On a closing basis, the Dow SPDR (DIA) closed the week at its highest level in years. Even though Friday's intraday high did not exceed Thursday's intraday high, Friday's close was significant for DIA and the Dow Industrials. Or was it? Of the five... READ MORE
The Dollar Bullish ETF (UUP) extended its advance with a break above the mid November high this week and a fresh six month high. UUP is at levels not seen since August 2012 and this surge could weigh on stocks because the Dollar and stock market have been negatively correlated... READ MORE
After a sharp decline last week, the Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) formed with a small rising wedge the last six days. These are typically bearish continuation pataterns and a break below 34.5 would signal a continuation lower. The indicator window shows the KST momentum oscillator moving below its... READ MORE
The majority of indicators remain bullish, but offensive sector performance got a downtrend. The technology and consumer discretionary sectors underperformed in February, but the finance and industrials sectors outperformed. In addition, note that the defensive sectors outperformed in February. This combination points to risk-aversion in the stock market. The SPY... READ MORE
Stocks were strong in the first half of the day, but sold off in the second half, especially in the last hour. The Dow came within 15 points of its all time high and then fell over 90 points with the afternoon sell off. The senior average closed near its... READ MORE
Sears Holdings (SHLD) started the day strong, but sold off hard to form an outside reversal day. In fact, today's price action encompassed the high-low range of the last five days. This reversal also occurred on high volume to further reinforce resistance at 49. Click this image for... READ MORE
IBM Breaks Wedge Resistance with Good Volume. VRTX Surges off Support with High Volume. Plus CVC, CY, USB This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF or otherwise). We all need to... READ MORE
The Dow led the market on Wednesday with a surge above 14000. Despite some sizable moves in the major index ETFs, only the Dow SPDR (DIA) cleared its prior highs and closed at its highest level for the month. Note that SPY, RSP, MDY, IWM and QQQ have yet to... READ MORE
Big defense contractors got slammed in late January as the market priced in a worst-case sequester scenario in about seven trading days. LMT firmed after this sharp decline and then surged with a long hollow candlestick on Wednesday. This move was strong enough to push CCI above 100 and trigger... READ MORE
Stocks were quite oversold after Monday's big plunge and managed to bounce on Tuesday. Even though the market was ripe for this bounce, there were a few fundamental factors contributing to the rebound. Bernanke brought his doves to capital hill, the Home Construction iShares (ITB) surged almost 4%... READ MORE
Don't look now, but Natural Gas ($NATGAS) held support near the 62% retracement and broken resistance near 3.10 this year. $NATGAS bounced twice off this level with the second surge sending it above 3.40 this week. The US Natural Gas Fund (UNG) also held support from... READ MORE
CVX Forms Big Bearish Engulfing at Resistance. DLTR Bases with Large Triangle Plus FISV, FLEX, HST, SKS, SNA, TIF This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF or otherwise). We all need... READ MORE
Stocks surged on the open, quickly weakened and then plunged in the final hour. We all know where the blame went. Even though the Italian elections took the rap, note that the Euro has been falling since 4-Feb and Italian stocks are down around 10% over the past month. US... READ MORE
After big gains in January, the market is having a tough time in February with relative weakness coming from the Consumer Discretionary SPDR (XLY) and Technology SPDR (XLK). Also notice that the defensive sectors are starting to outperforming (XLP, XLU and XLV). Click this image for a live chart... READ MORE
It was a short, but wild, week for stocks. The major index ETFs started strong on Tuesday, plunged on Wednesday-Thursday and then rebounded on Friday. The Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) hit a new low for 2013 during Thursday's dip, while the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and S&... READ MORE
XBI surged the first two weeks of January, and then corrected the next six weeks with a falling channel. The fall is ever so slight though. A move above 96.5 would break the channel trend line and signal a continuation of the bigger uptrend. The indicator window shows RSI... READ MORE
The major index ETFs and indicators took hits this week, but there is no change in the overall picture. The major index ETFs, AD Lines and AD Volume Lines hit multi-month highs this month and pulled back sharply this week. Stocks were quite overextended after big moves from mid November... READ MORE
Stocks moved lower again on Thursday with the Nasdaq 100 Equal-Weight ETF (QQEW) leading the way (down 1.22%). This means techs as a whole were relatively weak. Small-caps were also relatively weak with the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) falling around 1%. Note that QQEW and IWM led on the... READ MORE
You can see a lot with CandleGlance charts. The 6 charts below come from the Nasdaq most active list today. Intel broke support with a sharp decline the last two days and Facebook broke down in early February. Blackberry is findng a bid as it firms near the three week... READ MORE
AMZN Forms Bearish Wedge. COL Tests Support in the Face of Sequester. Plus JBHT, NAT, NOC, PX This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF or otherwise). We all need to think... READ MORE
Stocks were weak in early trading and then got slammed in the afternoon. In addition to overbought conditions, several factors contributed to the afternoon sell off. Industrial metals fell sharply over the last few days due to concerns with Chinese economic growth. Several industry group ETFs within the materials sector... READ MORE
OIH surged to a new high with a long white candlestick last week, but suddenly stalled as the next three candlesticks formed inside this long candlestick. This is basically an extended harami pattern, which is potentially bearish. Also notice that OIH is up over 20% since mid November and a... READ MORE
Stocks marched higher again on Tuesday with small-caps leading the way. The Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) gained .88% and the S&P Small-cap ETF (IJR) advanced 1.10% on the day. Techs also participated with the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) hitting a new high for 2013. Eight of the... READ MORE
The stock market may be overbought and sentiment may seem overly bullish, but buying pressure continues to outpace selling pressure. Case-in-point: the Retail SPDR (XRT) surged to a fresh 52-week high on Tuesday and the price relative (XRT:SPY ratio) is challenging its November high. Strength in retailers is a... READ MORE
CY Forms Descending Triangle. NVDA Surges above Resistance on Good Volume. Plus AEO, ARO, ESRX, V This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF or otherwise). We all need to think for... READ MORE
US stocks held up last week, but the advance certainly slowed. IWM led the market with a 1.04% gain last week. SPY was mostly flat with a .20 advance. QQQ declined .35% and QQEW lagged SPY with a .11% gain. Relative weakness in the Nasdaq 100 Equal-Weight ETF (QQEW)... READ MORE
The Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) just can't seem to find its mojo this year, but the 2013 trend is still up and the bulls still have the edge, albeit a slight edge. First, note that QQQ has been trending higher since mid November. A three month uptrend means... READ MORE
Gold, oil and silver fell sharply on Friday as the G20 meeting started in Moscow. The chart below shows the Silver Trust (SLV) forming a lower high in late January and plunging to the early January low. The lower trend line of the falling channel marks the next support level... READ MORE
There is no change in the indicator summary because the market did not move much this week. Despite little movement, IWM, MDY, XLF and several other key ETFs hit new highs. The uptrend, or rather grind higher, continues. Note that the Nasdaq AD Volume Line and NYSE AD Volume Line... READ MORE
It was another mixed day overall,but the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) edged to another 52-week high with a .25% gain. The ETF is now up seven of the last ten days this month. Even though the daily gains have been relatively small, IWM is up 3.08% since its... READ MORE
Oil related stocks remain red hot as the Oil & Gas Equipment/Services SPDR (XES) surged over 2% on Thursday and exceeded its 2012 high. The uptrend just gets steeper as the advance accelerated the last five weeks. XES is overbought like the rest of the market, but showing no... READ MORE
Guess what? Stocks were mixed again on Wednesday. The Dow Industrials SPDR (DIA) edged lower, while the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and other major index ETFs edged higher. Once again, "edged" is the key word here because price movements were miniscule. Nevertheless, the Russell 2000 ETF... READ MORE
JCP Shows Interesting Volume Trend the Last Five Weeks. LULU Forms Pennant Near Support. Plus AFFX, ARO, TIBX This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF or otherwise). We all need to... READ MORE
Even though exchange volume remains relatively light, Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) is trading above average volume and falling sharply. Notice that CAKE formed a lower high in early February and the next support zone resides in the 32.25-32.5 area. Click this image for a live chart.... READ MORE
Stocks were mixed again on Tuesday. The Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) edged lower because Apple was weak, but the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) edged higher because financials were strong. Volume was below average again, but I would not read too much into this because we seem to be... READ MORE
The Utilities SPDR (XLU) bottomed along with the broader market in mid November and advanced the last three months, but the advance has lagged in more ways than one. XLU is up less than SPY and SPY is already above its October high. Nevertheless, XLU is in a clear uptrend... READ MORE
DD Breaks Wedge Resistance with Good Volume. SCTY Surges above Triangle Trend Line. Plus FB, GT, ILMN, INTC, PCS, SSYS This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF or otherwise). We all... READ MORE
Stocks were mixed on Monday with the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) edging lower (.02%) and the S&P 500 Equal-Weight ETF (RSP) edging higher (.03%). Yes, it was a mixed, and dull, day. The sector SPDRs were also mixed and the moves were small. The Gold Miners... READ MORE
There was an uptick in the number of bearish candlestick reversals on Monday afternoon. As the screen shot below shows, there were 67 bearish engulfing patterns as of 1:51PM ET. There were also 13 dark cloud patterns and over 100 harami, which are like inside days. Chartists can click... READ MORE
Stocks bucked the intermarket headwinds and mixed economic data to finish positive again last week. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) are now up six consecutive weeks. The Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) also got into the bull mood with a close above its... READ MORE