It was about time we saw the market close lower on heavy volume. At one point the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 155 points. The market was clearly focused in on Ben Bernanke’s testimony and prepared comments then it would turn its attention to the release of the Fed’s meeting minutes. Hints at tapering bond purchases really sent sellers hitting the market hard. Thanks to a late day push the market was able to avoid closing at the lows of the session. Even with the market finding its footing it could not escape a day of distribution. Today’s action will certainly bring out top callers, but we know better. Stick with your rules.

Bonds and Stocks sold off today as both markets are trying to cope with less free money from the Fed. The 10 year US Treasury note yield is now above 2.0% after hitting 1.6% a few weeks ago. Higher US Treasury yields will drive up the US government borrowing costs. Over on the stock side the last time the S&P 500 hit an all-time high and closed down 1% was in 2000 and 2007. The late day push saved the S&P 500 from closing down 1%. We’ll find out eventually if today was a game changer. The key will be if you are quick enough to react.

After the bell we got an earnings report from HPQ and WDAY. Both stocks responded well to the earnings report ending the after-hours session higher. HPQ will help out the Dow Jones Industrial Average if it can hang onto the 13% gains from Wednesday’s after-hours session. WDAY won’t push any index higher, but it has been a big winner for Big Wave Trading members. It pays to stick with price and with market leaders.

What is missing for a market top is a cluster of distribution. We had a cluster of distribution in April and the market was able to push into new highs. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and stick with our process and let the guessing to the ones who appear on CNBC.