The Russell 2000 manged both to finish the week with a breakout on the Friday and a breakout on the weekly chart. The only downside was the the lack of volume, although volume registered as accumulation on the daily chart.

Breakout in Indices haven't fully moved beyond support to classify as sustainable breakout moves, but the Russell 2000 is making the best attempt at it. A series of consecutive small gains across indices has the makings of a breakout, but without the volume and a single powerful trading day it lacks the momentum for it to be sustainable.  Having said that, the Nasdaq is up against channel resistance (former support), although technicals are net positive.

It wasn't a major move but buyers were able to push new highs, nicking breakouts for the S&P and Nasdaq, but not yet the Russell 2000. I would like to see more volume with the move and ideally, a large white candlestick.  The Nasdaq rallied to former channel support, now resistance. The technical picture has stayed positive even when the rally moved outside of its rising channel. Aggressive players could look for a short. 

There was no big change in the technical picture of the indies, but all markets managed to make a positive close on the week. Indices started Friday with gaps higher and finished the day as much as they started.  The Nasdaq's gain wasn't enough to take out the recent swing high but it did register as an accumulation day and it continues to map a relative outperformance to its peers.

Not a whole lot to report for today although the Semiconductor Index did register a breakout. This was supported by a relative performance gain against the Nasdaq 100, and this should help Tech indices maintain their market leadership. The only disappointment was the maintenance of the 'sell' trigger in the MACD.

Aside from the Nasdaq which broke through rising channel support, other indices remain caught along breakout support.  The Nasdaq is on a 'sell' trigger in the MACD and a relative underperformance against the Russell 2000, but it has already outside of its rising channel where an opportunity to accelerate losses has not yet been taken. 

There has been a slowing of the rising trend in the Nasdaq, to the point it has dropped outside of its four month rising channel. This should not be viewed as outright bearish, but simply a slowing of the advance - and probably a sideways shift in a trend consolidation.  The edge breakout in the S&P has drifted back to support and will find itself under threat should such losses continue in the Nasdaq. Selling volume has been light and the strong accumulation trend in On-Balance-Volume has not been adversely impacted by this selling. The index - as with the Nasdaq - is underperforming relative to the Russell 2000, which may help it in the long term when money again cycles back to defensive stocks.  The Russell 2000 has been trying to clear its base (within a base) but has so far struggled. Trading volume has fallen off a cliff compared to the volumes from March so if a breakout is to stick we will need to see much stronger buying volume. On a positive front, On-Balance-Volume is st