Volatile, Mixed Session

The stock market indices had a topsy-turvy day, but had a big rally, particularly in the blue chips, late in the session. The Nasdaq 100 wouldn't cooperate because Apple Inc. (AAPL) was under pressure all day, down nearly 16 today near the 52-week lows.

The day started out with big-gap downs, and then they went even sharply lower to test the 2710-11 area on the Nasdaq 100, and near 1464 S&P 500. They rallied back, and then retested, the S&P 500 jumping 7 points from 1464 to 1471, while the NDX jumped 15 points. They pulled back much sharper on the NDX in the afternoon to retest support at the 2714-15 area. That held, and the S&P 500 held at a much higher level at 1468, only to rally back to new, 5-year highs nominally at 1473, and closed a point off of that.

Net on the day, the Dow was up 27.57 at 13,534.89, 90 points off the low. The S&P 500 was up 1.66 at 1472.34, just one point off the high. The Nasdaq 100 was down 12.72 at 2722.98, 12 points off the low.

Advance-declines were almost 3 to 2 positive on the New York Stock Exchange, and 13 to 11 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 2 to 1 positive on New York, with total volume of a very light 584 million shares. Nasdaq traded nearly 1.8 billion and had a slight positive plurality on advancing volume over declining volume.

TheTechTrader.com board, as mentioned, was led lower by Apple Inc. (AAPL), down 25.83 to 485.92, reaching a new, 11-month low of 483.38 today. It's right in our Fibonacci retracement level at 480 and 483. So this is coming to either a breakdown or a significant reversal.

Google Inc. (GOOG) managed to run back from 712 to 735, and closed up 1.68 to 724.93. So that was a reversal. Amazon.comInc. (AMZN) went from 269.30 to 272.72, and closed down 83 cents to 271.90.Priceline.com Incorporated (PCLN) was up 43 cents and closed up $10 off its low at 663.35.

It was a decent snapback on some of the large-cap Nasdaq 100 stocks, and as a result, it did bounce but it wasn't very significant.
There is some negative divergent going on here on the Nasdaq 100. It will need to play catch-up tomorrow.

Other gainers of note included Pharmacyclics Inc. (PCYC), up 1.81 to 66.96 on our board, but there weren't many stocks up as much as a point.

However, there were some gainers on the percent-gain leader board, which we follow closely. EnerNOC, Inc. (ENOC) jumped 3.20 to 15.76, or 25 1/2%, on 3 million shares, an 830% increase in volume. Express Inc. (EXPR), on earnings, gained 3.34 to 17.40, or 24%, on 11 million shares, or 500% more than what's normal for this stock.

Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. (BGFV), also on earnings, gained 1.67 to 14.70, or 13%, on a half million shares. Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (RKUS) continues its monster move, up 2.50 to 24.21, or 11 1/2%, on 1 million shares. Santarus, Inc. (SNTS) closed up 1.24 to 12.52, or 11%, on 4.7 million shares.

Genesco Inc. (GCO) was up 4.84 to 61.61, Ixia (XXIA) up 1.50 to 20.74, Arris Group Inc. (ARRS) 1.22 to 16.56, ViroPharma Inc. (VPHM) 1.94 to 26.36, Splunk, Inc. (SPLK) 2.16 to 33.46, and Dell Inc. (DELL), on takeover rumors, up 88 cents to 13.17. Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (INFI), one of our favorites of late, gained 1.88 to 34.81.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (DECK) rose 2.66 to 40.81, and reached 41 at one point. It's on the verge of a major breakout.

On the downside, there weren't very many to speak of today besides Apple. Netflix Inc. (NFLX) lost 1.75 to 101.69. At its 104 high intraday today, that was nearly double its low of earlier last year.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were sharply lower early on, came back midday and retested in the afternoon. It successfully came on with a bang, particularly with the blue chips. The blue chips turned positive for the session.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Good Trading!