The last few months have seen Small Caps trade inside a lengthy sideways pattern but its moment in the shade maybe coming to an end.  Today's rally in the Russell 2000 was a picture perfect bounce off rising support.  Not only that, it mounted a strong challenge on the early June 'bull trap'.  This improved strength has been represented by the continued uptick in relative performance against the Nasdaq. The next watch area will be a new MACD trigger 'buy' to coincide with a negation of the 'bull trap'.  Once it gets out of the range it will open up for a new round of speculative investing.

Yesterday's losses followed through with fresh declines on higher volume distribution. Worst hit was the Semiconductor Index as it gave up nearly 3%. Today's finish left it at rising channel support and a chance for bulls to mount a rebound. Technicals are net bearish after stochastics undercut the mid-line which suggests a more prolonged trend lower is in the making.

After a bright start from markets with decent gaps higher, bears came in heavy in morning and end-of-day trading to beat markets back below yesterday's close. The Nasdaq closed with bearish cloud cover, a pattern which frequently leads to lower prices the next day. Despite this, the breakout hasn't been violated. The MACD is working to a new 'buy' trigger and rising channel support should offer support if there is some follow through lower - helped by the convergence with horizontal support at 6,170. Don't be surprised if there is a quick push lower to test 6,170 before rallying back to 6,170 by the close of business.

Markets finished Friday with a little flourish on higher volume accumulation. How much pressure varied between indices. The Russell 2000 rallied off rising support as a 3-week bull flag takes shape. Watch for the confirmation breakout which will coincide with a challenge on the early June 'bull trap'.  I'm liking action in this index.