Buying Pressure Continues To Drive Indices Higher as Russell 2000 Waits...

All the hard work is been done by Large Cap and Tech Indices as the Russell 2000 continues to trade below resistance.  Friday's volume was done on previous days and didn't really match the price action relative to those day's gains.  Despite this, the week finished on a positive.

The S&P enjoyed another respectable advance, although the sequence of gains has come off the back of no down days for the last couple of weeks. Technicals are net positive and the index is outperforming Small Caps.


The Nasdaq had a comparable day to the S&P, outperforming Small Caps to a larger degree than the latter index. 


The Russell 2000 ($IWM) was the only lead index not to gain on Friday, but it remains well positioned to breakout with tight support at $228, wedged with resistance at $234.  Be ready for a breakout, because other indices have already bombed ahead.


The only other indcex to have a mixed week was the Semiconductor Index.  It managed to breakout, before dipping below 3,300.  However, it managed to recover its breakout by the close of business on Friday.  The 'breakout' is still valid, but it lacks the drive of the Nasdaq. 


By Friday's close we had well defined rallies in the S&P and Nasdaq adding to their gains, while the Russell 2000 headed in the opposite direction.  There was also a bit of a slowdown in the Semiconductor Index, although this hasn't yet filtered to the Nasdaq. Eyes should remain on the Russell 2000 as it looks to follow the action of Large Cap and Tech indices.

You've now read my opinion, next read Douglas' blog.

Share on StockTwits

---

Accepting KIVA gift certificates to help support the work on this blog. All certificates gifted are converted into loans for those who need the help more.

Follow Me on Twitter


Investments are held in a pension fund on a buy-and-hold strategy.

Popular posts from this blog

S&P "Bull Trap"?

Image
I thought there was sufficient evidence to argue against a "bull trap" in the S&P, but it would appear the market wasn't interested in such thoughts and sellers were quick to reverse the initial push above 4,200.  Adding to the pain were new 'sell' triggers in MACD and On-Balance-Volume, although the former occurred above the 'bullish' zero line, making it a weak signal. Selling volume ranked as distribution as selling momentum picked up speed.  The index is also underperforming relative to the Russell 2000. 
Read more

"Black Candlesticks" are a concern for the S&P and Nasdaq

Image
A bright start for bulls on the back of positive $NVDA earnings wasn't enough to generate a day of meaningful gains.  However, it did help stall the losses of the last couple of days. The Nasdaq was the biggest beneficiary of today's action, but not enough to see an end-of-day finish that cleared last week's swing high, nor delivery of a large white candlestick, despite the morning breakout gap.  Technicals are net bullish and relative performance against the S&P has become consistently stronger since the start of May.  While today's candlestick I would view as typically 'bearish', today's volume ranked as confirmed accumulation (bullish). Overall, I would be looking for higher prices from here. 
Read more

Round 2 for the bearish "black" candlestick in S&P and Nasdaq

Image
The Nasdaq started brightly but ended up closing below its open price, but above yesterday's close. The S&P did something similar, although the intraday range is narrower. These two setups are somewhat complicated by the new 'buy' triggers in On-Balance-Volume for both the Nasdaq and S&P. And the new MACD trigger 'buy' for the S&P. Price action is key, so I would expect the candlestick to trump the technical picture; watch for lower prices tomorrow.
Read more

Archive

Show more