The question of the day remains largely the same as it has been for the past four trading sessions: Will a modest breakout to new all-time highs mean that the rally that began on February 4 continue or become just another maddening "breakout fakeout?"

To be honest, only time will tell. However, the business of investing is about staying on the right side of the really big, important move. So, while we can't know what the future will hold - especially in this day and age when the algos can push the S&P 500 up or down 1 percent just for the heck of it - we CAN try to make sure the odds are in our favor before we make a commitment.

So, this morning, we will attempt to do just that by running down our list of important market models to see where they stand in the hopes that perhaps a theme will emerge.

Putting The Odds of Success In Your Favor

To be sure, there are no perfect indicators. There is no holy grail that will get an investor in the market at the bottom every time and out at the top. Not gonna happen. No way, no how. Doesn't matter how many PhD's you put on the project or how much computing power you have. Ms. Market's game simply cannot be mastered with a magic indicator.

However, one CAN attempt to put the odds of being on the right side of the market in their favor by developing a series of unemotional, mathematically-based, market models.

To clarify, we are NOT talking about creating a black box which spits out magical buy and sell signals. No, we are talking about ways to quantify the market's historical drivers and tendencies.

For example, everybody knows that it doesn't pay ...

During the 38 trading days so far in 2014, we've seen a pullback of 106.5 points on the S&P 500 (5.76 percent) and a rebound of 105 points (6.07 percent). So, the bottom line is that while ride has been ...

After several long years of risk-on/risk-off markets during which, everything acted like the S&P 500 and adding alpha was difficult, it appears that stock-picking is back in a big way.

The natural question, of course, is why?

Before we get ...

After several long years of risk-on/risk-off markets during which, everything acted like the S&P 500 and adding alpha was difficult, it appears that stock-picking is back in a big way.

The natural question, of course, is why?

Before we get ...

Let's see a show of hands. How many of you out there struggle from time to time to ascertain why Ms. Market is doing whatever the heck she is doing on a given day?

Monday was a perfect example of ...

Thirty-five trading days into the new year, the S&P stands just about where it started. But to say that nothing has happened in the market so far this year would certainly be misleading. In case you haven't been paying close ...

Thirty-five trading days into the new year, the S&P stands just about where it started. But to say that nothing has happened in the market so far this year would certainly be misleading. In case you haven't been paying close ...

Spending copious amounts of time in cars, airports, and airplanes generally provides the opportunity to take a step (or three) back from the blinking screens (although to be honest it is pretty easy to check in on the market via ...

Spending copious amounts of time in cars, airports, and airplanes generally provides the opportunity to take a step (or three) back from the blinking screens (although to be honest it is pretty easy to check in on the market via ...

At the end of January and into the first week of February, we penned a handful of articles which focused on the question of whether or not the stock market was facing a new crisis or merely a garden variety ...

At the end of January and into the first week of February, we penned a handful of articles which focused on the question of whether or not the stock market was facing a new crisis or merely a garden variety ...

While the world waits to hear what Janet Yellen has to say about Fed policy this morning, it is probably a good time to expand on the idea that the character of the stock market has changed and look at ...