Temporary Relief In Financial Sector?

Its official. Citi's Chuck Prince became the second CEO casualty from subprime and CDOs mess, right after the departure ("retirement") of Merrill Lynch's Stanley O'Neal. Here's a 2 year chart of XLF (SPDR Financial Sector):


Financial Sector carved out a lower high and lower low in June and has since suffered some ugly damage, although there appears to be some reprieve in mid-Aug to mid-Oct. Purely from a technical standpoint, this sector is likely to see some temporary relief as it printed a hammer at the lower end of the down trend channel.

As for the S&P 500, it has now carved out a lower high, with strong support at previous swing low of 1490. This is now an important level to watch for to determine if we have confirmed change in trend.

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Mon: ISM Service Index, Fed Governor Mishkin and Korszner to speak
Notable earnings: ASEI, APC, CECO, WCG

Tue:
Notable earnings: ADM, NILE, BMC, TAP, PZZA, JOE, WPI, CTSH, HLF, HOC, JEC, BTU, VLO

Wed: Non-Farm Productivity, Wholesale Inventories, Fed Governor Warsh to speak
Notable earnings: AIG, EGLE,FLR, FWLT, FTO, GM, HET, HLYS, MDR, RL, TRLG, TM

Thurs: ECB President Trichet to speak (after interest rate announcement), Fed President Bernanke to speak (about economic outlook)
Notable earnings: COGO, ENER,F, QCOM, STN, TBSI, TOL, URBN, DIS

Fri: Trade Balance, Consumer Sentiment

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And by the way, day light savings has ended and we revert back to standard time on the first Sunday in November. Take note!