOT give back more than 50% of Thursday’s big gains. So the momentum remained with the bulls.

The bulls have a slight edge today – very slight. The Volatility Index (VIX), the market’s “fear gauge,” declined again yesterday, thereby confirming the broad stock market “buy” signal that triggered on Monday. This, plus the seasonal bullishness that shows up this time of year, favors the bulls.