Short-Term Oversold, But No Divergence

Click on Chart to Enlarge

The hourly chart of SPY is oversold and the MACD making a bullish cross as I type this.  The daily chart shows prices have been touching the lower bollinger band for a few days indicating that prices are stretched to the downside.  However, there is no bullish divergence on the MACD even at the 30 min time frame, which calls into question whether this move down is bottoming for a major rebound attempt.

The chart above is the VIX/VXV which is shorter term volatility divided by longer term volatility.  In general the shorter term (VIX) should be lower creating a VIX/VXV ratio that is less than 1.0 (indicated by the green line).  However, there are times when the VIX gets higher than VXV.  That usually indicates a point of intermediate term panic in the market and leads to a rebound pretty soon.  The market is out of balance under that condition.

Currently the ratio is not quite at 1.0 yet.  I have been watching this indicator to help pinpoint an upcoming rally attempt.  Of note is that the ratio is higher than it was at the June 2012 low which did not even reach 1.0. 

If it does move above the 1.0 level, I would expect a tradable bottom to occur soon after.  There is no guarantee that it will reach that level before a major rally attempt, and with prices oversold on the daily time frame, I think this is a time to protect open short positions by tightening stops or exiting on appropriate technical signals.