AAPL Forms Bull Flag after Breakout. KLAC Firms at Fibonacci Retracement. CSCO Traces out Pennant Consolidation. Plus F, FFIV,MSFT,NTAP. *********************************************** 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... READ MORE
After a bounce off support in April, the Finance SPDR (XLF) came under pressure with a hanging man at the end of April and a bearish engulfing at the beginning of May. These two bearish candlesticks affirm resistance from the early May high. It is possible that a falling flag... READ MORE
SPY followed through on Monday's bearish Belt Hold candlestick with a decline on Tuesday. The ETF dipped all the way to 135, but a late afternoon bounce pushed it back to 135.73 by the close. The decline to 135 was not a very deep dip - yet... READ MORE
After going nowhere for two months, Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) is once again battling consolidation resistance. The stock has been stuck between 6.3 and 6.9 since the beginning of March. With the market down sharply on Tuesday, the stock is showing some resilience with a small gain. A break... READ MORE
Despite a strong open and weak close on Monday, the overall picture for SPY remains unchanged. A bearish Belt Hold formed on Monday. These are long black candlesticks that form after an advance. Neckline resistance from the inverse head-and-shoulders breakout turns into the first support zone to watch on any... READ MORE
ACI Forms Bear Wedge. CAKE Gaps Down from Resistance. GCI Breaks Flag Resistance. Plus BSX,LEN and NFLX. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
After surging in late February, Chesapeake (CHK) worked its way lower with three bearish engulfings and a dark cloud pattern. The April bounce above 33.5 may be stymied as the stock formed another bearish engulfing on Monday. Check out our bearish engulfing scan for more. Click this image for... READ MORE
It is a strange pairing, but stocks and bonds are both in strong uptrends. We can also throw in strong uptrends for gold, oil and the Euro. The Dollar is the one left out in the cold with a strong downtrend. The rally in bonds is a bit perplexing. QE2... READ MORE
Southwest Airlines (LUV) broke support with high volume in late April, but quickly recovered this support break with a surge back above 11.60 the last few days. Despite this quick recovery, signs of indecision are showing with the upper shadows in the candlesticks. There is a resistance zone around... READ MORE
Even though the finance sector remains a laggard, newfound relative strength in technology is picking up the slack. Led by semis, the Nasdaq and the Technology ETF (XLK) surged almost 5% the last seven trading days. Renewed leadership from techs is a positive for the market overall. There is some... READ MORE
There is no change on the daily chart or 60-minute chart as SPY extends after its breakouts. Broken neckline resistance becomes the first support level to watch on the daily chart. Key Economic Reports/Events: Fri - Apr 29 - 08:30 - Personal Income and Spending Fri - Apr... READ MORE
The Dow Industrials, Dow Transports, Dow Utilities and Dow Composite all broke above their March-April highs and recorded 52-week highs this week. From a Dow Theory stand point, the new highs in the Industrials and Transports are especially promising because they affirm the uptrend. Click this image for a live... READ MORE
There is no change on the daily chart. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) broke above neckline resistance that extends from late February to early April. This is another 52-week high that simply re-affirms the long-term uptrend. Traditionally, broken resistance turns into support. This suggests that the 133-134 area... READ MORE
ASEI Hits Broken Resistance with Wedge. GCI Surges on Big Volume and then Consolidates. PNRA Declines on High Volume. Plus AMCC,IDCC,ISRG,ORLY ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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... READ MORE
It all started with the Intel earnings effect five days ago as the Semiconductor HOLDRS (SMH) gapped above 35. After stalling for two days, the ETF continued hiher and is now challenging the February-March highs. Semis are starting to show relative strength again and this bodes well for techs. Click... READ MORE
Please note that Thursday's commentary will be posted a little later in the morning (between 9 and 10AM ET). With a strong open and strong close, the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) broke above neckline resistance that extends from late February to early April. This is another... READ MORE
Is this bounce for real or just another dead-cat bounce? The Amex Airline Index ($XAL) hit the 62% retracement area in mid April and surged above the wedge trendline on Tuesday. Also notice that MACD formed a bullish divergence and moved above its signal line. Things are looking up for... READ MORE
ARO Forms Dark Cloud at Resistance. GE Form Huge Bearish Engulfing. JPM Consolidates at Key Support. Plus APC,IMN,LMT,MSFT,RSH and UIS. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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... READ MORE
It could be a big week for bonds. The Fed meets this week with a policy statement scheduled at 12:30PM ET. This is earlier than normal because Bernanke is holding a press conference later in the afternoon. Jeeze, like we don't have enough excitement already. So now... READ MORE
Even though stocks are up over the last 30 trading days, sector leadership leaves something to be desired. The Finance is badly lagging, while the materials and energy sectors are leading. Also notice that the healthcare and consumer staples show relative strength. Click this image for a live chart... READ MORE
On the daily chart, the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is tracing out a clear inverse head-and-shoulders pattern over the last 2-3 months. The shoulders feature equal lows around 129.5 and the highs in the 133-134 area mark neckline resistance. Notice how the right shoulder also formed a... READ MORE
The predefined scans page at StockCharts.com is updated throughout the day. Checking just after the open is an easy way to spot early movers, both up and down. The runaway gap-up scan featured over 5 NYSE stocks and 16 Nasdaq stocks at 10:14AM ET. Among these runaway gaps,... READ MORE
The short-term trend is now up with a flag breakout and big gap. On the daily chart, an inverse head-and-shoulders is taking shape now that the right shoulder low has formed a reaction low near the left shoulder low. The neckline resistance zone resides around 133-134, which is where SPY... READ MORE
JNPR Surges off Retracement Zone. MBI Forges a Bear Trap. XRX Breaks Flag Resistance. Plus BBT, DF, ILMN, MBI, STT, TXN ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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)... READ MORE
The hammer and gap play is everywhere this week. It started with an intraday recovery on Monday and continued with a gap-surge on Wednesday. QLGC formed such a combo over the last three days and broke above the early April trendline. Click this image for a live chart... READ MORE
The bulls simply refuse to buckle. Despite a gap down on Monday and sharp decline Monday morning, stocks rebounded on Monday afternoon and continued strong on Tuesday. The ability to immediately recover should serve notice to the bears. QQQ formed a massive hammer on Monday and closed strong on Tuesday.... READ MORE
The S&P Sector Market Carpet provides a colorful snapshot of sector performance over a given timeframe. The screen grab below shows a 5-day Price Performance Market Carpet. Stocks in the materials sector are up an average of 1.7% the last five days (leading). Stocks in the technology... READ MORE
Before diving headfirst into some Elliott wave counts, please note that the overall trends take precedent. The overall trend on the daily chart (medium-term) remains up and the overall trend on the 60-minute chart (short-term) remains down. There are, at least, two Elliott counts possible on the S&P... READ MORE
ADBE Maintains Tight Consolidation. AXP Challenges Resistance. PNRA Forms Bear Flag. Plus CRM,DHI,GERN and SHLD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
Apple (AAPL) declined into its support zone with a close below 330 on Friday. After a weak open and further weakness early Monday, the stock moved higher and closed strong to firm a piercing line. This bullish candlestick reversal is featured on the predefined scans page. Also notice that volume... READ MORE
There are a few negatives working against the stock market right now. First, bonds have been rising and yields falling - even though inflationary pressures appear to be building. Despite gold and the Inflation Indexed Bond ETF (TIP) moving to new 2011 highs last week, normal bonds were also strong.... READ MORE
The positive relationship between the Inflation Indexed Bond ETF (TIP) and the Gold SPDR (GLD) went through a rough patch in December-January, but got back on track the last two month. First, note that both remain in clear uptrends. The chart below shows TIP (red) and GLD (black) surging to... READ MORE
Intuit (INTU), the maker of Turbo Tax Software, appears to like tax day. The stock broke above wedge resistance with a long white candlestick on Thursday and hit a 52-week high on Friday, April 15th. Click this image for a live chart... READ MORE
The indicator summary is weighed down by relative weakness in the Nasdaq and some key sectors. First, the Nasdaq has been underperforming the NY Composite since early January. Second, the Nasdaq AD Line and AD Volume Line are weaker than the NYSE AD Line and AD Volume Line. Third, the... READ MORE
SPY managed to open weak and close strong, but has yet to fill Tuesday's gap and reverse the short-term downtrend. For now, the island reversal remains in play and has yet to be proven otherwise. CCI continues to drift lower and has yet to turn up. I overlaid... READ MORE
After hitting the bullish engulfing scan on Tuesday, Time Warner is set to appear on the hammer scan for Thursday. The stock surged in February and then retraced around 50% with a decline to the 35 area. The stock has been firming in this area since mid March and a... READ MORE
The big trend on the daily chart is up as prices move from the lower left to the upper right. SPY became overbought after a big surge back to the February high and backed off this level the last four days. The ETF has actually closed lower five days in... READ MORE
ADBE Forms Tight Consolidation. DOX Breaks Wedge Resistance with Volume. PAYX Stalls Near Retracement Resistance. Plus ADM, GS, WCRX ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
For the second time in three months, Dell Inc (DELL) surged above 15 with big volume. The stock pulled back to broken resistance and bounced off support twice in mid March and early April. Today's big surge solidifies support and suggests that DELL has begun a bigger uptrend.... READ MORE
On the daily chart, SPY gapped above 132 on March 30th and gapped below this level on April 12th. Technically, an island reversal formed because the gaps match around 132. Combined with last week's bearish engulfing and resistance from the February high, this little breakdown could argue for... READ MORE