The stock market ended mixed today but mostly higher, although just fractionally so on most indices.
The day started out with a gap down. A very sharp rally ensued, taking the indices to new 2009 highs, and then a 7-wave decline took us back to retest the lows. They made higher lows, and then they rallied back. By late session the indices were just below the highs on the S&P 500 and Dow, but substantially beneath them on the NDX. Then in the last 15 minutes or so they rolled over and took back a chunk.
Net on the day the Dow managed to gain 19.43 at 8740.87, the S&P 500 up just 1.87 to 944.74, and the Nasdaq 100 up 3.19 at 1480.31. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) had a very bad day, down 9.42, or 3 ½ percent, at 276.29.
The technicals were positive by 3 to 2 on advance-declines on New York and by 15 to 11 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 7 to 6 positive on New York on total volume of 1.4 billion. Nasdaq traded about 2 1/4 billion and had a 6 to 5 positive volume ratio.
TheTechTrader.com board was very mixed today. There were no stocks on our board up as much as a point.
On the downside, financials were soft, with JP Morgan (JPM) down 1.61 to 34.50. Wells Fargo (WFC) was down 1.04 to 24.39, and Goldman Sachs (GS) lost 1.20 to 143.13.
DG FastChannel (DGIT) gave back 1.10 from yesterday’s big gain at 19.82. That was the only other stock on our board that was down as much as a point.
Among fractional gainers, it was a positive session for Dendreon (DNDN), which closed over 24 at 24.07, up 65 cents on 5 1/2 million. AgFeed Industries (FEED) had an excellent session, up 62 cents to 7.51, on 5 1/2 million as well. OCLS snapped back from recent losses, up 76 cents to 3.73 on 3.9 million. Pyramid Oil (PDO) exploded to 9 1/2 this morning, and we exited it from our model portfolio just underneath that. It closed at 8.30, up only 41 cents today, giving back a chunk of its gains. SIGA Technologies (SIGA) closed at 8.29, up 40 cents on 1.3 million.
The UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (SRS) was up 52 cents today to 18.46.
Fractional losses on the downside included several of the junior biotechs. CLDX was down 89 cents to 10.33, Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA) 86 cents to 13.24, and Cree Inc. (CREE) gave back 82 cents to 30.73.
Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were up sharply in the morning, down late in the session to mid-day, and then rallied back in the afternoon before rolling over at the end. It was a kind of choppy session, ending on the plus side but by just a small amount. We’ll see if it’s a consolidation or a topping phase.
