Semiconductors at Triangle Support; Dow Jones tags 50-day MA

Sellers returned today as bulls and bears tussle for control. With the constant back-and-forth, the short-term moves become more difficult to define, making it necessary to take a step back and look at the big picture.

The Semiconductor Index is at one such juncture. The index finished the day at rising support defined by the April and July swing lows. Wednesday's spike low illustrates underlying demand - offering a buying opportunity; stops on a loss of 1,321. The initial target is 1,420 but a larger breakout could deliver a lot more. The only negative on the day was the net bearish turn in technicals as intermediate-term stochastics [39,1] crossed below the mid-line into bearish territory.  However, a rally to triangle resistance would likely reverse this.

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Small Caps Recover Strongly as Nasdaq Breakout Stabilizes

Buyers made a strong defense of the Russell 2000 as yesterday's losses were reversed - and then some. However, there is still some 2-3 days worth of buying required before it can be said to be challenging new highs. Weak shorts will have covered today but more staunch shorts will be feeling nervous; a move above 1,710 is a cover of any short.

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Sellers Don't Relent

Markets tilted in favour of bears although there was no expansion on the selling action from Friday.

The S&P undercut the 20-day MA but volume was down a little on Fridays. However, the selling did come with a fresh 'sell' trigger in On-Balance-Volume and relative performance against Small Caps is teetering towards a new 'sell' trigger.

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Large Caps Ease Away From Resistance

Sellers closed the week out but it was Large Caps which experienced the most significant loss on the day.

The S&P gapped away from the channel resistance tag reversal. The index was left at its 20-day MA as it appears to be shaping another move to channel support. This was supported by a MACD trigger 'sell', a 'sell' trigger in -DI/+DI and higher volume distribution. 

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