The second shoe dropped for the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), but the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) held up rather well (surprise, surprise). I heard an interview with Barry Ritholtz talking about the four asset classes: stocks, commodities, bonds and Apple. While Apple sentiment... READ MORE
The Sector Market Carpet shows the nine S&P sectors with the energy sector displaying the most red. The average stock is down 2.9% and three of the five biggest losers come from this sector. Defensive sectors held up the best on Thursday with consumer staples, healthcare and... READ MORE
FED BOND INTERVENTION DURING 1940S CAPPED STOCK PRICES... I wrote last Thursday why the Fed's current policy of buying longer-dated maturities to keep bond yields from rising may actually be putting a cap on stock prices. I explained that the last time the Fed did that was between... READ MORE
Is the second shoe about to drop? Stocks fell sharply on the open Tuesday and then consolidated since this open. Short-term, and I do mean very short-term, the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) held the gap down and formed a pennant consolidation on the 60-minute chart. A break below... READ MORE
CAT Gaps Down on High Volume. KSS Stalls after Gap Down. MON Forms Triangle Consolidation. Plus AMGN, HAL, OIH, SWC 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
TRADING GETS AWFULLY QUIET IN SMALL AND MID CAPS... Link for todays video. Trading activity slowed considerably over the last two days as the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) formed two very small candlesticks. Chart 1 shows IWM making a breakout attempt on Monday, but falling back on Tuesday with a... READ MORE
With a gap up, two candlesticks and a gap down, the Steel ETF (SLX) formed an island reversal over the last five days. Notice that this reversal formed near the late February highs and the ETF broke the March trendline with further weakness on Wednesday. Click this image for a... READ MORE
Stocks were hit with selling pressure on the open, but the major index ETFs worked their way higher the rest of the day. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) opened around 140 and worked its way to the 140.60 area by the afternoon. On the 10-minute chart, this... READ MORE
Want to gauge retail spending? Just take a look at the Consumer Discretionary SPDR (XLY), which hit a new 52-week high today. There are 80 stocks in this sector and most are dependant on consumer spending to drive revenues (think Disney, Macy's, Amazon, Starbucks, DR Horton). New highs... READ MORE
NASDAQ INDEXES HIT 12 YEAR HIGHS... The plunge in the Nasdaq market during 2000 began the "lost decade" for stocks which have essentially trended sideways since then. The good news is the same Nasdaq market may be leading stocks into a better decade. Chart 1 shows the Nasdaq... READ MORE
The song remains the same (circa 1973). Stocks are overbought, but there are simply no signs of significant selling pressure. Maybe that will change with stock futures down in early trading on turnaround Tuesday. Over the last nine days, the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up 4.98%... READ MORE
AMZN Underperforms with Triangle Consolidation. CHH Stalls Below Late December high. RDC Forms Harami Cross within Rising Wedge. Plus BIDU, CHH, CHRW, D, QLGC and WIN 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... READ MORE
Volatility is falling everywhere these days. Notice that the CBOE Volatility Index ($VIX) and the Crude Oil Volatility Index ($OVX) both moved sharply lower in March. $OVX plunged the last two weeks as Spot Light Crude bounced off the 105 area for the second time this month. Click this image... READ MORE
RUSSELL 2000 MAKES A RUN FOR RESISTANCE... Link for todays video. Small-caps are showing upside leadership in early trading on Monday, which is important because small-caps have been lagging large-caps since early February. A breakout in small-caps and return to relative strength would be positive for stocks in general. Chart... READ MORE
Stocks are about as overbought as they have been in a long time. Even so, there are simply no signs of significant or sustained selling pressure. Declines, such as those seen in late January or early March, have been short affairs lasting just a few days. The subsequent rallies proved... READ MORE
Hello Fellow ChartWatchers! The new version of our Public ChartList area is now officially released and ready for your use. The Public ChartList area has been a real "hidden gem" of our website for years where any StockCharts member (with an Extra account) can publish their own chart... READ MORE
OVER 800 ARTICLES AND COUNTING! The StockCharts Answer Network (s.c.a.n.) passed another milestone last week with its 800th question getting answered. If you haven't visited it yet, s.c.a.n. is a free user-to-user question-and-answer area where you can get your questions about using... READ MORE
A couple of weeks ago (February 28) I wrote a positive article on precious metal assets. The entire group has taken a big hit since then. Two contributing factors have been more positive comments from the Fed, which imply little or no more quantitative easing. That pushed U.S. bond... READ MORE
The S&P 500 rally continues unabated, although it has shown some signs of wear and tear given the less-than-hoped for volume patterns as well as advance/decline patterns. However, it is clear that this type of market condition does not preclude prices from moving higher and forming major... READ MORE
In my last article, I featured a weekly NASDAQ chart and pointed out that the MACD was coming up off the centerline and pointing higher. I indicated this was a very bullish signal for the intermediate- to longer-term and supported my belief that equity prices would continue to rise in... READ MORE
Apple is a great company, and AAPL has been a great stock since early-2009. From that point to the end of 2011 it rose +300% in an orderly, relentless advance. The angle of the rising trend line was conservative and sustainable. Unfortunately, since the beginning of this year AAPL has... READ MORE
While the S&P 500 and Dow moved to new highs last week, the Materials SPDR (XLB) fell short of its February highs and continues to underperform. Also note that the Technology SPDR (XLK) and Consumer Discretional SPDR moved to new 52-week highs last week. Along with the Finance... READ MORE
It has been a tough March for gold, but the Gold SPDR (GLD) may be at support marked by the Fibonacci Retracements Tool. Notice that the decline to 159 retraced 50-61.80% of the prior advance and the ETF firmed just above 160 the last two days. Watch for a... READ MORE
TOTAL EXCHANGE VOLUME AINT WHAT IT USED TO BE... Link for todays video. Volume can be important, but chartists should remember that it is just an indicator that should be considered secondary to price action. First, note that exchange volume aint what it used to be. Back in the day,... READ MORE
There is no change in the indicator summary. Nine indicators were bullish at the start of the week and nine remain bullish. The AD Volume Lines surged to new highs with a strong move the last seven days. Net New Highs also expanded on both the NYSE and Nasdaq as... READ MORE
There is not much change overall. Stocks remain in strong uptrends with no signs of selling pressure. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) surged above the upper trendline of a rising channel. There are two trends at work on this 60-minute chart. First, the rising channel defines an uptrend... READ MORE
The Dow Transports has been lagging the Dow Industrials for several weeks now, but is making a catch up bid with a falling flag breakout the last few days. After a breakout on Monday, the Average fell back sharply on Tuesday with a close below 5200. This decline was wiped... READ MORE
GOLD BREAKS 200-DAY LINE -- GOLD MINERS TEST SUPPORT... A couple of weeks ago (February 28) I wrote a positive article on precious metal assets. The entire group has taken a big hit since then. Two contributing factors have been more positive comments from the Fed, which imply little or... READ MORE
Treasuries are falling off a cliff, commodities are softening, gold is plunging, the Dollar is strengthening and stocks remain the best game in town. The recent decline in treasuries suggests that the economy will continue to expand and the labor market will continue to improve. Money moving out of treasuries... READ MORE
ALK Consolidates after Break Down. MOS Forms Bear Flag on Low Volume. SNDK Falls Back below Tuesday's Low. Plus JOYG, LEAP, TTWO. 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... READ MORE
Looking for a list of market leaders? Simply go to the pre-defined scans page for a list of stocks hitting new 52-week highs. Over 500 stocks made the list on Tuesday and over 400 made the list today. The chart below shows Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) breaking consolidation resistance and... READ MORE
DOW BECOMES MOST OVERBOUGHT SINCE JULY 2011... Link for todays video. Led by the finance sector, the Dow Industrials surged above 13000 to record another new 52-week high this year. New 52-week highs occur in uptrends, not downtrends. Moreover, this new 52-week high is especially impressive because Apple is not... READ MORE
Stocks caught a big bullish wind in the final hour and surged with financials leading the charge. Yesterday's surge certainly has the markings of a blow-off top, which is the opposite of a selling climax. However, picking a top in this environment is very dangerous. On the 60-minute... READ MORE
Chartists can access CandleGlance charts for dozens of industry groups on the FreeCharts page. The screen shot below shows some charts from the Home Construction industry group on the left and the industry group drop-down menu from the Free Charts page. Talk about relative strength. Several stocks in this group... READ MORE
S&P 500 HITS NEW 52-WEEK HIGH ... The daily bars in Chart 1 show the S&P 500 trading over 1380 for the first time since 2008. The S&P 500 would now have to drop back below last week's reaction low at 1340 to... READ MORE
Stocks were mixed on Monday with the Dow edging higher and the Russell 2000 edging lower. Sector action was also mixed with technology gaining a fraction and the consumer discretionary sector finishing slightly lower. In an interesting twist, the consumer staples and utilities sectors were the biggest gainers. In fact,... READ MORE
CTXS Challenges Resistance with 3-Day Surge. GOOG Breaks Wedge Trendline with Gap. WCRX Moves Above Channel Trendline. Plus CTSH, DANG, 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... READ MORE
Research in Motion (RIMM) remains down in the dumps as the Price Relative broke below its December low and remains in a downtrend. This RIMM:QQQ ratio falls when RIMM underperforms QQQ. On the price chart, RIMM is testing its December low, but the new low in the Price Relative... READ MORE
SMALL AND MID CAP ETFS STALL NEAR RESISTANCE... Link for todays video. While the S&P 500 ETF (SPY), Dow Industrials SPDR (DIA) and Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) easily broke above their 2011 highs, the S&P MidCap 400 SPDR (MDY) and Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) have yet... READ MORE
After a sharp setback on Tuesday, stocks moved from oversold to overbought in three days. The Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) surged from 78.5 to 81.5 (3.8%), the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) moved back to resistance at 138 and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) is challenging... READ MORE