After a very weak opening period bulls were able to rally the troops back into the close. The call-to-arms was triggered by the respective 20-day MAs of the indices but whether they can act as support again if tomorrow opens weak will be open to question. The Nasdaq registered a technical distribution day as on-balance-volume managed a bearish cross of its trigger line (adding to the earlier MACD trigger 'sell') There was a bearish shift in relative strength as tech stocks gained an edge over small caps {Tech > Small Caps > Large Caps} - a more bearish alignment for markets. The S&P made its own support test, not just of the 20-day MA, but of the rising black channel too. Tomorrow will be interesting - a gap down and a move to break the 20-day MAs would look favoured. But even a higher open will see resistance at Tuesday's highs which again looks to give bears the edge for Thursday. Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com the free stock alerts ,

A narrow range-day on heavier volume (with the exception of the semiconductor index) suggests possible distribution, but it was no killer for bulls. Whether the market moves sideways until it gets a kick off the respective 20-day MAs, or instead makes a challenge towards new highs is still not clear. Nasdaq is caught in the middle of its range between the 20-day MA and index highs. The semiconductor index lost most of yesterday's gains, but is hanging on to its breakout But even with the reversal it would be harsh to read too much into today's action. Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com the free stock alerts , stock charts , watchlist, multi-currency portfolio manager and strategy builder website. Forex data available too.

A day late getting this out but Monday will have left bulls smiling. What do the Stockcharters' have to say? Anthony Caldaro of ObjectiveElliotWave has a 5-wave trend phase for the S&P, with the fifth wave currently in play (so look for an equal or new high). Yong Pan of CobrasMarketView has a neutral short term and mixed-looking intermediate outlook on the market - this probably helps bulls more than bears. Notice how the last three reaction lows (since July) have not seen any gain in up-volume. This is worrying for the 'busy' time of year typical of September, going into October. Channel support to lean on (or a failure of the last bounce off support to reach the upper channel?) Richard Lehman has broader up-channels dominating the minor down-channel currently in play. 9/28 -- The red minis were right on as the indexes bounced off lower red lines and took off on the upside. They may get to the upper reds or not -- we'll see shortly. (The XLF actually landed r

Was today a bull trap? Big percentage gains on what looked to be 'buy-the-dip' action, but light volume told a different story. This rally will need new closing highs to prove its merits but Friday's reaction lows are a good place for a profit-take stop. The Nasdaq had a MACD trigger 'sell' from Friday (+ bearish divergence) As did the Dow And Small Caps. But the Russell 2000 left its own mixed message with a favourable shift in relative strength (bullish); Small Caps > Tech > Large Caps . Market Sentiment showed its own vulnerability with the Percentage of Nasdaq Stocks above 50-day MA turning net negative on supporting technicals (with a bearish cross of the 5-day EMA) as its recent breakout clung on for life. Today looked to be a day of false buying. Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com the free stock alerts , stock charts , watchlist, multi-currency portfolio manager and strategy builder website. Forex data available too.

There was no break to the growing negative divergence between indices and supporting technicals; MACD and Stochastics weakened as indices remained tagged to their highs. The S&P failed to mount 1,062 resistance but didn't lose enough to reverse its earlier breakout The Nasdaq has more juice to its tank having handily cleared declining resistance; it's currently toying with the series of reaction lows from 2008 (a fairly wide band of resistance). The Nasdaq 100 is lingering in the same resistance zone having lead the charge over the other indices Russell 2000 has its own woes Breadth indicators are heavily overextended with supporting technicals either flat-lined (MACD) or getting squeezed by narrowing support/resistance Others look in prime 'sell' status On the Zignals blog I took a look (again) at the relationship of the S&P to its key moving averages and concluded further gains were the norm rather than the exception (with buying opportunities tied to the 50-

After a very weak start markets didn't run away from what could have been rout. The semiconductor index did give up a sizable chunk of gains but the recent breakout held. I have drawn in a new, sharper, rising channel which could be a point of support for the index Small Caps finished a short step away from its 20-day MA. There was a bearish shift away from Small Cap stocks to Tech - although Large Cap stocks remained laggards (bullish) Lagging large caps had problems of their own with MACD 'sell' triggers So far, none of the indices have mounted serious challenges on their 20-day MAs. Until then there is little reason to be an aggressive seller until the level of demand at these MAs is known. Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com the free stock alerts , stock charts , watchlist, multi-currency portfolio manager and strategy builder website. Forex data available too.

The Fed spooked the market and one can probably expect more of the same tomorrow. The Nasdaq registered a distribution day on a bearish engulfing pattern. The Nasdaq 100 did likewise as an attempt to break channel resistance failed. Looks ready for a move back to the main moving averages The semiconductor index finished with a bearish shooting star. How will its resistance breakout fare? Sentiment indicators had all recovered to break 4-5 month bearish divergences but the Percentage of Nasdaq Stocks above the 50-day MA switched to a 'sell' with a bearish cross of 5-day EMA. No significant damage but another down day looks inevitable. Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com the free stock alerts , stock charts , watchlist, multi-currency portfolio manager and strategy builder website. Forex data available too.

Modest gains on higher volume. The Nasdaq registered an accumulation day as the rally continued for another day. Small Caps continue to chug along inside its rising channel The S&P plays along inside its channel In summary, a day much like those which have gone before. No change. Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com the free stock alerts , stock charts , watchlist, multi-currency portfolio manager and strategy builder website. Forex data available too.

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Bears probably thought they had the day in their hands, but in the end there was no follow through from the gap down and markets were able to mount a reasonable recovery by the close. For the Nasdaq this was enough to make a higher close. The S&P spent a third day knocking around the 1070 level and this narrow action will expand very soon (and likely higher) Sentiment indicators continued their recovery with the Nasdaq Bullish Percents posting a new MACD trigger 'buy' - negating the August 'sell' Once again, it's hard to be a buyer but the trading environment favours longs. Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com the free stock alerts , stock charts , watchlist, multi-currency portfolio manager and strategy builder website. Forex data available too.

Start the week much as we have left previous ones - up trend intact but overbought. Anthony Caldaro of Objectiveelliotwave has an updated 60-min count for the S&P. Minor 'abc' with the 'c' part soon to complete? One new high to come before the next (mini-)downswing begins? But this minor 'abc' is part of the 'B' wave on the daily which has yet to complete Yong Pan of Cobrasmarketview has a sweep of intermediate 'buy' signals (one new 'buy' signal for Friday it looks). Short term mixed. Ratio of Up to Down volume lacklustre and typical of a top; but it has been like this since the middle of August and the S&P still managed to tack on another 50 points. Stochastic 'sell' signal on the Daily S&P. Perhaps time for a move back to wedge support which is just below the 20-day MA Weekly resistance pressuring too? Richard Lehman is watching for sideways action. 9/19 -- Another triple-witching Friday is in the books, and we