A fellow blogger here at WhoTrades noted that Morgan Stanley has decided to get into consumer banking: Morgan Stanley Wants in on Consumer Banking - What Took So Long? In a binary assessment, this appears positive. But it might also add a factor of volatility (variance). From a technical perspective, we do have a few signs that things are looking up after the August-October consolidation. Morgan Stanley (MS) Daily Chart 12/1 (click to enlarge)From the daily chart, we can see that price was consolidating between 30 and 35 until price started to creep up in October and busted through 35 in November.After the breakout we saw a pullback that eventually stalled just above 33.00. This week, price made a clear push back above 35.00, suggesting respect for the previous price bottom. Some might liken this to a cup-and-handle (reversal) pattern. On top of that, price crossed above the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) and has now bounced off of it as support. This is known as a slingshot, and a bullish one. Finally, the RSI has cleared 60, which shows loss of the prevailing bearish momentum from August and September. Pushing above 70 would be a sign of new bullish momentum. So, the signs are subtle, but they are bullish.