A day when the markets finally got rid of some of the shorts and may have tempted a few buyers back. With the shorts back on the sidelines and cash waiting to go to work, now is a good time to see what stocks are making a move. Axsys Technologies ( AXYS ) may have generated a relatively low volume breakout, but if the market switches back to buyer favor it may ride its up trend a little further. The fresh MACD trigger 'buy' well above the bullish zero line is another tick in the bulls favor. Fallond

Two new KIVA loans made possible by KIVA borrower repayments. The first goes to a group of women in Guatemala (I think this is the first time I have seen a group loan effort): The clients of the ComUnity (the term used by Friendship Bridge for their communal banks) Chikuwa have an astute and patient attitude, a combination that helps them to be the great business women that they currently are. The clients of ComUnity Chikuwa are models of micro-entrepreneurial women. Several members of the group started selling huipiles (traditional Guatamalan dresses) and shoes in the streets of San Juan la Laguna, Sololá. However, with their current loan many of them have become successful business owners. For example, Susan Ujpán now has ten artisans working for her during the high season such as Christmas. Clara Perez is a micro-entrepreneur who began with a small business raising animals and who is now buying 100 chickens per month in order to fatten them and resell them 21 days later. Cecilia Uj...

Bears stamped on the post-holiday feel-good rally taking the indices not only to last Wednesday's lows, but in some cases beyond it (I am looking at the Dow and S&P here). The index to watch for today is the Russell 2000. It finished as close to support as it could without breaking it. Another down day like Monday's and only a 'bear trap' would save it - i.e. Wednesday (tomorrow) would have to be a massive rally. A confirmed double top in the Russell 2000 would likely signal the same for Large caps - and eventually Tech indices too The semiconductors tell their own sad story; in July they were challenging 550, now they are struggling to hold 400 - a 27% fall is bad is anyone's books, but I am surprised this hasn't influenced the Nasdaq, or Nasdaq 100 more. A developing bullish divergence in the supporting CCI gives the best hope for value buyers: Tuesday will be interesting. Fallond

An incredible (further) sell off on Wednesday has been followed with a modest pullback on this shorterned trading day. The biggest story of the week are the internals - something you will have no doubt seen mentioned on other blogs. Here is my take. The Nasdaq Bullish Percent Index is only a couple of points away from entering bear market oversold territory, but is at a bottom for a bull market: The percentage of Nasdaq stocks above the 50-day MAs is also lingering close to bear market territory, and like the bullish percents, is at a level which generated the August bounce. Note the developing bullish divergence in Ultimate Oscillator, a good sign for a bottom here. The Nasdaq Summation Index is perhaps the only internal which still has some downside room to indicate a strong bottom, but an uptick here would not preclude a decent rally: Today's action will be interesting for those few traders who decide to take a dip in the pool, as things look nicely set for a big gap up on Mond...

Broadband delayed until next Tuesday when Eircom issued for a modem to be mailed, but had no modem to mail. Grrr....

The indices took another big knock with the Russell 2000 the index to watch for today: The Nasdaq has at least the 200-day MA to look too But large caps look to be using the Russell play book - bye bye last week's lows: And we won't mention the semiconductors: Fallond

Bulls made a better stab at it to close the week out. Options expiration clouded the volume issue, so whether it was an actual accumulation day for the indices will probably depend on what happens on Monday. Thanksgiving will suppress trading volumes - so the issue of whether there is support will probably resolve itself the following week. Tech averages were able to find some ground at the 200-day MA, although large caps finished the week below this important moving average. On better news, small caps are finding some footing in what looked like a void of support around 760-770. It's technicals are oversold and in a good position to build some upside. Semiconductors look ready to bounce as the endless selling starts to tire - which will help the Tech averages. Fallond

Nich Noc

Bears had a field day as they pushed the Bulls around with relative ease, taking down what modicum of strength buyers tried to muster from the open. Volume again eased in a trend which suggests selling enthusiasm is on the wane, even if the headlines suggest otherwise. Nasdaq internals still haven't hit the levels seen in August (although August lows did reach deep oversold levels) so the inkling here favors more downside. If the Summation index: and percentage of stocks above the 50-day MA can rise above their 5-day EMAs with supporting technical 'buys' for the likes of the MACD (in particular), then there is the potential for a strong bullish divergence which would set up a 'Santa' rally. Long term bears will look to August lows as the line in the sand for the start of the next cyclical bear market. For the semiconductors it looks like the cyclical bear is off and running: While small caps are perhaps the first of the lead indices to worry about such support: With...

Ronald Domingues runs a "G100 Ranking" for the S&P based on participant predictions for the S&P over the next 24 hours. Up to 100 individuals can qualify to participate if they score greater than 35% accuracy in their predictions (currently 33 make the grade). Underperformers are demoted back to a pool, and those from the pool with a greater than 35% accuracy are promoted. Prior to the market open he sends an email out with the results of the poll. This was yesterday's pre-market call: Further information can be found here .

The Nasdaq found its legs at the 200-day MA and is at least enjoying a bounce. The Nasdaq 100 wasn't as weak and has risen in sympathy prior to testing its 200-day MA. However, yesterday's selling put a big dent in the rate of decline for the supporting technicals. Bullish percents, stocks above 50-day MA, and summation index all suggest there is likely more downside to come. This will be of little comfort to large and small caps which are lingering below their respective 200-day MAs (small caps are well below their 200-day MA). Fallond

With so much overhead supply it is hard to see where indices can go here. The Nasdaq is perhaps looking at a move back to the 50-day MA (along with the Nasdaq 100). The Dow and S&P will perhaps loiter around their 200-day MAs, while semiconductors and small caps swirl around in confused trading - perhaps finding resistance at their 20-day MAs. Fallond

New home - new dilemmas. Broadband access won't be available until November 23rd at the latest. This likely means no blog update for this weekend. The same goes for the main website. Subscribers will get an email commentary on the market action and memberships will be extended for the period of the downtime. Fallond

Bulls and bears are in a bit of a tussle, but given this fight is occurring in the low end of yesterday's range the advantage would lie with the bears. The weekly close will be of a significant importance for the averages. For the Nasdaq there is still a good deal of support to look too: But bears will point to the extended weakness in the semiconductors. There is very little in the way of support until July lows are tested - ugly.... Large caps are in the process of making an important test of 40-week MA support. A decisive volume break of this average would set up a test of the August lows and a potential double top confirmation. But, this is still some time away: Small caps are in bigger trouble having cut through their 40-week MA. Only August lows remain to save the Russell 2000. Lower highs and lower lows are on the cards: Fallond

The blog posts will be a little slow for the next few days as I have relocated into a new abode and need to get set up on wireless/broadband. The markets are trading in a scrappy up and down, mixed with rising volatility. Support from mid-October lows still holds true for many indices, but overhead supply is never far from any strong day the market logs. There is some interesting bullish action from some of my newsletter stock picks - which would at least indicate some pockets of strength: Mastercard ( MA ) for one: Occidental Petroleum ( OXY ) is another: Maybe today is a day for buying? Fallond

Great link from Maoxian , and one for the Shiller/Pring crowd. Peterochina's valued more than the entire Russian Stockmarket . Needless to say, it has a weekly chart riddled with exhaustion gaps - all part of one big blow off top. Fallond

November 5th : The day could have been worse for bulls, but the picture which existed Friday remained stable on Monday. The 20-day MAs remained as support for the NASDAQ and NASDAQ 100 . although the S&P drifted a little off its 50-day MA. Friday's action created potential double bottoms for the Dow , S&P and Russell 2000 , although it would have been better to have seen upside follow through on Monday, bulls can take some heart that losses didn't expand. Tuesday will probably open weak - but let futures be ones guide. Fallond

With markets in a state of flux as marked by recent (and increasing) volatility now can be a good time to step back and take a look at other strategies to work your money in the market. Trader's narrative wrote a nice piece on Interactive Brokers (IBKR). Babak's piece has identified a great dollar-cost-average candidate. The head-and-shoulders pattern he illustrated may/may not come to fruition, but the stock is forming a solid looking base - a great time to drip invest in the stock. The advantage of the dollar-cost-average approach is that most of your money stays in cash, so timing a bottom becomes less of a concern, and once the market (and the stock) finds strength one can look to increase the investment/average up. In this case, one would look for confirmation on a break of the head-and-shoulder neckline with a second chance provided on the break of the IPO price. Fallond Traders Narrative

Condor Options is a nicely done site where the focus is trading " Iron Condors ". Their aim is to provide a single trade every month which generates a 10% return on your investment. A simple goal. It is a subscription based service, charging $139 a month with a 30-day money back guarantee. Iron Condor only deals in options trading . The performance of the site's picks since May have been excellent with only two reported losses out of thirteen for the strategy (although the 37% loss may have been a killer to a small account): The site also has a blog which features about two posts a week: In their promotional material, their raison d'etre is Look, we know there are already a billion trading newsletters out there. So why start yet another one? Because all the newsletters and trading services we’ve come across rely on their stock-picking, fundamental analysis, or other directional skills to make trades. There’s nothing wrong with that, but we know that it’s possible t...

After last week's volatile session what had the stockcharters to say about it? It should be noted, only a sample of the works of the following posters is presented, by following the appropriate link one can get further details on their research and opinion. Dr. Joe heads with his week in summary: Based on historical trends, Dr. Joe is looking for a Dow rally: While seeing a top too? Although his S&P retail chart is interesting - but one should ignore the over dependence on momentum indicators (all of which the same thing - you only need one Joe!) The Ted lines are seeing support for the Nasdaq 100 (and Nasdaq - just): and lo-and-behold, the semiconductors too: Maurice Walker commented on the candlestick hammers: 11/2 Commentary: Investors didn't know what to do with more optimistic economic data that was reported today, as the nonfarm payrolls increased by 166,000 jobs in October. After a choppy day of back and forth action, prices ultimately settled closing modestly hig...

I am still a head full of mucus but the last two days have been too hectic to not comment. Bulls are in trouble. Not only have Tech [ NASDAQ and NASDAQ 100 ] breakouts reversed, but have done so on heavier volume - leaving large bull traps in the wake of the Fed decision. Both of these indices generated whipsaw signals in their MACD trigger lines - another mechanism which will have trapped bulls on the (former) Fed breakout. The warning signs were clear in the underperforming semiconductor index , and it was somewhat ironic to see this index relatively unscathed by the broad sell off. What is of greater concern for bulls is the action in the large caps [ Dow and S&P ]. Both left large bearish (and somewhat complicated) "falling three method" continuation patterns. The Dow cleaved through its 50-day MA and it's almost a turkey shoot to reach its 200-day MA. Adding insult to injury, nearly every heavy volume day since the start of October has been a distribution day...