Trading volume is low, the last two dog days of summer are here, we are heading into a three day weekend and Fed Chairman Bernanke is speaking from Jackson Hole at 10AM tomorrow. The first three items argue for another listless session. The fourth item, Chairman Bernanke, is clearly the... READ MORE
EMC Forms Pennant after Double Bottom Breakout. FISV Recovers after Island Reversal. Plus AMCC, AMAT, FLEX, MSI 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
S&P 500 SHRUGS OFF COPPER, THE VIX AND LOW VOLUME... Link for todays video. There are plenty of reasons to doubt the current advance in the US stock market. The Shanghai Composite recently hit a 52-week low, copper remains in the doldrums, the CBOE Volatility Index is at... READ MORE
October Sugar fell sharply the last five weeks, but found support near the June lows and surged on Tuesday. The indicator window shows StochRSI moving below .20 it late July and remaining below .50 as the downtrend extended into late August. The surge above .80 shows an upside momentum thrust.... READ MORE
Stocks remained mixed and directionless on Tuesday. The Dow Industrials SPDR (DIA) and S&P 500 ETF (SPY) edged lower, while the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and S&P MidCap 400 SPDR (MDY) edged higher. The latter two were up around a 1/2 percent. Three sectors were... READ MORE
Browsing through the technology sector via the sector summary reveals relative strength coming from the internet ($DJUSNS) and electronic office equipment ($DJUSOE) groups. Baidu (BIDU) is up for internet and Xerox (XRX) is leading office equipment. Click this image for a live chart... READ MORE
U.S. DOLLAR REMAINS ON THE DEFENSIVE... The dollar continues to weaken. Chart 1 shows the PowerShares US Dollar Index Fund (UUP) slipping to a three-month low today. It's also threatening its 200-day moving average, and is nearing a test of trendline support drawn under its September, October,... READ MORE
Stocks were all mixed up with no place to go on Monday. Techs and small-caps showed some strength as the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) and Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) edged higher. These miniscule gains were offset by small losses in the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Dow... READ MORE
CTXS Forms Flag at Key Retracement. UPS Hits Resistance in Retracement Zone. Plus CERN, FFIV, IMN, JDSU, LIFE, UEC 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
Procter & Gamble (PG), the biggest component in the Consumer Staples SPDR (XLP), surged above pennant resistance and recorded a 52-week high on Monday. The stock is medium-term overbought after a huge advance the last 10 weeks, but remains in a clear uptrend with first support at 66. Click this... READ MORE
HEALTHCARE SPDR CHALLENGES JULY HIGHS... Link for todays video. The Healthcare SPDR (XLV) is showing relative strength on the price chart with a challenge to the July highs. Chart 1 shows XLV surging above 38.75 in late July and then consolidating for the last three weeks. With another surge... READ MORE
Comments from Fed chairman Bernanke boosted stocks on Friday as the major index ETFs closed with modest gains. Despite Friday's bounce, the major index ETFs closed lower for the week. This is not surprising because stocks were overbought to start the week and a few indices hit new... READ MORE
“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” --Warren Buffet A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about the four classic elements of mastery. The resulting firestorm from my trading buddies and fellow investors was shocking. Seems as though everyone... READ MORE
DOW BACKS OFF RESISTANCE AND NASDAQ STALLS ... Link for todays video. After a sharp advance the past 12 weeks, stocks took a breather this week. Keep in mind that the S&P 500 advanced nine of the last twelve weeks and the index is up some 11% from its... READ MORE
Index was hit hard over the last three days and is poised to test its May-June-July lows. The price relative and SCTR were hit even harder as both broke below their July lows. These two confirm relative weakness in this key semiconductor stock. With an SCTR score of 19.3,... READ MORE
Stockspulled back this week, but the bigger trends remain up and the bulk of the evidence still favors the bulls. Three days of weakness does not a trend change make, especially when stocks were overbought to start the week. The NYSE AD Line remains in an uptrend, Net New Highs... READ MORE
Stocks extended their correction with modest losses in the major index ETFs on Thursday. The Rydex S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) led the way lower with a .91% loss. All sectors were down with the Basic Materials SPDR (XLB) and the Energy SPDR (XLE) pacing the losses.... READ MORE
The CRB Index ($CRB) is breaking above its 200-day moving average after two failed attempts. Since first breaking below the 200-day in August 2011, this level marked resistance in early September and late February. With this week's move above 305, the index broke the 200-day and exceeded the... READ MORE
Stocks went on a wild ride Wednesday and finished the day mixed. Selling pressure dominated the morning, but hints of QE3 brought out the buyers in the afternoon. The Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) led the advancers with a .41% gain, while the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) led the decliners with... READ MORE
ACN Forms Small Ascending Triangle Near Resistance. MRO Surges on Big Volume. Plus ACI, CHK, MRO and WFT 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 S&P Sector Carpet is tilting towards the red (decliners) as Dell, Hewlett Packard and Lexmark weigh. Some of this weakness is being offset by strength in Ebay, Apple and Sandisk. Chartists can click on the squares to see the individual chart in the right corner. Click here... READ MORE
These things are proving popular. Here's Facebook in all of its 2500-pixel glory. Hourly bars going back to the IPO with "Volume by Price" histogram bars coming in from the left edge. Remember to click the chart twice to see the full-size version. - Chip... READ MORE
OUTSIDE REVERSAL DAYS INCREASE CHANCES FOR PULLBACK... Link for todays video. Stocks reversed course during the day on Tuesday with many stocks and ETFs forming reversal days, which go by various names. In candlestick lingo, the charts were littered with bearish engulfing patterns. In bar chart lingo, there were several... READ MORE
With the old pop and drop on Tuesday, a number of bearish engulfing patterns formed on the price charts. DIA, QQQ and SPY all formed bearish engulfing patterns. With stocks overbought to begin the week, these bearish engulfing patterns could foreshadow a short-term consolidation or pullback. Keep in mind that... READ MORE
With a strong open and sharp decline during the day, the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) has a bearish engulfing pattern working on Tuesday. In fact, the intraday scan for bearish engulfing patterns is quite full (165) an hour before the close. The bearish engulfing for QQQ confirms resistance and could... READ MORE
UPTURN IN BOND YIELD AND DOWNTURN IN BOND PRICE SHOW MORE OPTIMISM... This is the same headline that started my last Market Message two Tuesdays ago (August 7). It's even more true today than it was then. A couple of weeks back, the 10-Year T-Note Yield had just... READ MORE
Stocks came under selling pressure from profit taking and renewed concerns in the Eurozone. Given the advance of the last few weeks, a little consolidation or even a correction would be normal. The major index ETFs finished slightly lower. Seven of the nine sectors were slightly lower. The Healthcare SPDR... READ MORE
AA Forms Pennant Near Resistance. CPN Surges off Key Retracement with Volume. Plus ALK, AVP, JPM, LRCX, TEVA 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
Let's do this again shall we? To compliment our popular huge Dow Industrials chart, here's a similar one for the S&P 500 going all the way back to 1925. Enjoy! (Again, you may need to click on it once or twice to see it... READ MORE
The on-again off-again Airline ETF (FAA) surged off support with a big move on Monday. After plunging in mid July, the ETF found support and then moved above its late July high. Also notice that Aroon Up surged above Aroon Down. You can read more on Aroon in our ChartSchool.... READ MORE
Here's a quarterly chart of the Dow going back to 1900. It's 2500 pixels wide. You probably need to click on it once or twice to get it to expand to that size on your screen. Members of our new PRO service can click here for... READ MORE
OVERBOUGHT DIA AND QQQ ARE VULNERABLE TO CORRECTION... Link for todays video. The major index ETFs are in medium-term uptrends, but have become short-term overbought and vulnerable to a correction or consolidation. There are two ways to work off overbought conditions: trade sideways or pullback. Sometimes we see a combination... READ MORE
Stocks meandered on Friday and got a lift in the final hour to finish the week on a positive note. The Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) led the way with a .70% gain. The Dow Industrials SPDR (DIA) lagged with a .11% loss. Five of the nine sectors were higher. Of... READ MORE
Hello Fellow ChartWatchers! Last weekend's ChartCon conference in Seattle was amazing. Myself and the other newsletter authors met so many terrific people during the event and the feedback that we are getting from the attendees is extremely positive. Thanks again to everyone that attended! We made several big... READ MORE
First, let me say that it was AWESOME meeting so many of you at Chartcon 2012 in Seattle last week. It was also great to finally meet several of the co-authors of ChartWatchers. I've been to a LOT of trading conferences and this one surpassed all of the... READ MORE
When a stock is above its 200-EMA, it is considered bullish, and in the broadest sense the stock can be considered to be in a long-term rising trend. A good way to determine the amount of support behind a rally is to analyze the percentage of stocks above their 200-EMA.... READ MORE
FEATURES WE'VE ADDED SO FAR THIS MONTH: * Eight new Technical Indicators * Five new Chart Color Schemes * Five new Time Period choices (2-, 3-, 120-minute as well as quarterly and yearly) * The new Two Year Subscription Option (w/3 free months) * The New "Best of s.c.a.... READ MORE
Large-caps continue to lead the market as the S&P 100 ($OEX) recorded a 52-week high this week. Thus far, the S&P 100 is the only major index to reach this milestone. The Nasdaq, Russell 2000, S&P 500 and Dow Industrials remain shy of their... READ MORE
Team USA versus Spain vying for the Gold Medal in Olympic Basketball. Sensational! Score: 107 USA to 100 Spain. You didn’t have to be a sports fan to have been caught up in the thrill of Olympic competition during this very competitive game. Much has been written already about... READ MORE
S&P 100 HITS NEW HIGH ON LOW VOLUME... Link for todays video. The S&P 100 continues to lead the major indices with a break above its spring highs. Chart 1 shows $OEX surging some 12% since early June and exceeding 650 this week. Even though the... READ MORE