Stock Market Sloppy Session Ends Higher

By: Harry_Boxer

The stock market indices had an up-day to start the week, but the path was sloppy. They started off with some gains and then sold off sharply to new lows for the entire pullback, reaching 1795 on the Nasdaq 100 and 1061 on the S&P 500. At that point they started a 5-wave advance that last several hours until late into the day, reaching new session highs with about 30-40 minutes to go. They pulled back sharply, and then bounced into the close again.

Net on the day at the end of the day, the Dow was up 56.53 at 10,154.43, the S&P 500 up 6.37 at 1071.25, and Nasdaq 100 managed to gain 15.80 at 1819.28.

Advance/declines were nearly 2 to 1 positive on New York Stock Exchange, but on Nasdaq they were just 3 to 2 positive. Up/down volume was 2 to 1 positive on New York with total volume under a billion at 940 million. Up/down volume on Nasdaq was 2 to 1 positive as well with total volume at just over 1.7 billion.

Charts of the Day:

After Motorola Inc. (MOT) announced the sell of part of their assets today, this stock jumped across a year-long resistance level, gaining 43 cents, or 5.7%, on 49 million shares, and thrusting. Looks like a move coming up to take it to 8 3/4, and beyond that something around 9 1/2.

Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL) has been acting great lately. It's been moving up for two weeks in the face of a declining market. Moving averages have crossed over positively and curling around, It looks like a positive upside, but we'll use pullbacks toward the 20 - 21 as buying opportunities should that occur. Resistance up around 27 - 27 1/2 is our short-term trading target.

On the short side, Almost Family Inc. (AFAM), which is just getting hammered, continues to stair-step lower and is header toward a test of that 20 - 21 target we mentioned earlier in the week.

Conceptus, Inc. (CPTS) broke hard and is now bear-flagging. The next down-step on this one calls for a move down around 10 - 10 1/2, and beneath that 9.

Mastercard Incorporated (MA) and Visa, Inc. (V) are both looking negative. Mastercard, which got hammered on Friday, followed through a little bit today. It's right at key support. A break here and you could see this stock drop a quick 20 points.

V has a similar pattern, right at support, and near the apex of a big wedge. It could see a drop down to the high 50s if the market gets hit hard here.

Reviewing our Watchboard:

TheTechTrader.com board, as a result, was mixed, but there were several substantial gainers. Leading the way, Google Inc. (GOOG) jumped 6.58 at 466.18, Cree Inc. (CREE) 1.78 at 66.90, and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) 1.45 at 119.94.

Other gainers of note: Cirrus Logic Inc. (CRUS) advanced 33 cents at 17.49, RealD INC. (RLD) 34 cents at 19.85, and Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL), noted above, up 82 cents at 23.08.

Most other stocks on the upside gained just very small fractions today.

On the downside, Apple Inc. (AAPL) lost 4.32 at 245.58, BP Exploration plc (BP) 1.35 at 35.75 on heavy volume, and Transocean Ltd. (RIG) 4.00 at 48.08 in that same sector.

Ultra-short ETF Direxion Daily Emrg Mkts Bear 3X Shares (EDZ) lost 1.78 at 42.48.

Other stocks of note on the downside were Goldman Sachs (GS) down 49 cents at 145.68, IDT Corporation (IDT) 49 cents at 14.84, and Valassis Communications Inc. (VCI) 83 cents at 28.56.

In the ultra-short ETF sector the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) lost 84 cents at 26.53, and the Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 3X Shares (TZA) 40 cents at 38.87, along with the Direxion Daily Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) down 30 cents at 16.00 even.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were up early, pulled back sharply in the morning, and then stair-stepped their way higher over the next several hours to new highs for the day before a late pullback brought them off their highs, only to bounce again into the close to finish positive on the session.

It was generally a positive start to the week but somewhat suspect as the overall patterns appear to be consolidation patterns ahead of more potential downside. We'll see if the hold of today's lows was significant or not.

Good Trading!

Harry

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