As Sandy showed the East Coast, weather plays a significant role in the economy. The infrastructure shutdown, the productivity grinding to a frozen halt, and the messy cleanup afterwards all might be regionally bearish indicators, but there are some securities really like winter storms such as Sandy.

The chart below represents the Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE) during and after hurricane Sandy, potentially ignited by the storm:(click to enlarge)

Natural gas is not only a significant electricity and heat producer in the US but could soon be powering cars and trucks around the globe as an inexpensive, cleaner alternative to gasoline The US has been fortunate with huge natural gas supply and now inventory that have pressed prices to next to nothing domestically. It is only a matter of time before Liquified Natural Gas is scaled to international production.

Since the run in the XLE there have been two very powerful winter storms rolling through the continent, one being the ongoing winter storm Rocky. These have and will seriously impact the Midwest. The economic impact won't be what it was for Sandy; however, the effect over the continent is at the very least, lower temperatures. As previously mentioned, natural gas is highly demanded for many things, it represents over a third of the US furnace fuel. If temperatures are dropping, you can be sure that investors are thinking natural gas. Will the XLE continue upward because of these storms?

As the XLE saw nice gains after Sandy the price of natural gas has decreased. How can a storm be a natural gas play if the commodity has been in a 4 year bear market?

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While the bear run may not be ending in the short term, gas plays can be a great long term investment. The ETF that tracks the price of natural gas is United States Natural Gas Fund, LP (UNG). If volume is a predictor of anything it is volatility and as we go into 2013, the price of the commodity looks like it might be gearing up for a run. I would argue that the cost of natural gas is not only a supply story. As the supply has increased because of fracking and new discoveries, there have also been fewer heating needs in the US, in general over the last decade. I have included a chart from the EPA on earth surface temperatures in the US (continental) to indicate there has been at least on aggregate basis, less of a need for heat than in the past for consumers.

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With the demand now being realized in the form of storms and therefore heat needs and the noted long term growth prospects for natural gas demand, a handful of investments would benefit from winter storm Rocky which could dump as much as 20" of snow in the Midwest. The XLE saw a run from the overall market and possibly from Sandy already, this may be an area where the run is running out of gas and selling calls here could be a great way to maximize returns. For a more focused play on gas, there is UNG, the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Total Return ETF (GAZ) or the Direxion Shares Exchange Traded Fund triple levered ETF for natural gas, (GASL).

The small cap natural gas space, however, might be poised for a short term run from the storm as well as the longer term benefits of demand growth for natural gas. To respond to impending or ongoing severe winter weather, look for Energy to benefit from the frozen fracas and it could be an excellent time to find and long a lean, profitable company with a juicy dividend so you are essentially paid to wait for whatever volatility in this sector shows up.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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What might happen if and when the index reaches $1565? The spectacular thing about technical analysis is that it does not care at all about the underlying details and causes for change in the market. Technical analysis can be interpreted as the objective review of investor sentiment and price momentum. Technical indicators do not depend on the results of companies or economies as much as they reflect the investors' interpretations of those results (and guidance). If and when the index reaches $1565 or a little higher then I expect a broad pullback in the market and specifically the S&P and SPY.

The reason(s) for the pullback really could be anything; the setup for the fall is prolific.

• There are major concerns for European economies and any one of those countries failing could devastate global markets. Moody's cutting the credit rating of the UK may not be the impetus for a disaster but represents a sign of global economic weakness. Major concerns like Greece, Spain, Italy, France, and even a smaller country like Cyprus can have explosive effects on the global economy. Whether it's Cyprus or Lehman Brothers, the fact is, one smaller entity's crisis can mean poorer guidance going forward for many others and the chain reaction is begun.
• Unemployment has been sticking above 7.5% for nearly the entire bull-run. From a fundamental standpoint, if consumers are not working, producers will feel the pain. Many analysts want to use the term "pent-up" when referring to consumer demand even though since the last age of S&P highs, unemployment has not allowed the consumer to act as the analysts think they should, they also are challenged trying to save their money. Many families in this country are at the breaking point and this cannot be discounted as the country moves to the Affordable Care Act era of Healthcare and undecided fiscal policy.
• War, Terrorism, Cyber-Terrorism, and other Disasters can disrupt markets, as occurred in September, 2001 and recently with Sandy and ongoing with Winter Storm Rocky. Another example of this risk is also in the news: China is allegedly hacking U.S. Government and U.S. Company servers and taking anything from intellectual property to personal information. This can amount to losing the security and infrastructure of our nation and the competitive edge of our companies.

These reasons are maybe the most likely scenarios but thankfully predicting the actual cause of the fall is not as important to investors as when it could happen. Technical analysis is ideal for determining investment timing, as investors' interpretations of the information abreast the market is what will actually move the market and if anything, that is what technical analysis measures.

Our current ride to $1500+ has come quicker than most expected, including me. The underlying conditions since the crisis may have improved exponentially, but there is no reason to think that we have a fortress of a market that these or other risks cannot penetrate and halve the S&P and SPY. I am cautiously long equities until the S&P reaches 1565, at which point I will be long volatility.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

The new laptop is great, possibly a game changer. Does this mean Google stock will continue to rise while Apple (AAPL) will continue to fall? To the extent that Google and Apple have been bringing us the next big thing for an age, this could possibly be a chance to really take market share from Apple whose share price is already on a slide since reaching its all-time highs in 2012.

Writer for thestreet.com, Anton Wahlman reviewed the Google Pixel and his foaming-at-the-mouth review included a nice farewell to a couple of Google's competitors: "It was nice to have known you, Microsoft and Apple . . . all good things must come to an end. Google has made a superior product, the ultimate laptop PC. Microsoft and Apple don't let the door hit you in the %$#[rear] on your way out" (2). In my opinion, it is Apple that still has the most to lose from Google. The energy of this review is exactly what product launches are intended to produce. The product excitement is an intangible part of the earnings multiple that Apple is letting slip through its fingers. Without serious growth prospects, it's no wonder the P/E for Apple is less than half of Google's. Fund manager, David Einhorn is calling for Apple to pay a dividend, which is also potentially a sign that growth prospects are no longer as profound as the beginning of the iPhone/iPad cycles since more and more investors are starting to think they can put the money to better use than Apple can. Apple's time is far from over, but Google's Pixel is the next hot product and could pull from Apple harder than most think.

I am not invested in these names but I a good strategy at this point could be to sell calls for Apple and buy them for Google, the real deal. Google is still a growth company in terms of innovation and while the mystique in Apple is possibly fading.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in [[GOOG]] over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Whatever your personal context in the market may be currently, cautiously long seems to have been the dominant attitude since the recent election lows. Many believe the market has steamed ahead of itself and although excitement is rightfully building the market is due for a correction and therefore money should be reallocated or sidelined. Wednesday's minutes and yesterday's rising jobless claims are potentially just the beginning of up to a 10% correction. The low VIX is increasing and provides an indication we could see more volatility as we've topped in the S&P / SPY and sights should be set on around a 10% correction to 1360 / 136 ... Really? (click to enlarge)

Did that weak bear case get you? Me neither, this is a tired move the market has used over and over in this channel. This is just part of a larger trend going back to April 6th, 2010 with tops channeling right up to all-time highs near 1565. Once the market gets to that those all-time highs, I have very different views on the US markets. Until those levels are reached I consider this a buying opportunity, possibly the final before reaching those levels. The VIX levels rising support the coming reversal but we've got a good run left after this dip. See the strength of the long term channel come to a nice final run in this 6-month view of the S&P:

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Many are underestimating the effect or disregarding entirely the influx of new money into equities as well as the transition from treasuries to equities, precious metals to equities and the major bullish signals that could mean a trip to 1565. I don't think there is trip to the 50-day, last time we approached it; there was a great bounce from RSI near 30 levels. The S&P / SPY are not making it to oversold levels because there is too much potential for the index. I am not going to fight the market, while there are some bearish signals, they seem very similar to the last several that have proven to be buying opportunities. That said put protection will be essential after the bounce back into this channel as the last two trips to S&P highs have resulted in disaster for the market afterward.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

More importantly to me, the report cited "weaker global economic activity." This type of information is absolutely essential as the (SPY) approaches all-time resistance levels just over 156.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.