The apathetic response to numerous fundamental developments last week could partly be attributed to seasonality, but a more likely explanation is the lack of clear vision for the global economy. Slower economic growth in the US and the many announced cuts in government spending in Europe are rekindling the inflation vs. deflation debate once again and creating hesitation.

Trade selection using volatility as the primary criteria. Different trades for different volatility opportunities.

The initial months of this year have been characterized by a low implied volatility (IV) environment in virtually all underlying securities. This milieu ended suddenly and abruptly on the recent "flash crash" and IV generally remains significantly elevated above its recent nadir.

In Roman mythology the god of beginnings and endings, Janus, is typically portrayed having two heads, each facing in opposite directions. His countenances are displayed in this manner so that he can observe the past as well as the future. The two types of option volatility, historical volatility and implied volatility, also reflect this dual perspective.

Expecting an upside bias we set up our RT Spread Scanner and found some possible suggestions in the oil and gas sector that we are now calling event related due to the supply uncertainty from the problems in the Gulf of Mexico.

The S&P 500 Index broke out above the upper trendline defining the falling wedge technical pattern. Since the volume on the breakout appears to have been not as high as required for a valid breakout we are suspicious that it can meet its measuring objective above the April high.

This oil spill is like a vortex. Ruins everything it touches. Coastline, jobs and companies, you name it. Like the spill itself, it casts a dark shadow over the market. What the spill is doing is affecting market sentiment and not in a good way. We can now actually measure market sentiment and create a number from it and combine that number with other market data.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) continues to make news. With the VIX hitting its one year high last month, it continues to buoy near 2010 highs. There is no shortage of media coverage on the VIX either, which may be prompting investors to try to profit off of it.

Last week's bear sightings may prove to have been just fleeting glances since the S&P 500 Index now has two active technical analysis patterns working, both favor upside breakouts.

Last Tuesdays' news that the Swiss National Bank's foreign currency reserves increased 80% in May resulting from the sale of Swiss francs and investing in Eurobonds, at a rate that appears to have exceed that of the European Central Bank, helped turn the tide of the very oversold euro. The result, a somewhat stronger euro also boosted equities and the economically sensitive commodities.

VIX skew can be a good indicator of the future. It can also fail in that regard. In actuality the VIX skew is just the sum of expectations for the future. And expectations of the market can be right or wrong.

Direct from the Options Data Analysis and the Rankers & Scanners sections of IVolatility.com present the Best Calendar Spread based upon a differential between the implied volatility of the near term call compared to the implied volatility of the deferred month call.