Mon March 8th 2010
Indices Vacillate in Narrowly Mixed Session by Harry Boxer,
www.TheTechTrader.comThe stock market indices were choppy all session and ended mixed, not far from the zero line.
The day started out with a move up, and then they vacillated, making five or six moves back and forth in the morning. By mid-day they were able to reach new highs on the Nasdaq 100; however, at that point the S&P 500 did not confirm, then a 5-wave decline ensued, the last wave being the sharpest. In the last five minutes the indices dropped off quite rapidly to the lows for the afternoon, leaving the S&P 500 and Dow negative on a session, with the NDX up just a bit in a mixed close.
Net on the day, the Dow was up 13.68 at 10,552.52 and the S&P 500 down .20 at 1138.50. The NDX was up 2.33 at 1890.89.
Advance-declines were about 540 issues positive on New York and 213 issues positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 5 to 4 positive on total volume of 900 million. Nasdaq was nearly 2 to 1 positive on total volume of just over 2.1 billion.
TheTechTrader.com board were mostly narrowly mixed. There were a few outstanding gainers today especially in the Chinese sector. China Agritech (CAGC) at 30.45 was up 2.83, and Telestone Technologies (TSTC) at 20.56 up 2.06. Origin Agritech (SEED) jumped 94 cents to 11.27, and China Automotive (CAAS) 82 cents to 22.91.
Other stocks of note, American International Group (AIG) at 29.10 was up 1.02, and MAP Pharmaceuticals (MAPP) at 14.87 up 66 cents. Xyratex Ltd. (XRTX) advanced 1.81 to 17.14.
But the outstanding stock today was OccuLogix (TEAR), which jumped 2.88 to 4.10, a gain of 236% on the session.
Other stocks of note: Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS), which we traded today, at 30.18 was up 2.00 even, and InfoLogix (IFLG) at 7.78 up 1.27.
On the downside, there were no point-plus losers. The fractional losses included Skechers USA (SKX) at 30.26 down 62 cents and Nanometrics (NANO) at 9.39 down 51 cents. SmartHeat (HEAT) lost 37 cents at 12.77 and A-Power Energy (APWR) 93 cents at 11.82.
Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were very choppy today, particularly in the morning, rallied midday, then chopped their way lower in the afternoon to end mixed on the day and not far from unchanged.
A consolidation day or a topping day? We’ll have to see what transpires.
Good trading!
Harry
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