It was the first real bearish day in a while, but one bearish day is not something to get too concerned with. For the Russell 2000 ($IWM) there was a sizable bearish engulfing pattern at overbought momentum. Volume surged against general quiet summer trading, confirming distribution, but not enough to switch On-Balance-Volume to a 'sell' trigger.

We are not seeing big changes on daily timeframes, but what changes we are seeing are making their way on to weekly time frames. The S&P was the latest index to mark its breakout on the weekly time frame. Last week's neutral doji came with heavier volume (distribution), so we need to watch for the potential of a 'bull trap', although I would see the net bullish technicals as a more bullish long term outlook.

Today was a handy solid for bulls as buyers kept things on the move after some light downward action. It's summer trading, but as long as the trend is higher it's all good. Technicals for all lead indices are net bullish.

While I have no direct evidence of this, it always seems holidays deliver junior trader "feel good" gains, and this July 4th feels like no exception. Indices enjoyed gaps higher without making big gains, enough to keep things under the radar and allow senior traders to enjoy their break in the Hamptons. The Russell 2000 ($IWM) is net bullish with a relative performance gain of Small Caps over Tech Indices. There was no net accumulation in volume - not surprising given the holiday - but things are nicely set up for next week.

There wasn't a whole lot of action in the markets aside from the Russell 2000 ($IWM) which pushed further away from its 200-day MA on higher volume accumulation. It's a solid move from an index that is still some way from challenging highs.

Weekly charts are always good at keeping things simple. The S&P pushed itself out of its tight range with higher volume accumulation on a new 'buy' On-Balance-Volume trigger. We saw something similar in late 2023 that kicked off the next phase of the rally - will history repeat here?