The stock market had an epic day Thursday as the indices rolled over in the morning, accelerated in the afternoon, and then plunged with a huge spike down on heavy volume, reaching a negative tick of nearly 1700. The Nasdaq 100 dropped from over 1960 to nearly 1750, or 210 points. The Dow dropped more than 1000 and the S&P 500 over 100 points. But a vicious snapback rally ensued, and they took back about two-thirds to 3/4 of the losses.

Net on the day, the Dow closed down 347.80 after being down 1000 at 10,520.32, and the S&P 500 down 37.72 to 1128.15, 63 points off its low. The Nasdaq 100 at 1893.75, nearly 140 points off its low, was down 64.51.

Advance-declines were 173 up and 3016 down on the New York Stock Exchange, with up/down volume at 108 million shares up and 2.46 billion down. That was about a 24 to 1 negative ratio and certainly was climatic. Nasdaq advance-declines were 341 up to 2434 down, and up/down volume was about 16 to 1 negative ratio today on total volume of 4.4 billion traded. That could be the heaviest volume in history.

Reviewing our Watchboard:

TheTechTrader.com board, except for the ultra-shorts, was all down today and sharply. Leading the way down was Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) down 21.51 at 688.02, but that was 43 points off its low. Google Inc. (GOOG) dropped 11.09 to 498.67, but closed 38 points off its low. Big, big reversals.

Dendreon Corp. (DNDN) was down 5.30 to 47.60, about 5 points off its low. Apple Inc. (AAPL) fell 9.74 to 246.26, with a low of 199.25, so 47 points off its low. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) lost 2.22 to 128.71, closing 8.00 off its low.

Other point-plus losers were Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) at 21.65 down 1.66, Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NOG) in a weak oil group at 14.48 down 1.37, Houston American Energy Corp. (HUSA) at 11.20 down 1.28, and Brigham Exploration Co. (BEXP) at 17.31 down 1.31. Those are just a few of the junior oils that got hammered today.

Acme Packet, Inc. (APKT) dropped 1.93 to 25.03, China Agritech Inc. (CAGC) 1.34 to 13.76, Cree Inc. (CREE) 1.95 to 69.40, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) 5.87 to 142.32.

The ultrashort ETFs, needless to day, were sharply higher. The Direxion Daily Emrg Mkts Bear 3X Shares (EDZ) gained 5.91 to 56.04, but that was nearly 6.00 off its high at 61.90. The Direxion Daily Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) closed at 15.11 up 1.37 with a 17.54 high, and the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) ended at 14.29, up 1.55 with a 15.97 high. The UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (SRS) at 28.14 was up 2.04, but reached 33.50 today, and the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) at 26.12 was up 2.79, reaching as high as 31.44.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices certainly had a vicious drop and a vicious rally back up as well. Needlessly to day, it will be interesting to see what the indices do in terms of a follow-through tomorrow, on Friday of all days. We'll see what happens.

Good trading!

Harry

For more of Harry Boxer, sign up for a FREE 15-Day Trial to his Real-Time Technical Trading Diary. Or sign up for a Free 30-Day Trial to his Top Charts of the Week service.

(c) 2010 AdviceTrade, Inc. All rights reserved. Distributed only by written permission of AdviceTrade and The Technical Trader at info@advicetrade.com . In using any portion of Harry Boxer's content, you agree to the terms and conditions governing the use of the service as described in our disclaimer at http://www.thetechtrader.com

Mr. Boxer's commentaries and index analysis represent his own opinions and should not be relied upon for purposes of effecting securities transactions or other investing strategies, nor should they be construed as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy any security. You should not interpret Mr. Boxer's opinions as constituting investment advice. Trades mentioned on the site are hypothetical, not actual, positions.

Harry Boxer Archive

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in

The Market Oracle is a FREE Financial Markets Forecasting & Analysis web-site.
(c) 2005-2024 MarketOracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd) - Market Oracle Ltd asserts copyright on all articles authored by our editorial team and all comments posted. Any and all information provided within the web-site, is for general information purposes only and Market Oracle Ltd do not warrant the accuracy, timeliness or suitability of any information provided on this site. nor is or shall be deemed to constitute, financial or any other advice or recommendation by us. and are also not meant to be investment advice or solicitation or recommendation to establish market positions. We do not give investment advice and our comments are an expression of opinion only and should not be construed in any manner whatsoever as recommendations to enter into a market position either stock, option, futures contract, bonds, commodity or any other financial instrument at any time. We recommend that independent professional advice is obtained before you make any investment or trading decisions. By using this site you agree to this sites Terms of Use. From time to time we promote or endorse certain products / services that we believe are worthy of your time and attention. In return for that endorsement and only in the cases where you purchase directly though us may we be compensated by the producers of those products.