It's important to stay aware of trends and decide whether or not the "game" is over or just "half-time". I believe for now the market has called a "time-out", so here is what I am doing now.

Here's what I am doing today. CIBC (CM) announced excellent earnings as did National Bank. The euphoria on the Canadian Banks has returned them to "pre-oil jitters" valuations. This is a prime time to sell covered calls and that's what I am doing this morning with my retirement account. For example on TD I am selling the March $82.00 strike and considering the April $82.00 as well. If I wanted to get taken out for sure, I would sell the $80.00 strike. Yesterday on Canadian Bank positions I sold a number of naked puts in my non-retirement account. Today I am on the other side of the fence selling covered calls. I am not sure TD bank can reach my covered call strikes in this weaker market. I believe the euphoria in the Canadian Bank earnings should keep valuations up for a while longer but how much higher they can move is difficult to tell. I prefer to error and sell covered calls and be taken out and then have the chance to buy back in when the "excitement" ends and sell calls again. As well should any of the big 6 banks report poorer earnings than expected, I would believe the rally will stop almost instantly and be followed by a move back to more realistic valuations. All my Canadian Bank stocks are being traded in Canadian dollars on the TSX.

 On the SPY. Any rise in the S&P 500 over the next day or two I believe is a rally before more selling takes place. I plan to buy puts on any rally. The uptrend is definitely stalled at this level and any bounce higher is more than likely a relief rally and bargain hunters returning. I would expect more selling before we revisit the Feb highs we recently made. Note how I said revisit those highs as I expect this market will recover sometime in late March or April unless oil moves higher. Then it's anyone's guess where we will be heading.