Very Tough Session for Wall Street

Harry Boxer The Technical Trader

The stock market indices had a tough session again. The day started out on the downside, they formed some morning consolidation bear wedges, dropped late morning, and continued down for the rest of the session, finishing near the lows for the day going away.

Net on the day, the Dow was down 28.97 at 17,930.67. The S&P 500 was down 9.28 at 2088.66. The Nasdaq 100 was down another 47.80.10 at 4679.10.

Advance-declines were 3 to 2 negative on the New York Stock Exchange, and 2 to 1 negative on the Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 21 to 16 negative on New York, total volume of 3 3/4 billion shares traded. The Nasdaq traded 2 billion shares and had a 2 1/4 to 1 negative volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was almost all red today. Priceline.com (PCLN) was down 7.23 to 1438.10, Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) down 6.57 to 762.13, Apple Inc. (AAPL) down 1.76 to 109.83, Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) was nearly flat, down 20 cents to 122.14, and Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) jumped 1.47 to 767.03.

Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) dropped 21 cents to 168.57, Facebook, Inc. (FB) gave back 7.22 to 119.95, First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) got whacked 6.07 to 34.51 on earnings.

Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (PBYI) was knocked down another 3.55 to 354.60, Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SUPN) down 1.65 to 18.10, Shutterstock Inc. (SSTK) down 1.59 to 54.27, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CLCD) 1.53 to 29.17, Clovis Oncology Inc (CLVS) 2.06 to 25.90, Acacia Communications, Inc. (ACIA) 5.09 to 63.26, and Twilio, Inc. (TWLO) 1.55 to 32.60, and treading even lower in aftermarket.

The Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bull 3X ETF (LABU) dropped 3.37 to 24.55, as government is investigating pricing.

Tesla Motors, Inc. (TSLA) pulled back another 60 cents to 187.42.

To the upside, besides AMZN the outstanding gainers were Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X ETF (NUGT) up 91 cents to 15.39 and Zumiez, Inc. (ZUMZ) up 50 cents to 23.20, but was 1.00 higher earlier in the day.

Checking TheTechTrader.com percent-gain leaderboard, Technical Communications Corporation (TCCO) had a great day, up 65 cents, or 28%, to 2.95, on 1.8 million shares traded. EnerNOC, Inc. (ENOC) bounced 95 cents, or 20%, to 5.80. Swing trade Hudson Technologies Inc. (HDSN) advanced 75 cents, or 13%, to 6.43, on 1.1 million shares traded, on solid earnings report.

Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (CCRN) gained 1.98, or 17%, to 13.57. Microsemi Corporation (MSCC) climbed 6.16, or 15%, to 47.99, on 6 million shares traded. Ternium (TX) ran 3.17, or 14%, to 16.01, on 1.3 million shares traded. Nxstage Medical, Inc. (NXTM) jumped 2.82, or 13%, to 23.99, on 1.3 million shares traded. Avis Budget Group, Inc. (CAR) bounced 4.14, or 13%, to 36.49, on 5.6 million shares traded. Itron, Inc. (ITRI) gained 6.30, or 12%, to 58.20, on 1.4 million shares traded.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices started lower, formed bear wedges, came down by midday, tried to consolidate again, and drifted lower the rest of the day.

It was a very nasty day on Wall Street. The indices are beginning to get oversold as the McClellan Oscillator now is minus 126.44. It needs to get a little bit lower.

Let’s see what happens tomorrow.

Good Trading!

Author

Harry Boxer

The Technical Trader

Regular columnist on ADVFN, Stockhouse, and DecisionPoint, among many sites, and regular guest on WinningOnWallStreet, Marketviews.tv, KFWB-Radio Los Angeles, and more. Frequent guest columnist on CBSMarketWatch.

EUR/USD hits two-day highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD picks up pace and reaches two-day tops around 1.1820 at the end of the week. The pair’s move higher comes on the back of renewed weakness in the US Dollar amid growing talk that the Fed could deliver an interest rate cut as early as March. On the docket, the flash US Consumer Sentiment improves to 57.3 in February.

GBP/USD reclaims 1.3600 and above

GBP/USD reverses two straight days of losses, surpassing the key 1.3600 yardstick on Friday. Cable’s rebound comes as the Greenback slips away from two-week highs in response to some profit-taking mood and speculation of Fed rate cuts. In addition, hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill are also collaborating with the quid’s improvement.

Gold climbs further, focus is back to 45,000

Gold regains upside traction and surpasses the $4,900 mark per troy ounce at the end of the week, shifting its attention to the critical $5,000 region. The move reflects a shift in risk sentiment, driving flows back towards traditional safe haven assets and supporting the yellow metal.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP rebound amid risk-off, $2.6 billion liquidation wave

Bitcoin edges up above $65,000 at the time of writing on Friday, as dust from the recent macro-triggered sell-off settles. The leading altcoin, Ethereum, hovers above $1,900, but resistance at $2,000 caps the upside. Meanwhile, Ripple has recorded the largest intraday jump among the three assets, up over 10% to $1.35.

Three scenarios for Japanese Yen ahead of snap election

The latest polls point to a dominant win for the ruling bloc at the upcoming Japanese snap election. The larger Sanae Takaichi’s mandate, the more investors fear faster implementation of tax cuts and spending plans.

XRP rally extends as modest ETF inflows support recovery

Ripple is accelerating its recovery, trading above $1.36 at the time of writing on Friday, as investors adjust their positions following a turbulent week in the broader crypto market. The remittance token is up over 21% from its intraday low of $1.12.