Modest Damage to Indices - Are The Juniors Still In Charge?

Trading volume was very light, so it's unlikely the "Big Guns" returned to their desks. Given that, we didn't see a whole lot of action in the indices despite clickbait headlines.

However, since my last post, we have seen resistance breakouts in the Russell 2000 ($IWM), S&P ($SPX) and Nasdaq ($COMPQ), but none are near challenging highs. However, the Russell 2000 and S&P have both returned to a net bullish technical picture. I would want to see what kind of action came with volume before we get a better idea of what comes next.

The Nasdaq hasn't got a net bullish technical, but is underperforming relative to Small Caps. The S&P has just started to underperform relative to the Nasdaq. So, it could come down to the Russell 2000 to lead things out?

The big disappointment was Bitcoin ($BTCUSD). A one-day, 5% loss, is not what you want to see after days of small gains. I'm liking the spike low of $80.6K as a trade low, but today's candlestick suggests we will see another test of that low; aggressive traders could look to buy at that low, but if we see another solid red candlestick then it may not hold.

It's an odd time for markets. Traders want to push things higher, but this is again going to push markets to extremes relative to their 200-day MAs. We are not there yet, but we need to be aware of it. Will tomorrow see the return of senior traders?

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

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