To Trade or not to Trade that is the question

Bitten from Jon Markman column
As a rough generalization, I would define a new bull market as a cross above the 12-month average of the big indexes that is sustained for at least four weeks. That's currently 1,125 for the S&P 500 and 10,473 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU). Any sharp advances that fall short of those levels will be just bear market rallies. . . . I keep track of these running gunbattles between bulls and bears in my daily newsletter, Strategic Advantage, and help subscribers manage their equity/bond allocations with exchange-traded funds and stocks. You can sign up for a free two-week trial here. . . . Cynics have a new term for the Obama administration's proclivity to move the market midsession by leaking out word of new proposals, such as mortgage relief. They call it "yapping," in which "yap" is an acronym for "yet another plan