Another week - another support hold. Certainly the rate of ascent the various markets are running is slowing, but not enough to crack the trend - yet. The S&P is very close to a MACD 'sell' trigger. The Nasdaq has got the most interesting set-up; nestled against resistance with a sub-zero MACD about to give a new 'buy' signal - one to watch next week. The Nasdaq 100 has been leading the indices in recent weeks and it too is about to give another MACD 'buy' Market Breadth is neutral and could easily go either way - so both bulls and bears could draw their own favorable conclusions as to 'what happens next?' Only the Bullish Percents are perhaps a little over-baked With Christmas fast approaching and recent eyes on the dollar it would like the general market is not going to see a much change. If dollar strength continues look to small caps (Russell 2000) to benefit and large caps (Dow and S&P) to suffer. Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician,

After yesterday's late day surge bulls managed a morning gap higher, but were unable to achieve anything more for the rest of the day. The Nasdaq was left below resistance (2,201) on a slight increase in volume - the flatlined MACD representing the loss of trend in recent days. The Russell 2000 was unable to crack above 605 but converged 20-day and 50-day MAs held as support. But the index to watch is the semiconductor index - how will it hold 337? Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com . November 2009 has seen a significant upgrade and is on course to becoming the eBay of finance with our new Beta MarketPlace and a new rich internet application for finance, the Zignals Dashboard . Zignals now has new fundamental stock alerts , stock charts for Indian, Australian, Frankfurt and soon Canadian stocks, tabbed stock list watchlists, multi-currency portfolio manager , active fundamental system stock screener and trading system builder. New Forex and Index data.

For those who haven't bookmarked my other blog at Zignals: It has been a few months my last review of the market - so what is the state of play? In September I summarized: "Given the S&P's sharp move off of lows it would appear momentum is set to continue in favour of bulls as sideline money steps in on weakness. But look for this rate of ascent to slow as markets work off overbought conditions and MAs 'catch up' with the index. The 50-day and 200-day MAs should provide support and buying opportunities for new long positions. Stops can be placed on a decisive break (>1%) of the 200-day MA, protecting against any 1987 like outcome. But even here, the losses of 1987 did little to erase the bulk of the gains the S&P had chalked up earlier during the decade. Although pre-1950 was excluded from the dataset it would appear unlikely a major downleg will follow." You will get the rest of the article here . Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Techn

As bullish strength ebbed over the past few days, Wednesday saw the return of some buying. Volume was not spectacular but early weakness was replaced by late afternoon buying. In the case of the Nasdaq this buying engulfed Tuesday's indecision (doji). And buyers of the Nasdaq 100 were able to regain its 20-day MA: Better still was the breakout in the semiconductor index which came with a break in the bearish divergence in the MACD trigger line; that potential short play mentioned yesterday is not looking so likely now. Even the Russell 2000 could surprise tomorrow with a break from its trading range - the small doji is a handy risk:reward marker on the long side with a stop around 592. Things are nicely poised for bulls to take advantage - but can they do so? Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com . November 2009 has seen a significant upgrade and is on course to becoming the eBay of finance with our new Beta MarketPlace and a new rich internet application for f

Build a Trading Strategy on Zignals.com Build your own Trading System at Zignals . Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com . November 2009 has seen a significant upgrade and is on course to becoming the eBay of finance with our new Beta MarketPlace and a new rich internet application for finance, the Zignals Dashboard . Zignals now has new fundamental stock alerts , stock charts for Indian, Australian, Frankfurt and soon Canadian stocks, tabbed stock list watchlists, multi-currency portfolio manager , active fundamental system stock screener and trading system builder. New Forex and Index data.

It was a day when upward pressures on resistance gave way to increased selling. The Nasdaq gapped against bulls - enough to see a new MACD trigger 'sell' - but not enough to see a break of 20-day MA support. To add insult to injury there was a confirmed distribution day to boot. I have redrawn resistance at 2,201 in what looks to be a double (triple?) top. The Dow is under pressure with prices back at the lower end of its 3-week range with the 20-day MA protecting it from another 300 point drop back to its 50-day MA The bad news for Nasdaq bulls is the loss of 20-day MA support in the Nasdaq 100. Also worrying is how prices are working closer to support than rallying up towards channel resistance. Semiconductors failed to crack 337 resistance. Note MACD up against resistance with CCI weakening; looking like a shorting opportunity with a stop above 343. It would appear bears have the better risk:reward options at this point - it's not looking like Santa has much juice in th

There was very little movement in any of the key indices; markets gapped down but there was no follow through to the downside from the Nasdaq, Nasdaq 100, S&P or Dow. The semiconductor index did manage to make gains up to 337 resistance and is poised to take on a leadership role if it can break through. The Russell 2000 also sits ready to break out of a 7-week consolidation. While some 20 points away from its highs, a break will give confidence to the broader market as it will represent a shift back to speculative issues. Relative strength has seen a significant shift through December with Small caps leading Tech leading Large Caps - the most bullish alignment for markets. Should the dollar continue to outperform then expect this relationship to continue. Dr. Declan Fallon, Senior Market Technician, Zignals.com . November 2009 has seen a significant upgrade and is on course to becoming the eBay of finance with our new Beta MarketPlace and a new rich internet application for finan