Thu February 4th 2010
Definitive Rout!by Harry Boxer,
www.TheTechTrader.comIt was a very negative session today as the bears took control with a big opening gap down. A sharp early morning slide took out a couple layers of support. They tried a mid-day consolidation but failed to rally back and in the last hour they rolled over again to close at the lows for the day going away.
Net on the day the Dow fell 268.37 at 10002.18. The S&P 500 was down 34.17, or about 3.4%, at 1063.11, and the Nasdaq 100 down 51.71 at 1732.99, or 3 % there as well. The OEX also gave back 3%, or 15.12, at 491.07, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) lost nearly 5 %, or 15.22, at 312.53.
It was definitely a rout today, with advance-declines negative by more than 10 to 1 on New York and by 6 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was a whopping 36 to 1 negative on New York on total volume of about 1 1/2 billion. Nasdaq traded just under 2.8 billion and had about a 10 to 1 negative volume ratio.
TheTechTrader.com board was all negative, with every stock down except for the ultrashort ETFs, of course. The UltraPro Short S&P 500 ProShares (SPXU) advanced 3.49 to 40.86. The VXX, the ETF for the VIX, was up 3.23 at 32.36.
New portfolio ultrashort ETFs did very well today, with the Direxion Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ) up 2.25 to 21.35 on more than 100 million traded. The Direxion Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) jumped 1.64 at 19.23, the Direxion Small Cap 3x Bear (TZA) 1.03 to 11.26, and the Direxion Daily Emrg Mkts Bear 3X Shares (EDZ) 78 cents to 6.40. The UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (SRS) gained 58 cents to 8.49.
On the downside, the Direxion Financial Bull 3x Shares (FAS) got hammered for 8.52 to 63.60 on 48 million shares. The U.S. Oil Fund ETF (USO) on weaker oil lost 1.85 to 35.80.
Chinese stocks fell hard once again, with China Agritech (CAGC) down 3.87 to 27.46, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) 2.15 to 21.07, RINO International (RINO) 2.34 to 19.21, and Telestone Technologies (TSTC) 1.59 to 13.89. SmartHeat (HEAT) lost 1.51 to 10.82 and China Automotive (CAAS) 1.53 to 15.56.
Junior oil stocks took it on the chin today, with Toreador Resources (TRGL) down 1.73 to 10.29, and Brigham Exploration (BEXP) 1.14 to 14.05.
In addition, Rambus (RMBS) fell 1.55 to 21.21, Plexus (PLXS) 1.66 to 31.68, and MAP Pharmaceuticals (MAPP) 1.09 to 15.55. Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals (HITK) dropped 1.94 to 20.50, Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) 1.71 to 26.10, and Genco (GNK) 1.69 to 18.73.
Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices broke hard, taking out the 3-day rally at the opening and then slid all session with only a mid-day pause to stem the tide. Extremely nasty close on the SPX at new pullback lows, with the NDX right at last week’s low.
Tomorrow should be a very interesting session ahead of the weekend.
Good trading!
Harry
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