Day Trading with Hary Boxer

The stock market indices had a mixed session at the close. Although the technicals were pretty good today, it did not look good for the indices.

The day started out with a big gap up, and when the S&P 500 made a new high near 1444, the Nasdaq 100 could not get through its earlier high. They rolled over sharply by midday, cracking yesterday’s lows on the NDX. That did not occur on the S&P 500. In the afternoon, as a result of that, they snapped back with a strong 20-minute rally in the last hour, only to rollover in the last 30 minutes, or so, and closed near the session lows going away.

They had a very negative day today.

Net on the day, the Dow was down 18.58 at 13,326.39, about 100 points off its high. The S&P 500 was up .30 at 1432.86, 11 points off its high. The Nasdaq 100 was down 9.33 at 2719.21, 31 points off its high.

Advance-declines were 2 to 1 positive on New York Stock Exchange, and 3 to 2 on Nasdaq 100. Up/down volume was a little less than 2 1/2 to 1 positive on New York, with total volume of 615 million shares. Nasdaq traded over 1.6 billion, and had a little less than a 3 to 2 positive volume ratio.

The technicals were definitely better than the price action, and that could possibly be a positive divergence.

TheTechTrader.com board had a very interesting day. Apple Inc. (AAPL) led the way down, losing 12.81 to 628.10, and closed at the low for the day going away. However, Google Inc. (GOOG) was up 6.92 to 751.48, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) was nearly unchanged, up 77 cents to 244.22, and Goldman Sachs (GS) was up 1.91 to 121.99.

Patrick Industries Inc. (PATK), a swing trade of ours, was up 1.43 to 17.13, and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ONXX) gained 2.27 to 88.77.

Leading the way in percent gainers was Clearwire Corporation (CLWR), up 92 cents to 2.22, or 70.77%, on 169 million shares.

Coal stocks were in a very strong group today. Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (ANR) was up 1.24 to 8.55, or 17%, on 55 million shares. Arch Coal Inc. (ACI) gained 1.08 to 7.94, or 16%, on 32 million shares. Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) was up 2.15 to 26.18, or 9%, on 16.5 million shares. CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) jumped 2.63 to 35.48, or 8%, on 6.9 million shares.

Other gainers of note included low-priced USA Technologies Inc. (USAT), up 27 cents to 1.51, or 22%, on 1.5 million shares. Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. (FOLD) gained 83 cents to 6.45, or 15%, on 2.3 million shares. Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), on takeover talk, advanced 72 cents to 5.76, or 14%, on 516 million shares.

Fastenal Company (FAST) was up 3.57 to 45.89, J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) up 2.03 to 26.18, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS) up 1.07 to 16.01, E2open, Inc. (EOPN) 1.04 to 16.53, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (CTB), on takeover rumors, 1.09 to 19.78, and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALNY) 1.03 to 18.73.

ProShares Ultra Long DJ-UBS Natural Gas (BOIL) jumped another 3.84 to 59.40.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices gapped up, came down in a 5-wave decline, but rallied in the last hour only to rollover into the close and close very near the session lows, particularly on the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500.

It was not good action, and with Apple down as sharply as it is, we’re now at the lowest level in about 2 months on the NDX. These are dire consequences since we are just above key support on the S&P 500 at around 1430, and if that cracks, we could see a precipitous decline here.

Let’s see how it goes tomorrow.

Good Trading!

Harry