Thu August 20th 2009
Solid Upside Follow-throughby Harry Boxer,
www.TheTechTrader.comThe indices had a strong follow-through session today to yesterday’s late rally. The day started out with a strong move higher, as the indices reached 1614 on the NDX and 1006 on the SPX. They then went into a coiling-type consolidation pattern for several hours, consolidating bullishly, and then broke out in the last hour, reaching the session highs with about 25-30 minutes to go. A slight pullback into the close brought them off the highs.
Net on the day the Dow was up 70.89 to 9350.05, the S&P 500 up 10.91 at 1007.37, and the Nasdaq 100 up 17.61 at 1614.22. Advance-declines were positive by nearly 3 to 1 on New York and by about 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was about 5 1/2 to 1 positive on New York on light total volume of just over 1 billion. Nasdaq traded 1.95 billion and had a better than 2 to 1 positive volume ratio.
TheTechTrader.com board was mixed but mostly positive, with several point-plus gainers. American International Group (AIG) had another fantastic session, vaulting 5.66 to close at 32.30, reaching as high as 35 at one point. Goldman Sachs (GS) gained 2.40 to 162.33, and JP Morgan (JPM) 1.01 to 42.42. Wells Fargo (WFC) gained 87 cents and Morgan Stanley (MS) 53 cents to round out the strong financial sector.
Mosaic (MOS) advanced 1.13 to 54.47, and Potash (POT) 1.98 to 97.16 in a firm ag-chem sector.
The strongest gainer in the ETF section today was the Direxion Financial Bull 3x Shares (FAS), which vaulted 4.79 to 72.91 on 34.8 million shares.The iShares MSCI Brazil Index ETF (EWZ) gained 78 cents at 60.15, and the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI) 54 cents at 40.60. Canadian Solar (CSIQ) added 56 cents to 16.55.
On the downside, Direxion Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ) fell 1.89 to 25.38, the UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (SRS) 1.07 to 12.25, and the Direxion Small Cap 3x Bear (TZA) 52 cents to 15.12.The U.S. Oil Fund ETF (USO) lost 45 cents to 37.67 on a pullback in oil, and the Direxion Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) lost 25.53.
Stepping back and reviewing the hourly charts, a solid morning & then late afternoon move brought the indices to positive gains for the day, a solid follow-through to yesterday’s rally, as overhead resistance was taken out and the shorts were forced to cover, fueling the run. Next up a possible retest of the more formidable 2009 multiple resistance highs near NDX 1633-34 & SPX 1017-18.
Good trading!
Harry
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