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.

There wasn't much to say about today, but the one index which caught my attention was the Russell 2000. The index caught a bounce in demand at the rising trendline and also did enough to recover the 20-day MA. Traders looking for pullback opportunity could take a look at the Russell 2000. Stops on a loss of 1,397.

Yesterday's market gains were whipped away on higher volume distribution. This opened shorting opportunities in indices other than the Semiconductor Index. The S&P closed with a 'bull trap' on higher volume distribution.  Shorts could look to a position here with a stop on a move above 2,453. Technicals are still bullish but On-Balance-Volume and the MACD are vulnerable.

If volume wasn't just a little disappointing this would have been considered a super solid day for bulls. Having said that, shorts will be feeling the squeeze and anyone short the Dow Jones would have been feeling particularly aggrieved. Momentum bull-runner the Dow Jones gapped at the open and finished at the high of the day. Relative performance actually dropped a little but the Dow is clawing back 6-months of under-performance so it can be forgiven for this.