Markets respect resistance as gains stall

Up to now, the Russell 2000 ($IWM) had been doing most of the running, marked by the relative performance gains of this index against the S&P and Nasdaq, but today was the first stall in this rally. Technicals for the Russell 2000 are net positive and remain so despite today's loss. The index is well set up for a breakout next week - I wouldn't be too concerned with today's action.

The Nasdaq is defending the substantial breakout gap from last week and will soon have the 20-day MA to lean on as part of this defense. There are active 'sell' triggers in the MACD and On-Balance-Volume to work off, but other technicals are positive.

The S&P also has a breakout gap to defend with a similar technical picture as the Nasdaq, although On-Balance-Volume is still on a 'buy' trigger. And as with the Nasdaq, I will be looking to the 20-day MA to play an active supporting role.

There isn't a whole lot to add, other than markets remain near all-time highs and it will ony take one good day to consume the losses of the last few days.

---

Follow Me on Twitter


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

Popular posts from this blog

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

Being "Right" but still losing...

Image
I'm trying the Topstep Trader Combine as a sampler to day trading and it's an interesting setup with minimal outlay costs to get started. I'm not a huge fan of their platform UI but everything else has been pretty good so far. Today was one of those days where I waiting (and waiting) for the profit taking to kick in, but by the time sellers made their appearance I had reached my loss limit for the day and so that, was that. You can see all of my whipsaw trades here. For the record, I only work off price action, looking at support/resistance and tells like rapid stop take outs, usually a good sign for a reversal.
Read more

Russell 2000 reverses off resistance

Image
The Russell 2000 ($IWM) has shaped a four month cup-and-handle pattern, but Friday's challenge of handle resistance was not enough to generate the follow through needed to continue the rally. Despite the losses, On-Balance-Volume remains on a 'buy' trigger and the MACD has the potential to offer a 'buy' trigger of its own on the next gain. However, losses did reverse relative performance away from Small Caps to the Nasdaq. The Nasdaq banked a small gain Friday on trading volume which was lighter than normal. While price action gathered little attention, there was a return to net bullish technicals with a new MACD trigger 'buy' to go alongside the earlier 'buy' signal in On-Balance-Volume. Thursday's bearish black candlestick was not good to see, but Friday didn't deliver the losses such a candlestick can deliver. I have added a support trendline that will offer itself as an additional buy zone. Momentum is strongly bullish.
Read more

Archive

Show more