1/13 Lookahead: Bearish bias switch? Brain-dead market stories.

I have two tasks on Wednesday.

First, in the light of the broad bear signaling on Tuesday, do I change my bias to bearish? What does this mean for my one remaining February position, MRVL, a bull in a china shop filled with bears?

Second, I shall continue to try to close out my January iron condor in KO. The shares are trading near the top of the range of profitability, and it's in pps bull mode.

January options expire on Friday. The February options have 38 days to go, which means we're entering prime time for spreads and covered calls. March options have 66 days left.

Economic reports include petroleum inventories at 10:30 a.m. EST (7:30 a.m. PST). This is particularly interesting because of the recent decline in the price of crude.

And the Fed releases its Beige Book at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST). This is not usually a market mover, but it often will provide the lead for the big-media stock market stories (Stocks declined today despite a government survey that showed increasing business activity in many parts of the country yada yada ya.)

Not my way of analyzing the markets, mind you, but it's pretty widespread and sort of a reflex, like blinking in a bright light or kicking when the doc hits your knee with a little hammer. To me it illustrates that market story writers never really think about what they're saying.

Topics: Coca-Cola, Marvell Technology.