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Daily Market Commentary: Watch for Nasdaq Breakout

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Lots of buying volume on Friday, although only small gains to match. The Nasdaq is best poised to advance on Monday given it lies just shy of resistance. The narrow range day also offers itself as a swing trade opportunity (with a stop on the flip side).  Trend direction suggests this will push higher, becoming a nail in the coffin to what had looked like a (complex) bearish head-and-shoulder reversal.

Daily Market Commentary: Bullish Accumulation

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Bulls do it again with higher volume accumulation follow through.  The S&P finished at a new high as it works its way towards the 10% envelope I define as covered call sell territory.

Daily Market Commentary: Contained Rally

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Disappointing action after bulls attempted to build on Friday's stall in the decline. The Russell 2000 had the best of the action as it suggested a breakout from the bullish flag.  Bulls could look to buy with a stop on a loss of Friday's low. The next challenge is to clear declining resistance connecting March and June swing highs.

Daily Market Commentary: Low Volume Stall

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Bulls didn't want to offer bears any confidence and Friday's low volume (small) gain was enough to keep them away. Optimist bulls could say Friday finished with bullish inside days/bullish doji - but such patterns only have merit in oversold markets, and this is not an oversold market. However, there are plenty of long term bulls (me included) who have limited skin in the game and are looking at opportunities to get in. I'm waiting for a 10% discount on the 200-day MA, but others won't be so patient and may look to nibble on Monday. For the S&P, the 20-day MA is fast approaching the market even if the S&P is dawdling down to the MA. The S&P may kick on once the 20-day MA is tested.

Daily Market Commentary: Destined For Push Back to 20-day MAs?

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The 2nd/3rd day of declines has been relatively orderly so far. Volume picked up in distribution as many traders took easy profits from either the May breakout, or from positions taken during the earlier dip in January/February. A move back to 20-day MAs would be substantial enough to attract buyers back, and yet maintain the strong bullish momentum which has been a characteristic of the summer breakout. Even if there was a loss of the 20-day MA in the S&P there would be additional support to be found from the May breakout level.

Daily Market Commentary: Light Losses

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Stockcharts data may be back, but there wasn't much to miss. Indices finally got a down day, but it was nothing to suggest it was anything more than the start of a consolidation.  Today's action was welcome, probably by both sides.  Overall low volume losses in the S&P could also be viewed as distribution at a pinch, but best to stick with the low volume thesis.

Daily Market Commentary: Stockcharts Feed Fail

Unfortunately, stockcharts had a data feed failure, so no update for today.  But going on Yahoo data, morning weakness was bid up by the close, to leave indices more or less where they started. The morning buying again points to demand buying on any sniff of weakness. --- All Contributions Welcome - Thank You! Follow Me on Twitter Dr. Declan Fallon is the Senior Market Technician and Community Director for Zignals.com . You can read what others are saying about Zignals on Investimonials.com . JOIN ZIGNALS TODAY - IT'S FREE!

Daily Market Commentary: Bulls Chug Along

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The advance in the S&P looks like it has the legs to make it to the upper envelope band, which marks a 10% gain on the 200-day MA, and a good place to sell covered calls.  Even if sellers were to make an appearance it would require large chunks of change to disappear in the space of a couple of days to shake what are stubborn shareholders out of their positions.

Daily Market Commentary: Shorts Can't Bear To Look

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Each day has become another twist of the screw for bears and shorts. While it may be hard to be a buyer at these levels, it's even more difficult to be a short. The S&P added nearly half a percent on light volume; technicals remaining firm.

Daily Market Commentary: Shorts Crushed

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A tough day for any shorts in the market. The Nasdaq blew away the right shoulder of the bearish head-and-shoulder pattern. It hasn't completely negated the pattern - a break of the head high is required for this - but it's a big step in the right direction. Volume climbed to register accumulation as the index continued to gain in relative performance against the S&P.

Does This Look Like An S&P Top?

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Nope... Hat-tip to NasTrading Run this from the start here: http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/yieldcurve.php All Contributions Welcome - Thank You! Follow Me on Twitter Dr. Declan Fallon is the Senior Market Technician and Community Director for Zignals.com . You can read what others are saying about Zignals on Investimonials.com . JOIN ZIGNALS TODAY - IT'S FREE!

Daily Market Commentary: Bulls Take Over

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Yesterday was a quiet day for indices, but there was no doubts who took control today. The semiconductor index maintained its bullish form with another good day of gains. The semiconductor breakout has performed very well after a successful second attempt. A series of bearish days would be welcome to consolidate the advance.

Daily Market Commentary: Quiet Day For Markets, But Big Day For Semiconductors

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No shocks to the system in what amounted to a quiet day for the indices. The real winner was the semiconductor index, it added nearly 1% as it posted a new 52-week high. This strength should filter down to the Nasdaq and Nasdaq 100, although today was quiet for the latter indices.  The measured move target for the semiconductor index is 650.

Daily Market Commentary: Bulls Keep Things Ticking Over

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No great surprises or shocks from Friday, a late surge in the S&P gave the end result to bulls, but losses elsewhere were very minor. Another day which keeps the bullish picture intact: very little on offer for bears. In the case of the S&P the strong finish on the day came with higher volume accumulation. There was a brief recovery in relative strength (vs Russell 2000), although it looks like a temporary reprieve.

Daily Market Commentary: Respectable Gains

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Indices spent little time consolidating, adding to the rally after a one-day stall in the advance. The Nasdaq is in the process of challenging the right-hand-side of the head-and-shoulder pattern. It hasn't negated it, but today's gain is doing its best to do so. Volume was lighter, which doesn't help bulls.

Daily Market Commentary: Minor Losses

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No surprises to see after four days of gains that markets gave up a little ground. The S&P is comfortably holding its breakout. Today's selling came on lighter volume with no discernible technical weakness. The Nasdaq didn't quite get to resistance, but today's action will count as good as a test of said resistance. Likewise, technicals held up well in the face of this selling. The Russell 2000 held on to its 50-day MA, despite the large gap higher yesterday.  A gap fill is distinctly possible over the next few days, but if it doesn't fill (i.e. it breaks above 1,144 before back filling) it will effectively confirm May as a significant swing low. Thursday will probably bring more of the same. As long as bulls can keep action in the top half of action defined by the last four days of trading, it will likely mean a prosperous summer ahead - despite seasonal factors. Now is an important time for firming up the May swing low. --- All Contributions We

Daily Market Commentary: Bulls Add to Gains

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Today saw bulls add to recent gains, doing so on higher volume accumulation. Better still, there was a continued swing towards more speculative issues - a good sign for the summer.  The S&P may be at new all-time highs, but the relative swing away from it towards the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 continued.

Daily Market Commentary: S&P Breakout

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Tech indices had got the ball rolling last week (helped in large part by the semiconductor index), and the S&P got its taste with a challenge on the earlier 'bull trap' which is all but negated. The MACD has flattened, so the 'buy' trigger does carry a high risk of whipsaw, but the S&P's On-Balance-Volume trend again points to good accumulation, even if individual volume days remain typically seasonally light. Where there might be a shift for the summer is in a swing back to hard hit Small Caps.

Daily Market Commentary: Nasdaq Breakout

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I missed this one yesterday, but the Nasdaq 100 cleared resistance and is on course to challenge the 52-week high from March. Today's action offered follow through to yesterday's break.

Daily Market Commentary: Russell 2000 Still Under Threat

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The indices which mattered are still under threat from bears, those that don't, had a good day. The S&P made in roads towards resistance, but didn't do enough to challenge the 'bull trap'.  Technicals are a mix of bullish and bearish technicals, and it's hard to set the direction until the trading range is breached to the upside (or down).

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