For four sessions now, the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) has been traversing a one point range between 70 and 71.  Zzzzzzz.  On one hand, the range could be construed as a bull flag type of congestion area ahead of a pop to new highs in the 71.30.50 target zone.  On the other hand, inability of the IWM to capitalize on this morning's rally to 70.62, followed by a pivot reversal and retest of 70.00 could be viewed as a sign of exhaustion -- especially after last week's rally expended so much energy.  Right at this moment, the bears have control of intraday direction, so let's see if they can inflict some damage on a break of 69.95/90, which should trigger a press to 69.00 immediately thereafter.

Mike Paulenoff is a 26-year veteran of the financial markets and author of MPTrader.com, a real-time diary of his technical chart analysis and trading alerts on all major markets. For more of Mike Paulenoff, sign up for a free 15-Day trial to his MPTrader Diary by clicking here.