Even though the major index ETFs are short-term overbought, stocks continue to exhibit bullish price action overall. For example, the S&P 500 fell over 10 points and dipped below 2087 in the first thirty minutes on Friday, but quickly found its footing and advanced the rest of the... READ MORE
Chartists looking to filter small price movements and add a systematic touch to their analysis can turn to Point & Figure charts. Chart 1 shows a 60-minute P&F chart for the **S&P 500** and each box is five points. With a traditional 3-box reversal setting, this... READ MORE
The S&P 500 has been flat as a pancake the last three days, but the Nasdaq 100 and Russell 2000 continued higher. Note that the S&P 500 is up .02% this week, the Nasdaq 100 is up .63% and the Russell 2000 is up .39%. The... READ MORE
Stocks started the day with some mild selling pressure, firmed during the day and then rallied in the final two hours. The rally, however, was not that strong and the major index ETFs closed mixed on the day. QQQ was up a fraction and DIA was down a fraction. The... READ MORE
Chartists can regularly check the Pre-defined Technical Alerts page for clues on market trends. Green alerts dominate the last three days and these green alerts come from the stock market. Just today, the Russell 2000 hit an all time high and the Nasdaq hit a 4-year high. Multi-year highs occur... READ MORE
Stocks opened strong, dipped in the afternoon and then finished strong. Once again, the price action during the day is bullish and buying pressure continues to assert itself. The major index ETFs closed with fractional gains. The sectors were mixed with small gains and losses. Consumer discretionary, utilities and consumer... READ MORE
Stocks continued higher last week with the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Russell 2000 hitting new highs on Friday. Techs led the rally as xrt6QQQ gained 3.67% and XLK surged 3.77%. Utilities did not partake as Treasury yields rose again last week. The Home Construction iShares... READ MORE
Stocks put in another positive day with bullish price action. The S&P 500 opened strong with a surge above 2080 and then worked its way higher to close at 2088. Once again, we are seeing the ability to start strong and finish strong. Stock market strength was broad... READ MORE
Interactive Corp (IACI) has turned rather volatile this year with a choppy trading range between 59 and 64. The stock gapped down to range support last week, but immediately firmed and surged off support with good volume. IACI is now in the process of filling the gap and a break... READ MORE
It was a choppy day on Wall Street with QQQ edging higher and IWM edging lower. The sectors were mixed with techs and consumer staples producing small gains. Utilities took another hit as the Utilities SPDR (XLU) fell over 2%. Within the tech sector, the Networking iShares (IGN), Semiconductor SPDR... READ MORE
Stocks put in another good performance on Tuesday. The S&P 500 opened strong and worked its way higher the rest of the day. As with last week, this is the kind of price action the bulls want to see. The consumer discretionary, healthcare and technology sectors led the... READ MORE
Selling pressure extended on Monday, but the selling pressure was rather tame and the losses were modest. A little selling pressure after a big advance last week is normal at this stage. Healthcare, utilities and consumer staples led the sectors lower. Energy stocks gained as oil extended its bounce. The... READ MORE
It has been a rough year for Akamai (AKAM), but the decline over the last few months looks like a classic correction. After hitting a new high in late November, the stock retraced 50-62% with a decline to the 57-58 area. This retracement amount is typical for a correction within... READ MORE
Stocks were hit with some selling pressure on Friday, but the week as a whole showed some pretty positive price action. SPY began its advance on Monday, gapped up on Tuesday and then worked its way higher until Friday morning. Selling pressure hit in the afternoon, but SPY still managed... READ MORE
The Materials SPDR (XLB) sprang to life on the price chart and three relative strength indicators broke out. On the price chart, XLB surged in October-November and then consolidated in December-January with a big triangle. Trading was certainly choppy within the triangle, but the ETF finally made a decisive break... READ MORE
-- S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 Make Breakout Bids (creating unique charts) -- High-Low Percent Indicators Stay Bullish -- Bounce in T-Yields Lifts Financials -- XSD Shows Chart Strength (finding ETF holdings) -- Materials Sector Springs to Life -- Treasury Yields Bounce -- Dollar Jumps -- Gold Falls... READ MORE
The S&P 500 surged late Monday and early Tuesday with a move from 1990 to 2040, and then worked its way higher. This is positive price action because the index held the surge and continued higher. Small-caps led the way on Thursday with IWM gaining 1.29%. All... READ MORE
After a surge from 1985 to 2050, trading in the S&P 500 turned choppy on Wednesday with a rather tight range. There was, however, some late selling pressure as the index dropped from 2053 to 2040 in the final 30 minutes. Must have been some news event hitting... READ MORE
The image below shows a screen shot from the home page with SCTR tables for large-caps and ETFs. The "top up" tab was selected to focus on the biggest gainers. Notice that the StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) for GM moved above 50 and the SCTR for Walgreens moved... READ MORE
Stocks started strong with a surge on the open, traded flat for a few hours and then moved higher the entire afternoon. The ability to open strong and finish strong is positive and the S&P 500 finished strong the last two days. Energy led the way as oil... READ MORE
Stocks started the day weak with selling pressure on the open, but quickly firmed around 10AM and the S&P 500 surged above 2000 before lunch. After an early afternoon swoon, buyers stepped in again and pushed this key benchmark back above 2000. In fact, the index closed above... READ MORE
Monsanto (MON) could be poised for a volatility expansion because BandWidth has narrowed over the last few weeks and volatility has contracted signficantly. The BandWidth indicator tells us that the difference between the upper and lower Bollinger Bands is less than 4%, which is relatively low. John Bollinger theorized that... READ MORE
Stocks took it on the chin last week with large-caps leading the way lower. QQQ and the S&P 100 ETF (OEF) lost around 3% last week. Big banks and big techs led the way lower as XLK and XLF lost over 3%. The Consumer Discretionary SPDR (XLY) held... READ MORE
Stocks started the day with some selling pressure, but firmed around 11AM and moved steadily higher the rest of the day. Small-caps and micro-caps led the way as IWM and IWC gained 1.38% and 1.48%, respectively. The consumer discretionary sector led the SPDRs, the equal-weight sectors and the... READ MORE
Stocks took it on the chin again on Wednesday with the major index ETFs losing over 1%. Well, QQQ managed a 0.5% loss because Apple and Facebook gained. Nevertheless, 89 out of the 100 stocks in QQQ declined and selling pressure was pretty lopsided. Energy-related stocks were hammered as... READ MORE
Another Fed statement has come and gone, and Treasury bonds simply continue to march higher. The chart below shows the 7-10 YR T-Bond ETF (IEF) hitting yet another 52-week high today with a big move above 110. The indicator window shows the 10-YR Treasury Yield ($TNX) moving below 1.75%... READ MORE
Stocks continued their volatile ways as SPY and QQQ fell sharply on the open, rebounded and then sold off in the final hour. Microsoft and Durable Goods got most of the blame. The strong Dollar is also affecting earnings in large-caps. Small-caps held up quite well as IWM fell just... READ MORE
The chart below shows the Retail SPDR (XRT) bouncing off a support zone and remaining in an uptrend. For relative strength, the first indicator window shows the StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) above 90, which means XRT is in the top 10% of our ETF universe. The second window shows the... READ MORE
Stocks started the day weak, but quickly found their footing and moved higher the rest of the day. Despite this recovery, QQQ ended the day with a fractional loss and SPY closed with a fractional gain. Small-caps and mid-caps were another story as IWM gained 1% and MDY led with... READ MORE
Stocks took a breather on Friday, but the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) and Russell 2000 Growth iShares (IWO) bucked the selling pressure by producing small gains to end the week. Overall, QQQ led the market last week with a 3.41% gain and the Technology SPDR (XLK) led the sector... READ MORE
Stocks moved sharply higher on Thursday with IWM getting the biggest gain among the major index ETFs. Note that IWM and IJR were both up over 2%. Even though these two show relative weakness in January, they typically outperform during a broad market move. The Finance SPDR (XLF) sprang to... READ MORE
The finance sector came to life on Thursday with leadership from banks ($DJUSBK) and asset managers ($DJUSAG). The chart below shows asset manager Blackrock holding its breakout and surging off support with a big move above 355. Notice that the stock shows a little more "chart" strength than... READ MORE
Stocks managed to claw out some gains with large-caps leading the way. SPY and QQQ gained around a half percent. Small-caps were weak as IWM fell .32%. The gains and losses were small and not that significant. Energy, materials and utilities led the market higher. This is not the crew... READ MORE
The image below comes from a MarketCarpet for the Nasdaq 100. It is set to show the biggest changes in the StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR). The biggest gainers have dark green boxes and the biggest losers have dark red boxes. Notice that seven green boxes come from the semiconductor group... READ MORE
The technology sector came to life with a modest gain on Tuesday, but the consumer discretionary and finance sectors countered with declines. Relative weakness in finance is getting to be a problem for the overall market and may not clear up as long as Treasury yields fall. The consumer discretionary... READ MORE
SPY, QQQ and IWM broke down last week, but rebounded sharply on Friday. Despite this rebound, the major index ETFs closed down for the week. IWM led Friday with a 1.63% advance and small-caps continue to hold up well overall. Energy led the sectors higher as XLE got a... READ MORE
Even though big round numbers should not have any technical significance, it is hard to argue with the magnetic pull of 2000 on the S&P 500. The index first neared 2000 when it broke above 1975 in July. After a pullback to the 1900 area in early August,... READ MORE
Stocks tried to bounce on Thursday, but selling pressure soon took over and the major index ETFs closed with losses again. Small-caps and large techs led the way as IWM fell 1.69% and QQQ declined 1.30%. Eight of nine sectors were down with consumer discretionary, technology, finance, energy... READ MORE
The Sector MarketCarpet shows serious selling pressure in the consumer discretionary (cyclical), energy and technology sectors on Thursday because they are the deepest red. In contrast, the utilities sector is bright green because utility stocks advanced as money sought yield. The consumer staples sector also attracted some buying interest because... READ MORE
Stocks started the day under selling pressure as the major index ETFs gapped down on the open. Selling pressure continued into the afternoon, but buyers stepped in around 2PM and pushed stocks off their lows. This bounce was too little too late because SPY did not fill its opening gap.... READ MORE